5 Major Figures in Early American History
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus is one of the most well known names in the western world because of what he accomplished during his lifetime. He was an explorer, a navigator, and a colonizer and, with his unrelenting determination, he would be the man to “discover” the New World. Although he thought that he found India and a better route to Asia rather than sailing around the southern tip of Africa, he had really stumbled upon the Americas. While he may have had the actual location wrong, his accidental discovery has effectively changed the timeline of human existence greatly, and has helped shape the world as we know it into what it is today. Christopher Columbus was born on a date before October 31st, 1451, in Genoa, which is part of modern day Italy. He had a family that consisted of his mother (Susanna Fontanarossa), his father (Domenico Colombo), three brothers and a sister. It is claimed that Columbus had gotten some early training in the field of boating, stating that he was out at sea by the age of ten. In 1470, he found himself as a hired hand on a ship whose destination and mission was to conquer the Kingdom of Naples. In the year 1473, Christopher Columbus became an apprentice as a business agent for a few important families of Genoa. While in this apprenticeship, Columbus would get the opportunity to travel to many different lands (including England, Ireland, and most likely Iceland.) and learn many different customs and languages. In 1479, Christopher Columbus married his wife, Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, daughter of the Porto Santo Governor and Portuguese nobleman, and soon after had a son named Diego Columbus. Some records claim that Filipa dies in 1485, others argue that Christopher left his wife. Either way, he found himself a 20-year-old mistress in Spain. Throughout his travels across Europe and East Africa in these earlier stages in his career, Christopher learned Portuguese, Latin and Castilian, as well as a good
Christopher Columbus is one of the most well known names in the western world because of what he accomplished during his lifetime. He was an explorer, a navigator, and a colonizer and, with his unrelenting determination, he would be the man to “discover” the New World. Although he thought that he found India and a better route to Asia rather than sailing around the southern tip of Africa, he had really stumbled upon the Americas. While he may have had the actual location wrong, his accidental discovery has effectively changed the timeline of human existence greatly, and has helped shape the world as we know it into what it is today. Christopher Columbus was born on a date before October 31st, 1451, in Genoa, which is part of modern day Italy. He had a family that consisted of his mother (Susanna Fontanarossa), his father (Domenico Colombo), three brothers and a sister. It is claimed that Columbus had gotten some early training in the field of boating, stating that he was out at sea by the age of ten. In 1470, he found himself as a hired hand on a ship whose destination and mission was to conquer the Kingdom of Naples. In the year 1473, Christopher Columbus became an apprentice as a business agent for a few important families of Genoa. While in this apprenticeship, Columbus would get the opportunity to travel to many different lands (including England, Ireland, and most likely Iceland.) and learn many different customs and languages. In 1479, Christopher Columbus married his wife, Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, daughter of the Porto Santo Governor and Portuguese nobleman, and soon after had a son named Diego Columbus. Some records claim that Filipa dies in 1485, others argue that Christopher left his wife. Either way, he found himself a 20-year-old mistress in Spain. Throughout his travels across Europe and East Africa in these earlier stages in his career, Christopher learned Portuguese, Latin and Castilian, as well as a good