He died in obscurity, unappreciated and penniless. Yet without his daring, American history would have been very different. The first mistake of textbooks is to underplay previous explorers. People from other continents had reached America many times before 1492. Even if Columbus had never sailed, other Europeans would have soon reached the Americas.
Several textbooks claim that Europe was becoming richer and that the new wealth led to more trade.
Actually, Europe was smaller and poorer in the 15th century than it had been in the 13th, owing in part to the bubonic plague. The changes in Europe not only prompted Columbus' voyage, but they also paved the way for Europe's domination of the world for the next 500 years. Perhaps foremost among the significant factors the textbooks leave out are advances in military technology. Around 1400, European rulers began to commission even bigger guns and learned to mount then on ships. Europe's incessant wars gave rise to the arms race.