The discovery of America by Christopher Columbus had a surprise element.

Columbus thought he had discovered India.

Explanation:

This was actually a surprising factor because after discovering America, it turned out that Columbus all along thought he had discovered India. That is why the native population was called Indians. After the first expedition, Columbus visited America twice more. The original expedition sailed to the Bahamas, and the next two led by Columbus ended up in Cuba and Haiti.

the reform movements that arose during the antebellum period in america focused on specific issues: temperance, abolishing imprisonment for debt, pacifism, antislavery, abolishing capital punishment, amelioration of prison conditions (with prison's purpose reconceived as rehabilitation rather than punishment), the humane treatment of animals, the humane and just treatment of native americans, the establishment of public institutions for the care of the destitute, orphans, blind, and mentally ill, the establishment of public schools, the abolition of tobacco use, vegetarianism, health reform, homeopathic medicine, woman's rights (including, at first, especially the establishment of a woman's right to own property apart from her husband and her right to sue for divorce), and the amelioration of labor conditions (including higher pay, the right to form unions, the right to strike, and the demand for limits on the number of work hours, and safe working conditions).

explanation: