As I mentioned before I have always heard the saying but was always uncertain as to Columbus’ claim to fame. After reading about him I realized he had lots going for him other than the famous boats the Nina and Pinta. I thought it was interesting how his life before setting sail was rough, he was washed onto the shores of Portugal and his wife died during their marriage. “The Lord having opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies” (p. 51). This quote to me says that he really had his mind set to finding the land and he was a very persistent and religious man. I found the picture of Columbus leaving Ferdinand and Isabel to be somewhat comical because of the boats in the background just waiting for him to get…
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella promised Columbus that if he succeeded he would be given the rank of “Admiral of the Ocean Sea” and appointed Viceroy and Governor of all the new lands he could claim for Spain. Columbus was to be believed as a greedy man; however he did promise a reward to the sailor who spotted land. Given the quantity of the supplies it could be implied that this voyage was funded, some feared we would run out of food and other supplies. About half of the financing was to come from private Italian investors, whom Columbus had already lined up. After becoming broke from the Granada campaign, the monarchs left it to the royal treasurer to shift funds among various royal accounts on behalf of the enterprise. Columbus was to be made "Admiral of the Seas" and would receive a portion of all profits. The terms were unusually generous, but the monarchs did not really expect him to return. Many of my crew members became filled with doubt because no one believed that we would comeback as well, which is to be believed why the others on the other ships were feeling uneasy about this voyage. However my genes thirsted for adventure and exploration. Not for such profit as Columbus, but for the dangerous land no man has seen.…
Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, born in the year 1451, voyaged across the Atlantic in search of a westward passage for direct trade with Asia in 1492. With burning ambitions, Columbus traveled to claim wealth and power for Spain and to convert the “pagans” of the New World to Christianity. Following in Spain’s footsteps to expand their country’s empires to the Americas, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands would send elite navigators to venture across the Atlantic Ocean in hopes to claim land and acquire power, only to soon realize a gigantic landmass blocked the western route. In addition, the English were also interested in the New World’s offers to its country; multitudes of opportunities to become rich and powerful, as well as offering an expedition that seemed promising with the abundance of information that came about from other European countries’ past voyages and various maritime technological advancements.…
Columbus’s letter to the king and queen of Spain was full of discourse regarding how, what he thought was India, would benefit the country economically. He crafted the letter to make sure that the rulers of Spain would see the many benefits of continuing the conquest of the Americas. For example, he stated that “It has many ports along the sea- coast” and the land possessed “ many spices, and vast mines of gold and other metals”. By stating these things he is setting a scene for the future that if Spain continues to conquest these lands adn to finance more exploration it will benefit financially without having to assert much effort. The spices and gold would be exported and could be shipped to Spain easily through the many seaports he describes and inevitably help Spain economically.…
Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy and died in 1506. He is the one who discovered the continent of America. He is a navigator, colonizer, and explorer. He had four voyages to accomplish his goal, which was to find the new land that Europeans did not know. Since 1484, he suggested supports for many trips to kings or queens in Spain, England, Portugal, and France but all those plans got rejected. Later, he got supports from Queen Isabella and King Fernando from Spain. Christopher Columbus started to make treaty with them. He suggested to have ten percent of money that he earned, one eighth of all trade was his, and wanted himself to be a governor if the land was colonized by him. Queen Isabella and…
Although this enthusiasm was well founded, there was modest comprehension of the degree of what had been revealed. Scholars of the time found it inconceivable that the small islands first sighted by Columbus were connected fully. The precepts of traditional cosmography that were based of biblical beliefs worried geographers of the time that such an astounding discovery of an unnoticed hemisphere would question this belief. The adjustment of the Old World would be slow and often brutal. However, with the acquisition of gold, territorial, and Christianity expansion, there was much desire. The prudence and inquisitiveness were apparent, but the desire for mass conversion ensued for Europe could acknowledge the New World only by imposing its authority over…
Many attribute Christopher Columbus with daring and ingenuity for having the initiative to sail into the unknown and discover North America. In reality, however, it was a mission doomed to failure. He ignored the (accurate) counsel of the top scientists of his day, insisting that his hypothesis that the world is round (true) was possible but if it was true then there would be an arc much larger than his calculations indicated between Europe’s west tip to the east of Asia, specifically India. Had he not stumbled upon North America, which he thought was India, (Hence Native Americans being referred to as Indians) his men would have mutinied or perished from dehydration or starvation. His folly led to an accidental discovery of a new continent, but was not based on his greatness. Rather, it was based on his ignorance and…
1492: Conquest of Paradise is a movie directed by Ridley Scott and it was released in 1992. The main character Christopher Columbus was played by Gerard Depardieu and the movie was about his attempt to find a way to go to India by sailing west. The movie begins with Columbus teaching his son how the earth is round. Then Columbus thinks about the ways to get to India and that the best way was to go west. The people in Salamanca agreed to seeing his proposal all they do is laugh at it and challenge his idea. Even though the council rejected the idea he goes to Queen Elizabeth I which is played by Sigourney Weaver, and she gave him a chance. This other man wanted to help him but wanted money in return but Columbus did not accept and was to become a monk but the queen did not allow it and the queen supported the trip. They use this pendulum this to help them navigate and to find what degree latitude or longitude they are at. It has been weeks and the men think that they have gone off track and they do not trust in Columbus. They finally reach land and they go and explore until they find the indians. At first the indians are scary and Columbus’s plan does not involve force. They did not really find any gold except the artifacts the Indian’ gave them. The spanish were treated as gods. About 39 men stayed behind to build a fort while they go back to Spain cause the captain called Mendez played by Kevin Dunn, had a fever that would not go away. When they get to Spain they get applauded and and now he wants to go back with 7 ships and 1500 men. So he goes back to the West Indies and all his men are dead and the village they were at was burned down to the core. He wants peace with the Indians and so the Indians help bring in this bell and they help construct this fort and village. Then the Indians were put to find gold and they had to go turn it in everyday and one did not find anything and this man comes and chops his hand off and that starts a war with the natives. So the…
Other than discovering a route that permanently linked the shores of the Atlantic, there was nothing good that came from any of Columbus‘ voyages. He was deceitful and merciless, stopping at nothing to obtain what he wanted. When Columbus reported to Spain, he exaggerated about the amount of gold that was there, reporting that there was an abundance of gold when there was really very little gold, only scarce amounts in riverbeds. The largest amount of gold he received was on his first arrival and was an accumulation of many years. The natives of the land, the Arawaks, were responsible for collecting a certain amount of gold. If they did not…
What is disputable is what he truly did when he came over to America. To get a better understanding of what was going on with Columbus in late 1400s I will give some back story. During those times, commercial ventures were being offered and Columbus had previous experience being on ships so he saw the opportunity to exploit his beliefs. Christopher believed that the world was round and if he sailed east he could make it to the Indies. What he did not know was how long it would take him to get there. He was alone with his first son, Diego, and set out to get funding for his voyages. He went to Queen Isabella and King Fernando and asked if they would fund him. They said they would need to look into it further. Priests and scholars studied and researched his idea for six years while Columbus and his son followed them to wherever they may travel. Columbus was finally told no his idea was foolish and the earth was too big to sail that way. He continued with his beliefs and tried to change their mind. He presented his idea two more times to no avail. As Carol Gallagher describes in her Biography of Columbus “he became a joke at court”.…
When Columbus was writing his journal, he made it very clear that he wanted to control all of the islands he discovered, and that all of the wealth he gained would be passed down in his own family. " ...still I determined to pass none of these islands without taking possession, because being once taken, it would answer for all times." (Last page of Columbus Journal). After Columbus meets the Native Americans, he comments on how easy he…
From the late 1400’s to the sixteenth century, European kings and queens were overwhelmed by, what is now known as, the Age of Discovery. With all the extensive overseas exploration by European nations trying to colonize on foreign land and globalize, many explorers took their chance to propose an idea for voyage. Arguably one of the greatest sails man and captain in history, Christopher Columbus first proposed his idea to sail west into the Atlantic Ocean to Portuguese royalty, where it was rejected. With his vision and persistence, he then approached Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to propose his ideas and plans, where it was accepted in 1492, and the world was never to be the same again. It was because of Columbus that the New…
There is no one face of conquering. Like a coin, there are two sides, and what you see depends on how you flip it. There are positives and negatives in any conquering event, and to truly understand how the world works you need to explore and understand both. There are many different conquering events to explore and understand, but this paper will look into only two of the ‘big ones’ that are recognized in the world today.…
Christopher Columbus made a total of four voyages in the span of twelve years, from 1492 to 1504. His voyage was not an easy one. He asked the king and queen several times for their finances to make the trip. Christopher Columbus eventually convinced them to allow him and his crew to go because he told them that he would discover a "back door" route to the riches of Asia, India and the "spice islands" - by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean instead of east. Christopher Columbus bought King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella gold, parrots, and spices to prove that he had actually found land. He also brought back with him the natives. While sailing back to Spain hundreds of natives died on Columbus ' three ships, the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. The king and queen granted him more money for his next voyage.…
• Despite being told he was wrong about the size of the world by experts and Portugal, Queen Isabella of Spain financed him…