http://www.LaRouchePAC.com As the Venetian Empire retaliated against the political and cultural advancements resulting from the great Classical Renaissance, plunging Europe into chaos and war, waves of courageous settlers launched expeditions from the shores of war-tormented Europe, inspired by Christopher Columbus' evangelical missions of discovery, to plant new seeds for civilization in the New World. These settlers were no refugees, but theirs were the efforts of pioneers dedicated to enshrine the best of the cultural achievements of modern European civilization at a relative distance from the system of oligarchical reigns and warfare dominating their homelands.