My name is Christopher Columbus. I was born in the Italian city of Genoa in the year 1451. My father was a wool weaver and merchant who sold cloth. Genoa was famous for its traders, map-makers, and explorers and many men became sailers.
I went to sea at the age of fourteen. In 1476, the ship on which I was aboard was attacked off the coast of Portugal. I managed to swim six miles to Lisbon. There I joined my brother Bartholomew, who was a chart maker. I also became a chart maker for a short period of time. I worked as a sugar buyer in the Portuguese islands off of Africa. From 1477-1482, I made merchant voyages as far as Iceland and Guinea. During this time I met pilots and navigators who believed in the existence of islands farther west. I settled in Lisbon and married the daughter of a Portuguese nobleman. By the time I was 32, I had become a master mariner in the Portuguese merchant service.
Influenced by my brother and Alonso Pinzon, I believed that I could reach land by sailing farther west. I began seeking support for a voyage to the west. After being turned down several times, I finally gained the support of Ferdinand and Isabella after they conquered Granada. On August 3, 1492, I left Palos, Spain for my trip to the new world. I left with three ships, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, which I commanded. I first stopped in the Canary Islands and then sailed west until October 7th, when I change my course to Southwest. On October 12, I landed on a small island in the Bahamas. I found Cuba on October 27 and reached Hispaniola on December 5. Leaving some men to found a colony, I returned to Spain on the Nina. In October 1493, I set out on a second expedition and discovered Puerto Rico before arriving at Hispaniola to find the colony destroyed by Native Americans. I left in 1494 to explore the southern coast of Cuba. I left my brother in charge of the colony and returned to Spain in 1496.
In 1499 I was the one to succeed Christopher Columbus , sent by king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Upon my arrival in the Colony of Santo Domingo on Hispaniola in August 1500, I upheld accusations of mismanagement made by Columbus, and had Columbus sent back to Spain in chains.
He left from Spain with six ships, three to deliver supplies to the colonies in the New World, and three for the exploration to find a more direct route to Asia, which Columbus believed he would find. He sailed to the Canary islands, then west across the Atlantic. On this voyage, Columbus got stuck in the “horse latitudes”, areas where the wind is especially calm. During this time, the crews ran low on water. They reached land on the 31th of July, in present day Trinidad. The quantity of fresh water entering the ocean had Columbus conclude he was on a continent. He concluded that the “Garden of Eden” was on this new continent. In the next months, Columbus continued to explore the surrounding areas, looking for gold and the Garden of Eden. Columbus sailed to one of his previous settlements to find citizens there rebelling against the tyrannic rule he had established there. The exact date of his return to Europe was unknown, however in 1500, the Spanish crown stripped him of his Governor
In 1492, Christopher Columbus was a self-made man who worked his way up to being the Captain of a merchant vessel. He gained the support of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, for an expedition to the Indies. With the support of the Spanish monarchy, he set off to find a new and faster trade route to the Indies. Upon the arrival of his first voyage, Columbus wrote a letter to Luis de Santangel, a “royal official and an early supporter of his venture,” in February 1493 (35). The epistle, letter, entitled “Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage” was copied and then distributed in Spain before being translated and spread throughout Europe. The Letter is held in such regard with the people as it is considered the first printed description of the new world. Through his description of the nature of the islands, Columbus decided the future fate of the islands. His description of the vast beauty of the nature around him, declares both the economic and nationalistic motivations for colonizing the new world.
Religion played a major role in expansion for both the Portuguese and the Spanish due to their extensive anti-Muslim crusade. Due to the over zealous religious fervor of the Christian Iberians, Christianity and thus the Iberians expanded into parts of western Europe during the crusades as Christians tried to convert the Muslims who were occupying this area. The Iberians did not stop with the European mainland; they were also expanding overseas. They were interested in the fertile land of the Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores and Cape Verde. These islands would also prove to be strategic acquisitions for the Iberians, as they would eventually provide the Iberians with bases and ports to be used for commerce. Throughout the 15th century the Spanish and Portuguese had been exploring lands throughout the Atlantic which drove Queen Isabella of Spain to commission Christopher Columbus in 1492 to “Discover and acquire islands and mainland in the ocean sea” (p.340) which eventually led to the discovery of North America.
It is thought by many that Christopher Columbus was a skilled sailor on a mission of greed. Many think that he in fact did it all for the money, honor and the status that comes with an explorer, but this is not the case entirely. Columbus was an adventurer and was enthused by the thrill of the quest of the unknown. “Columbus had a firm religious faith and a scientific curiosity, a zest for life, the felling for beauty and the striving for novelty that we associate with the advancement of learning”. He had heard of the legendary Atlantic voyages and sailors reports of land to the west of Madeira and the Azores. He believed that Japan was about 4,800 km to the west of Portugal. In 1484, Columbus wanted support for an exploratory voyage from King John II of Portugal, but he was refused. In 1485, Columbus took his son Diego and went to Spain to get some help.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, which started a huge push by European nations to gain power and wealth, mainly in the way of building Empires in the New World. This was called the Age of Exploration and lasted from the late 15th to the early 17th century. Spain, under King Ferdinand II of Aragon, was the first nation to do this. Juan Ponce de León was a conquistador and one of the earlier voyagers to the New World in the European Age of Exploration, he accomplished several notable things in his life, but overall and looking in hindsight he is seen as a failure when compared to other conquistadors.
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. However, even after centuries later, little is truly known of the mysterious voyage and findings of the new world.1 By examining “Letter from Columbus to Luis Santangel”, one can further contextualize the events of Columbus' exploration of the New World. The letter uncovers Columbus' subtle hints of his true intentions and exposes his exaggerated tone that catered to his lavish demands with Spain. Likewise, The Columbian Voyage Map read in accordance with the letter helps the reader track Columbus' first, second, third, and fourth voyage to the New World carefully and conveniently. Thus, the letter and map's rarity and description render invaluable insight into Columbus' intentionality of the New World and its indigenous inhabitants.
Everyone knows the saying Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. However, there is a lot more to Christopher Columbus than what everyone was taught in elementary school through high school. Columbus is thought to be a hero, but just being classified as a hero is a fallacy. Several works including Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies and The Lies my Teacher Told Me have been published about the real Christopher Columbus and his legacy.
Christopher Columbus, one of the most famous explorers with an extraordinary legacy was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. He was an Italian explorer and navigator and is very well known for his four voyages and his “discovery” of the New World. Columbus began sailing when he was just a teenager in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. Later, he moved to Lisbon, Portugal and then Spain, where he spent the rest of his life. Columbus’ purpose was to find a passage to Asia by sailing West, but during his voyage he ended up in the Caribbeans and South America. Columbus’ proposal was turned down by King John of Portugal and the rulers of England and France. After several years of being declined, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella funded Columbus’ voyage
When Christopher Columbus found all the funds for the voyage they were ready to set sail on the Atlantic. “Columbus sailed for King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain. On his first trip, Columbus led an expedition with three ships, the Niña (captained by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón), the Pinta (owned and captained by Martin Alonzo Pinzon), and the Santa Maria (captained by Columbus), and about 90 crew members. They set sail on Aug. 3, 1492 from Palos, Spain” (EnchantedLearning). “Once underway, Columbus benefited from
Age of Explorations was a time of discovery of the new world during the 15th through 17th century. Many Explorers were in search for new passage ways, new trading ports, new land, new spices, and riches. The three explorers discussed in this paper is Henry Hudson, Jacques Cartier, and Francisco Pizarro. Henry Hudson was an explorer whose main purpose was to find a route to Asia from Europe, he had a series of three voyages trying to achieve this. Jacques Cartier was sent to find riches and a route to Asia as well. Francisco Pizarro served on an expedition, which he discovered the Pacific Ocean.
Spanish 10th essay Ponce De Leon Don Juan Ponce de Leon "To bad he had to kick the bucket!" Don Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish conqueror and explorer. He was born around 1460 in San Tervas de Campos, Spain. Ponce de Leon lived in an age of great discovery and excitement. Ponce de Leon is well known, claiming and naming what is now Florida, the discovery of Puerto Rico, and his never-ending search for the old time classic, the Fountain of Youth! On November 19, 1493 Ponce de Leon was one of the first Europeans to see the small island of Borinquen, the Indian name for Puerto Rico.
Columbus and Champlain were both devoted to the success of their expeditions; however, Columbus had far more selfish intentions. Columbus was an Italian who sought aid for a journey that would travel across the Atlantic Ocean in search for riches in the East. His support did not come easy as he was rejected by the courts of Portugal, France, and England. Ultimately, Columbus was able to gain authorization and funding for a voyage to begin in 1492 by the Spanish monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel. After starting the long awaited expedition in April, Columbus was able to reach the West Indies by October of that year. Upon encountering the New World, Columbus immediately claimed the land along with its natives for his Spanish sovereigns.
Many know Christopher Columbus from a riddle we were taught as kids ‘In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, With the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Marie. Where he found America.” This information that was imbedded in our thoughts and minds is false just as much as it is true. Christopher Columbus was a
Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen-hundred-ninty-two. He came over from Spain in three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria and discovered America, or at least that was what I was taught in elementary school. Since then there has been much controversy going on over the issue of weather or not Christopher Columbus really “discovered” America because when he landed in San Salvador he was not alone. Native Americans already inhabited the land and they had been there long before Columbus, but this doesn’t mean that he should be atacked stripped of his dignity.