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To: NautiNurse
...and Spain should have never fronted the money for Columbus to explore either...

Spain made great riches off of the deal. We landed on the moon and decided not to claim it. Big difference.

7 posted on 06/16/2005 6:39:19 AM PDT by Rodney King (No, we can't all just get along.)
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To: Rodney King
I am just relaying the story
We landed on the moon and decided not to claim it. Big difference.

It appears you have more opinion invested in the story than just relaying it.

11 posted on 06/16/2005 6:41:43 AM PDT by NautiNurse ("I'd rather see someone go to work for a Republican campaign than sit on their butt."--Howard Dean)
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To: Rodney King
Spain made great riches off of the deal. We landed on the moon and decided not to claim it. Big difference.

For a short time, yes. But the countries that got really rich of the exploration of the New World were the "pirate nations". Men like Drake, etc. While the Spanish were sweating at pulling the gold & silver out of the ground (& exploiting the natives in the process) the English & Dutch were becoming major maritime powers while plundering the Spanish treasure fleets. These operations were largely private affairs that required capital to get going, legal protection (Letters of Marque), advances in shipbuilding technology, gunnery, and so on. In short the Dutch & English were building modern mechantile economies while the Spanish were languishing like a modern OPEC nation. Wealthy, but increasingly backward.

43 posted on 06/16/2005 7:08:20 AM PDT by Tallguy
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