Christopher Columbus And The Discovery Of The New World
Most probably Christopher Columbus was always interested in sailing and the adventure associated with going out to sea. At least, that is what he claimed. He said that he went out for the first time into the sea when he was a young boy of just ten. No one knows whether this is a fact or not. Nonetheless, his interest in sailing and finding new lands and sea routes were instrumental in him discovering the New World. Imagine if Columbus had not discovered the New World? |
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After convincing the king and queen of Spain to sponsor his trip to discover new trade routes in the west to Asia, Christopher Columbus set sail on 3 August 1492. With a short stop at Canary Islands to restock his three ships, Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria, Columbus set sail to find new trading routes to Asia. Little did he know what an important role he would play in history.
More than a month after leaving Spain, the Pinta was the first to sight land. It was a sailor who spotted this land. However, later Columbus claimed that he had seen a light long before the sailor had seen it. This allowed Columbus to keep a reward to himself which he had assured that he would give anyone who would spy land first. This land was an island, and most probably it was what we know as Bahamas today. However, when Columbus landed on the island, he christened it San Salvador. He wrote in his diary that the locals had a different name for it which was Guanahani. Columbus spent time here checking out the island and the other islands around it. However, since he did not find any wealth or riches to take back to Spain, he decided to journey further.
The next island that he discovered was Cuba. He thought that he had managed to sail all the way to China. He sent two men to find the emperor of China, but it was not to be. However, they did find a village named Taino, where the two men saw the tribal men smoking tobacco, a habit that they picked up immediately.
Thereafter, Columbus made his way to Hispaniola. The date was 5 December. The indigenous people called the island Haiti, but Columbus re-christened it as La Espanola, which got corrupted to Hispaniola when Columbus' journal was translated. It was here that the ship Columbus was got grounded and it was decided to abandon it. He boarded the Nina and decided to leave behind 40 men on the island before setting sail for Spain.
It was this historic first voyage of Christopher Columbus that was instrumental in the Spaniards discovering the Americas and establishing colonies there. However, during Columbus' time, the voyage was viewed as a disaster, as he was unable to find a shorter and faster route to the Far East trade markets. He had promised the king and queen of Spain that he would bring back spices and silk from China. However, on his return, he did not have these gifts. Instead, he brought back some indigenous people from Hispaniola, and some beads and trinkets. On the other hand, Columbus saw potential in the indigenous people and felt that money could be made through slave trade. However, the queen of Spain did not allow the New World indigenous people to become part of the slave trade. This was to come on much later.
While Christopher Columbus refused to acknowledge till he passed away that he did not find Asia, his discovery of the New World allowed other explorers later on to make their way to these lands and establish colonies and settlements.
More Articles :
About.com: Latin American History: The First New World Voyage of Christopher Columbus (1492)
http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/
latinamericatheconquest/p/Columbusfirst.htm
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The credit for discovering Americas goes to Christopher Columbus, who was under the impression that he had discovered India. While everyone knows this fact today, very few people know anything about Christopher Columbus' birth and life prior to the discovery of the Americas. So, reading his biography is always an interesting read. 