Introduction

In 1492 he sailed the ocean blue to discover a new way to sail west to Asia. Although he never accomplished this mission he did receive credit for the discovery of the America's. He explored mostly the Caribbean and parts of Central and South America.

Early Life

Christopher Columbus was born is Genoa, part of present day Italy, in 1451. He had three brothers, Bartholomew, Giovanni, and Giacomo; and a sister named Bianchinetta. Christopher became an apprentice in his fathers wool weaving business, also studying mapmaking and sailing in spare time. After a while he decided to leave his fathers business and join the Genoese fleet and sail the Mediterranean Sea. He stayed in Portugal with his brother after one of his ships wrecked off the coast, while he was there he worked as a cartographer and bookseller.

Early Life

While in Portugal he married Doña Felipa Perestrello e Moniz and had two sons Diego and Fernando. Christopher owned a copy of Marco Polo's world famous book, this gave him a love for exploration. During the mid 15th century, Portugal was desperately trying to find a faster route to Asia. Though, Europeans often had to travel through the Middle East to reach Asia. During this time Muslim nations imposed high taxes on European travels crossing through. This making is difficult and expensive to reach Asia. Rumors of sailing west could be done to reach Asia but no one had ever tried before, Christopher heard about this and decided to try to do so himself. First he needed ships and supplies, this required money that he did not have.

Christopher went to King John of Portugal who turned him down. He then went to the rulers of England, and France. Each of them declined his request for funding. After seven years of trying, he was finally sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. It was now time to start his expedition.

Voyages

Principal Voyage

Columbus' voyage departed in august of 1492 having 87 men sailing on three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María. Columbus commanded the Santa María. This was the first of his four trips, he headed west from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean. On October 12 land was sighted. He gave the first island he landed on the name San Salvador, although the native population called it Guanahani. Columbus believed that he was in Asia, but was actually in the Caribbean. He even proposed that the island of Cuba was a part of China. Since he thought he was in the Indies, he called the native people “Indians.” In several letters he wrote back to Spain, he described the landscape and his encounters with the natives. He continued sailing throughout the Caribbean and named many islands he encountered after his ship, king, and queen: La Isla de Santa María de Concepción, Fernandina, and Isabella.

Voyages

Subsequent Voyages

Columbus took three other similar trips to this region. His second voyage in 1493 carried a large fleet with the intention of conquering the native populations and establishing colonies. At one point, the natives attacked and killed the settlers left at Fort Navidad. Over time the colonists enslaved many of the natives, sending some to Europe and using many to mine gold for the Spanish settlers in the Caribbean. The third trip was to explore more of the islands and mainland South America further. Columbus was appointed the governor of Hispaniola, but the colonists, upset with Columbus’ leadership appealed to the rulers of Spain, who sent a new governor: Francisco de Bobadilla. Columbus was taken prisoner on board a ship and sent back to Spain.