Early Life
In 1451 in Genoa, Italy, Christopher Columbus (or Cristoforo Colombo in Italian) was born to father Domenico Colombo and mother Susanna Fontanarossa. Sixteen years later, Christopher Columbus first went to sea on a trip to Iceland. In 1476, the commercial ship that Columbus was on was attacked by French privateers off the coast of Portugal. The ship sank, and Columbus swam ashore to Portugal. There Columbus began to work as a cartographer with his brother, Bartholomew, and married Felipa Perestrello Moniz. Felipa gave birth to their son Diego Colon in 1480. Later, in 1488, Columbus had another son, Ferdinand (a.k.a. Fernando), with Dona Beatriz Enriquez after moving to Spain after his wife died.
Approval
While his wife was still alive, Christopher Columbus formulated a plan to find faster sea trade route to the Indies through the Atlantic. However, Columbus needed funding to support this voyage. Columbus was first rejected by the king of Portugal in 1484. He was also rejected in Genoa and Venice, Italy. In 1486, Columbus petitioned to the Spanish court and was agin denied. Afterwards, in 1487, he was rejected by King Henry the VII of England and King Charles VIII of France. Columbus tried again in 1491 with the Spanish King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella where he was once again turned down. A year later Columbus appealed to the King and Queen again and was finally accepted.
The VoyageIn August of that year, Christopher Columbus, along with his son, Fernando, set off from Palos, Spain. Of the three ships on the voyage--the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria (shown on the right)--Columbus road aboard the Santa Maria. The three ships carried 120 men.
"In fourteen hundred ninety-two, |
The voyage officially began on September 8th, 1942. Thirty-six days later, Columbus landed in the Bahamas, naming the island he and the other sailors had landed on San Salvador. They began to trade with the natives, and, believing he had successfully found a route to the Indies, called them Indians. On October 28th, the fleet moved on to modern day Cuba. On December 5th, the Santa Maria sank off the coast of Hispaniola. Regardless, Christopher Columbus and his men established the first Spanish settlement in the New World on Hispaniola.
Afterwards
Columbus and his crew left the New World in January, 1493, believing it to be the Indies. He arrived back in Spain in March and gave the great news to the to the Spanish court. Columbus' next voyages would largely focus on the search for gold and other riches. In that same year, 1493, Christopher Columbus went on a second voyage to the New World accompanied by Juan Ponce de Leon. On his third voyage in 1498, Columbus became the first European to to land in South America.
While Columbus was exploring the New World and searching for riches, he had left the settlements he established in the charge of his brothers. Soon, problems begin to arise in the settlements, and Columbus is blamed. After his third voyage, Columbus is arrested and sent back to Spain. The charges were dropped, but he is stripped of his titles and much of his riches.
Columbus went on his fourth voyage after convincing King Ferdinand to give him one more chance. While on this voyage, Columbus convinced the natives that he could take away the moon by consulting an almanac and predicting the next lunar eclipse. He, therefore, gained control over them. Not long after, in 1504, Columbus returned to Spain. He died in 1506 in Spain never knowing he had discovered a new continent.
While Columbus was exploring the New World and searching for riches, he had left the settlements he established in the charge of his brothers. Soon, problems begin to arise in the settlements, and Columbus is blamed. After his third voyage, Columbus is arrested and sent back to Spain. The charges were dropped, but he is stripped of his titles and much of his riches.
Columbus went on his fourth voyage after convincing King Ferdinand to give him one more chance. While on this voyage, Columbus convinced the natives that he could take away the moon by consulting an almanac and predicting the next lunar eclipse. He, therefore, gained control over them. Not long after, in 1504, Columbus returned to Spain. He died in 1506 in Spain never knowing he had discovered a new continent.