Christopher Colombus

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa Italy in 1451, a time when educated Europeans knew the earth was round, not flat as some had previously thought. As a young man, he studied geography and went to sea. Then he set out to solve a major problem: Europeans wanted spices from India and China. But it was costly to import them overland or sail them all the way around Africa. Columbus decided to find a new sea-route from Europe to Asia. He reasoned that since the world is round, he could eventually reach the East by sailing west. In 1492, Columbus persuaded King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to finance his experiment. They provided 3 small ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, and the expedition sailed into the unknown. By October 9th after a month at sea, the frustrated sailors were ready to rebel. Columbus agreed to look for land for 3 more days and turn back. Then on October 12th, 1492, a sailor aboard the Pinta cried out, he had spotted land. It was a small island in the Bahamas, probably the one commonly known as Watlings Island, now officially called San Salvador. Columbus and the sailors boarded a small boat, arrived on shore and stepped on the land that would one day be called the Americas. But Columbus believed he was near the coast of Asia and the Islands of the East Indies. He called the people who greeted him Indians, a name that stuck, causing a case of mistaken identity to last for centuries. Columbus returned to Spain taking gold, parrots, and some Native Americans to show the King and Queen. It was the high point of his career. The great navigator made 3 more trips to the New World. He believed he had sailed to Asia, but felt like a failure because he hadn't found the new shipping route for spices he had been searching for. Columbus died a disappointed man on May 20th, 1506. The question of what Columbus accomplished didn't end with his death. For hundreds of years, people believed he was the first European to find America. Today we know that Vikings reached North America 5 centuries earlier. While Columbus's voyage opened up a whole new world for Europeans to explore, it ultimately spelled a disaster for the Native Americans. Columbus made 1492 one of the pivotal years in world history. And for both good and bad, the New World and the old were changed forever.