China Could Have Discovered America 70 Years Before Columbus

China had massive ships but chose isolation over exploration #history #china #columbus #facts

Transcript

00:00Did you know China had ships that could have reached America 70 years before Columbus, but chose not to?

00:06Admiral Zheng He's treasure ships were over 400 feet long, while Columbus' Santa Maria was only 85 feet.

00:14Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven massive expeditions across the oceans.

00:21His fleets had 300 ships and 30,000 crew members, reaching Southeast Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, and East Africa.

00:29These weren't exploration missions, they were displays of Chinese power and wealth.

00:35But after the seventh voyage, China's new emperor decided to turn inward and abandon ocean exploration.

00:43China had the technology, the ships, and the knowledge to discover the Americas decades before Europeans.

00:50Instead, they chose isolation over exploration.

00:53One political decision changed the course of world history.