Christopher Columbus

INTRODUCTION

Christopher Columbus is well known as the man who discovered America. The events that led up to the voyage of discovery were in fact a series of rejections and coincidence. When Christopher Columbus set out on his voyage, the world was believed to be flat. Christopher Columbus believed travelling west he could theoretically find the Indies, therefore creating a new trade route. This one mistake ended up being one of the biggest discovery of his time.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS EARLY LIFE

The exact date of Christopher Columbus is not a known fact but it is estimated by scholars that he was born sometime between August and October in the year 1451. His father was a merchant and also a weaver living in Genoa.

Christopher Columbus spent many of his teenage years at sea travelling all around the known world of the time. He eventually settled in Portugal when he was on land.

FINDING PATRONAGE FOR THE VOYAGE WEST

It was to the Portuguese that Christopher Columbus first attempted to gain patronage to fund an expedition to travel west to the Indies. This first proposal was met with rejection and so in turn he took to asking the French and the English trying to secure patronage for this voyage. France and England also turned the idea down and so he next tried Spain.

Eventually King Ferdinand and his wife Queen Isabella agreed to fund Christopher Columbus and his voyage. Christopher then set sail with a fleet of only three ships on August 3, 1492. The three ships that set sail for the Indies were:

• The Nina
• The Santa Maria
• The Pinta

It took ten weeks before Christopher Columbus was to find land.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE BAHAMAS

On October 12, 1492 Christopher Columbus and some of his crew set foot on one of the Islands that later became known as the Bahamas. From there he explored the many other Caribbean Islands. The main three islands he discovered on that first journey included:

• San Salvador
• Hispaniola
• Cuba

Christopher Columbus believed these islands were in the Indies and so the locals became known as Indians. Christopher Columbus later returned to Spain believing he had landed in the Indies and discovered new lands.

CONCLUSION

Christopher Columbus went on to further voyages out West and uncovered many different new lands but the one place he wanted to find always remained elusive. We know today the reason for this was because he landed in the Americas and not in the Indies as he had believed. This was how a whole continent had been discovered by accident and mistake.