I’d agree with that last point. So many European ships were out there by 1500, that it was pretty much inevitable that the Americas would have been stumbled upon by accident within a few years, even if Columbus hadn’t found them accidentally-on-purpose.
Personally, I’ve always thought Cabral’s discovery was an accident; even if Columbus had never existed, the Americas would have been discovered a mere 8 years later.
I don’t think Cabral’s “discovery” was an accident. Still, someone would have stumbled upon America. But would they have announced it? There is some evidence that fishermen had been fishing the Grand Banks and had stumbled upon N. America- but they kept their fishing grounds and thus America a secret. Even if that delayed the “discovery” by only 50 years, that could make significant changes in history.
It’s disappointing that Columbia gets all the press, because the first man known to have stepped ashore in the territory now occupied by the lower 48 states was Juan Ponce de Leon, which is a much better name.
Just think, instead of Washington DC, the president could be living in Ponceville.