Christopher+Columbus

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus, born in Italy in 1451, was one of the most influent i al explorers who ever lived due to his discovery or the West Ind i es. His discovery of the islands was actua l ly an accident. He was hoping to find a westward route to India to trade sp i ces. Even to his death, Columbus actua ll y believed he had found India, desp it e the "inaccurate" descriptions of the natives tha t lived there. Columbus’ father was a weaver and wool merchant in Genoa, Italy. But for some reason, Columbus was always drawn to the sea. He shipwrecked off the coast of Portugal in 1476, and while he was there, he married Doña Felipa Perestrello, who bore him a son, Diego. She died in 1485. At around the same time, with the Turkish capture of Constantinople, prices of oriental goods skyrocketed for Europe, and Columbus heard of a fortune to be made if a route westward to India could be found. He set out to do just that, and he asked King John of Portugal for help, but they were too busy rounding the coast of Africa. A few years later, after the Spanish war with the Moors, he pressed the Spanish monarchs for the same help. Columbus sailed for King Ferdinand of Granada and Queen I sabel l a of Castile. It took a long time of convincing the Crown, as they were ca l led, for them to fina l ly fund h is voyage west to "India . " He had hoped the wor l d was much smaller than i t actually is, as he had pred i cted that Asia was only around 2,500 miles west of Spain. After about 2 months of sa i ling, he and his crew finally found land in October of 1492. Not know i ng that this was in fact the islands of the Caribbean, and not Ind i a, h e wrote that t he natives were gentle a n d trust i ng, and that they cou l d easily be enslaved f or Spain. He also t raded with t he natives fo r gold tha t he would eventua l ly bring back to Sp a in. H e was ve r y wel l rece i ved back in Spain, and the Crown was eager t o send h im off on a second vo y age to explore more. But i n stead of t h e 3 ships he had ta k en on the first voyage, Columbus now h ad a f leet of 17 ships and a c l ear goal: to make colonies and get gol d and silve r. As he cont i nued to explore, he too k natives as slaves and set up many colonies. He established a base at H ispan i ola (modern Haiti and Dominican Republic), and sailed back to Spa i n i n late 1493. Co l umbus ' last voyages were filled with more discovery, as he had sailed farther south into Sou t h America and had sailed farther west, and into mode r n Mexico.
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The Co l umb i an Exchange was the tr ade of gold, anima l s, and plants, the o u tbreak of disease, and the colonization of the West I ndies after Chr i stopher Columbus d i scovered them. These exchanges are a big pa rt of what makes up the modern Western Hemisphere. It was a h u ge benefit for Europe, because they now had a constant source of income f r om t h e gold, as  we l l as new colonies in a foreign l and. However, it was a catastrophe fo r t he Na t ive Amer i cans. Nearly h alf of them died as a result of European diseases, and many of them we r e subject to slavery. Still, Christopher Columbus’ voyages were a makor Part of what became the Western World.
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Works Cited “Christopher Columbus: Explorer.” //302 Found.// Enchanted Learning. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. []. “Christopher Columbus.” //United States American History.// Web. 04 Apr. 2012. . “Columbus Day Menu.” //Christopher Columbus Biography.// Microsoft Encarta. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. []. "Columbus's Early Years." //The Early Life of Columbus//. Keith A. Pickering, 2010. Web. 04 Apr. 2012. . “Voyages of Christopher Columbus.” //ThinkQuest//. Oracle Foundation. Web. 04. Apr. 2012. [].