A Counterfactual Columbus
Develop a counter factual narrative and revisit the story of Columbus...
Christopher Columbus had a theory. It wasn’t about gold or spices. He was convinced that somewhere across the western ocean was a land where men had peanut butter.
Peanut butter, as far as 15th-century Europe knew, could be found in the New World, but not anywhere in Europe, although whether the New World existed was contentious. Columbus heard scattered reports from sailors—tales about a spreadable paste made from peanuts, delicious and sustaining, the sort of thing that could enrich an empire if only you could nail down the supply chain.
Italy: From Florence to Venice
He first pitched the idea in Italy. The Florentine bankers who were funding such voyages wanted cargoes with a proven market: silk, pepper, cinnamon. Peanut butter was at best a highly speculative good.
In Venice, merchants listened politely, nodded, and then changed the subject to nutmeg.
Spain
So Columbus tried Spain.
Ferdinand and Isabella were preoccupied—with the Reconquista, with diplomacy, with local revolts.
Isabella, using her gift for diplomacy, asked questions in the polite but doubtful tone she used with enthusiastic but confused petitioners. “And this… 'peanut butter,' ” she said, “you believe it is in India?”
“Just so,” Columbus replied. “Though others say China. I've heard Malaysia. The accounts differ.”
Ferdinand wanted to know if peanut butter could be traded for gold. Columbus, thinking fast, said a little gold could probably be traded for a lot of peanut butter. Seeing little reaction, Columbus added quickly that peanut butter might itself contain gold. But he saw that he had lost Ferdinand's attention.
The meeting continued for hours, circling through the same topics—India, China, spices, other nut families—until the sun was low and everyone was losing focus.
In the dusk, a vague agreement emerged. Columbus would sail west. Whether he was seeking gold, spices, or peanut butter was left deliberately unclear.
Epilog
That ambiguity turned out to be useful. When he returned, having found a new continent but no sign of peanut butter, he could still claim success of a kind.
The known world was bigger, and Spain was richer, and the legend of Columbus was born.
Even though Europe would have to wait another four centuries for peanut butter.
Modern historians write about Columbus’s ambition, his miscalculations, and his luck. It's the motivation that remains—the certainty that something extraordinary must lie just beyond the edge of the map. So perhaps peanut butter was never really the point. No, it was really the idea that the world was withholding something wonderful, and that only a brave, stubborn optimist could go and find it.
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Prompt
Develop the story of a counterfactual Columbus
In this reimagined tale, Christopher Columbus, a native of Italy, dreams of sailing to the New World—not in search of gold or spices, but of peanut butter. He has heard rumors that in this mysterious land across the ocean, peanut butter can be found everywhere, spread thickly across North America, while in Europe it is unknown and unobtainable.
Columbus first tries to raise funds for his peanut butter expedition in Italy, but his pitch falls flat. Undeterred, he moves to Spain, where he once again makes his case—unsuccessfully at first. Still, he manages to catch the attention of Ferdinand and Isabella, who suspect there may be more to this voyage than nut paste.
Before long, the three of them are deep in conversation about a transatlantic journey—whether for gold, spices, India, China, or perhaps Malaysia—it’s not entirely clear. The discussion stretches late into the evening, the room growing dim as dusk settles. At last, Columbus excuses himself to return to his lodgings. It appears they have agreed to fund his voyage, though no one is entirely certain when it will happen, or even what the voyage is really for.
