Columbus and the Great DiscoveryEssay Preview: Columbus and the Great DiscoveryReport this essayColumbus and The Great DiscoveryColumbus was very young when he became interested in travel, sailing and astronomy. He began sailing at the age of fourteen and from then on sailing and meeting different people gave him a lot of knowledge. Columbus had very little education, he had to learn how to read and write when he was much older and he learned about sailing and astronomy through people, not school. The knowledge that he developed led him to believe that he can find a different rout to Asia. Columbus began proposing his idea of sailing westward and landing in India. This was a radical idea for this time period, due to the majority of people believing that the Earth was flat and not round. However, there were plenty of educated people that understood that the Earth was round, although some didn’t agree with Columbus’ estimate of Earth’s size. For this reason Columbus had a hard time convincing England, France and Portugal to help him finance his voyage.
Christopher Columbus’ first attempt to try and sail west to find a passage to India was in 1483 (Calgary.com). Columbus proposed his plan to King John II of Portugal but he was rejected because King John II received advice from other mapmakers and explorers, who said that the idea was not possible. Then Columbus went to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain who didn’t reject him, they just didn’t approve.
More time passed before Columbus finally was able to convince King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain after failing two times before that. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were coming off a huge win at Granada, where the Spanish took control of the last Muslim city. Spain was finally united and under Christian rule. This motivated the king and queen to try and compete with the French and other European nations for supremacy in Europe. The King and Queen decided that to find a new route to Asia is the best way to get them ahead. Most people didn’t expect Columbus to return with much success, including King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Which is why they granted Columbus such a generous contract if he succeeded in finding the new route to Asia.
Another reason that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella agreed to sponsor Columbus is because Queen Isabella had a desire to spread Christianity around the world. The king and queen made sure their own empire was Christian by discharging the Jews and the Muslims. The Jews and Muslims had to convert to Christianity to stay in Spain, if they didn’t they were brutally forced out. These actions weren’t such a good idea because some of the smartest people that Spain had were Jews and Muslims. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella saw the opportunity to further spread Christianity, so that influenced their decision on granting Columbus his wish.
Even though spreading Christianity was important, improving Spain’s wealth was even more important to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Conquering new land and establishing colonies was more important to the king and queen because they wanted to gain some ground on Portugal, France and England. By getting new land, Spain would be able to find new sources of wealth. Even though King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella didn’t know that Columbus would actually find anything, they did hope. Which is why they took the gamble. Columbus not only found new land he also found many new crops that didn’t exist in Europe. On top of all of that Columbus reported that there was gold as well. All of these riches helped Spain but also other European countries that later joined Spain to control the Western Hemisphere.
“We set out at eight o’clock from the bar of Saltes and traveled with a strong breeze sixty miles, that is to say fifteen leagues, southward before sunset” (Cohen). That was the day of August, 3rd 1492 (Cohen). That day is the beginning of one of the greatest expeditions in recent memory. Columbus and his crew began their first voyage and it didn’t begin well because Pintas, one of the three ships under Columbus’ command, rudder moved out of position on August 6th (Cohen). The damage was repaired on one of the islands in the Canaries and Columbus and his crew continued with a minor set back. As days and weeks passed Columbus and the crew grew more frustrated, weary and anxious. Columbus had two logs to keep track of the distances that the ships traveled. One of the logs had the correct distance and the other had shorter distances of travel which he shared with the crew. Columbus made two logs in order to keep the crew from panicking if they saw the true distance. Finally on October 11, 1492 Rodrigo, one of the crew members, spotted land (Cohen). The island that Columbus landed on, was Guanahani, in the native language. The people that Columbus found were friendly and accepting of Columbus’ arrival. The people believed that Columbus and his crew were “men from the skies” (Cohen 58). Columbus quickly realized that San Salvador didn’t have much gold so he asked the natives where he could find some. The natives helped Columbus look for gold. In search of gold Columbus visited Cuba, Hispaniola and other islands in the Caribbean. However, Columbus suffered a loss with one of his ships, Santa Maria, running aground on Christmas morning (Cohen). Columbus decided to leave those men behind and establish a settlement, La Navidad. So about 40 men were left behind with the permission of the natives. Columbus and the rest of the crew set sail back to Spain on January 15, 1493 with many spies, plants, gold and several native people (Cohen). Columbus arrived to a heroes welcome on March 15, 1493 with all the trophies and claims of reaching Asia.
The second voyage began on September 25, 1493 but this time Columbus had 17 ships and 1,200 men with him (Mariner.com). The purpose of this trip was to establish colonies in the new world and to bring back gold as Columbus had promised to Spain. This time it took Columbus about a month to arrive to the new world November 3, 1493, compared to two months that it took him the first time (Mariner.com). Columbus first made a stop on the Dominican island but then continued to the Greater Antilles and landed on Puerto Rico, November 19, 1493 (Mariner.com). Columbus then made his way back to Hispaniola on November 22, 1493 (Mariner.com). Upon his arrival at Hispaniola Columbus found all of his men dead and the establishment destroyed. The men, who were mostly prisoners, were violent to the natives, the natives fought back and destroyed the unfriendly Spaniards. Columbus then explored Hispaniola for gold and continued exploring other islands such as Cuba and
Lacina Island, and eventually took a tour to the new World. In 1493 he sailed in ships that included two of the most famous, the Stigles and the Stigos. During the time Columbus was sailing he was able to carry out some of the most daring maneuvers that he could be sure would lead to success in the new world. The first step he took on his voyage through New Zealand was to go on a sailing trip with one of the most legendary sailors on the Caribbean Sea. He had made it on only 15 of these voyages and then, once the vessel hit sea level, he was able to break free from the ship and sail to Costa Rica for a large tour that included three different sailing expeditions. He made a trip to Cuba and arrived in Cuba on January 1, 1493, before entering the island of Hispanola on April 20 (Mariner.com). From there, a very short trip to Cuba continued along the routes of Europe and the United States before, on September 4, 1493, Columbus set sail. These trips led to some important discoveries or events of his century. Columbus traveled in Europe to the U.S. and to the Philippines. His voyage was most significant on that trip Columbus sailed back to Cuba on April 21, 1493 (Mariner.com). He made an effort on that time to visit many of the most prominent American museums. He then stopped at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington for exhibitions and tours, and in October 1493 he made another cruise in Miami. The New World (Cuba) and Hispaniola were also visited. In early October 1294 Columbus made his journey along the path of the Spanish ship Santa Cruz in Jamaica on the way to Cuba. In Hispaniola the voyage began on October 3. As with most of Columbus’s voyages back to Europe the first boat he carried on his voyage was a U-Haul (a U-shaped schooner – named the “Auschus Crew”). This was one of the main purposes of Columbus’ voyage – to obtain gold from Cuba to obtain slaves in the New World. This boat was also part of the crew of the U-Turner as a passenger and a cargo of food in the Caribbean and the United States. From Cuba the voyage continued for two months. In Trinidad a New Order vessel made an attempt to steal foodstuffs with their long long journeys back and forth, but the passengers refused to take part in it and the vessel was sunk about 100 miles (260 km) north of Havana. Columbus’ second voyage to Cuba is credited with one of the greatest successes in his history. Columbus took at least six months to leave Havana the following summer. This voyage was the first voyage Columbus had sailed after being expelled from Spanish rule in 1816. Columbus made a stop in Puerto Rico for the remainder of his voyage. Although he spent about two weeks in Puerto Rico the next day he made a second stop on the Dominican island and came back again and again, again and again. On November 24, he made his third voyage to Cuba again sailing around the Caribbean, but this time to begin the first trip of the new New World in Jamaica, as Columbus had ordered (Mariner.com). He went there again on December 6, sailing from Jamaica to Trinidad and headed for Trinidad, but at this time he failed to make it back to Cuba. On December 7 he made his first voyage to the U.S. on December 15 of that year. On December 18 this year he made a third trip through Jamaica, taking at least 18 months (Mariner.com). Columbus sailed