Christopher Columbus: The Hero

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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. Christopher waited on the queen for a meeting for over nine month with no funds due to her rigorous schedule; on his journey to meet the queen he walked in to a physicians shop and began a relationship with his daughter. Columbus eventually had a child with his mistress, but was unable to marry her do the fact that she was a peasant and that he already had a wife with must higher social status. Columbus would have given his social placement up for this women but could not, it is said that she was constantly on his conscience. By the time Christopher reached early thirties he was a master mariner in the Portuguese merchant service, which was the finest merchant marine of that time. He had sailed from above the artic circle to almost the equator and from the eastern Aegean to the outer Azores. He had learned as much as he possible could about the sea in... ... middle of paper ... ...us brought America to the attention of the civilized world, to the growing, scientific civilizations of Western Europe. The result, ultimately, was the United States of America. It was Columbus’ discovery for Western Europe that led to the arrival of ideas and people on which this nation was founded on. The voyages of Christopher Columbus contain one of the great adventure stories of all time. His first journey across thousands of miles of unknown ocean, in the middle of the rebellious grievances and tensions of his crew, was not only one of the most significant achievements of recorded human history, but was also a demonstration of Columbus's dominance as mariner and navigator. For a while he had faults and defects, which brought turmoil to his personal life, but there was no flaw, no dark side to the most significant of all his qualities, of course his seamanship.

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