@Hecce
"this Continent eventually became quite different from the European ancestors and in some respects I think that it has produced most of the rights and liberties associated with modern society."
True. That's why we credit the founding fathers of the U.S. and the French enlightenment and the English philosophers. Great ideas matter much more than braving the Atlantic. Put Columbus where he belongs: a brave and skillful explorer, nothing more. He didn't discover anything new, nor did he contribute to our freedoms and modern values. Those freedoms and values are the legacy of great European minds, but Columbus was not among them