Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. He went to sea as a young man. He made trips down the western coast of Africa, and north to Iceland. According to legend, Columbus sailed with a fleet headed for England in 1476. While they were off the coast of Portugal, pirates attacked the ships, and Columbus's ship was sunk. He swam to shore at Libson. He and his brother Bartholomew opened a store in 1479 in Libson. They sold maps in the store. Columbus's interest in maps lead him to the conclusion that you could get to Asia by sailing west from Europe.
Accomplishments
In the first voyage Columbus thought he could get to Japan by sailing west. He asked Queen Isabella pay for the voyage, but Spain was fighting a war and couldn't afford it. He waited for six years, and finally the war was over and she gave him three ships. The ships were called the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria, he rested and then he out for Japan.. The crew began to worry. They were used to seeing land, but now they could not even see rock. Even thought the men got discouraged, Columbus kept telling them that land must be close. They sailed for thirty-seven days and finally, on the evening of October 11, they saw an island. Columbus told everyone to drop anchor. They were going to wait until morning to set foot on the land, but most of the men just stayed on the deck staring at the island on the horizon. In the morning they went to the island and claimed it for Spain and called it San Salvador.
Even though Columbus didn't find any Japanese, he know that he must be close to Japan. He kept exploring nearby islands. When he found the island of Cuba, he thought that is was mainland China. Next he found the island of Hispaniola, which is now the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. On their trip around the island, the Santa Maria was lost. Columbus built a fort and left thirty-nine men behind to search for gold. Then he returned to Spain, where he was treated like a hero.
Columbus left on his second voyage, on September 25, 1493. This time he sailed with a fleet of seventeen ships. The queen sent fifteen hundred men, to build a colony and search for gold. On this voyage, Columbus claimed forty-four new islands for Spain. When he reached the site of the fort they had built on Hispaniola, there was nothing there. When they went ashore, a local chief told Columbus that the Spaniards had been so cruel, that the natives had killed them all. Columbus started new colonies, and Spaniards continued to treat the local people in cruel ways. The Spanish settlers didn't like Columbus either, so they sent a ship back to complain to the queen. Columbus was forced to return to Spain to defend himself against the settler's charges. The queen only gave him a warning.
In 1498, Columbus once again set out for the new land he had. But Queen Isabella didn't trust Columbus as a governor, so she sent a new one. The governor didn't having Columbus around, so he sent him home in chains.
Columbus went on his fourth and final voyage in 1502. He reached the coast of South America, and was confused. Columbus thought the only continent in the area was China. He thought that maybe this new continent was the Garden of Eden. He continued to look for a strait, or at least one of the golden palaces he had always hoped to find. He didn't find either one
Later Life
Columbus returned to Spain in 1504, after his fourth voyage. He was fifty-four years old. Even though he was in poor health, he still wanted to go to sea again. Unfortunately, Queen Isabella was dead, and he could not find anyone to finance another trip. By this time, many people believed that a new continent had been found. Columbus, however, never stopped believing that he had been to Asia.
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