Columbus Exploration

Columbus Expedition

1st Voyage: On August 3,1492, Christopher Columbus and his crew of 90 men made the first expedition discovery from Palos, Spain. The ships were named the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. They were tiny and less than 30 feet wide. The Santa Maria carried 40 men, the Pinta, 26, and the Niña, 24. On October 12th, Cristopher Columbus and his crew sighted an island in the Bahamas and named it San Salvador. It took them thirty-three days since the ships had left the Canary Islands. A couple of weeks later they encountered land on Cuba, which was named Juana by Columbus, and Española which is now known as Hispañola. He then returned home on January 15, 1493.

2nd Voyage: He set sail on September 24,1493, from Spain on his second voyage to the New World. He had 17 vessels and over 1200 men that made up "The Grand Fleet". He set this "Grand Fleet" up to establish a permanent Spanish colony. His destination was La Navidad, off the north coast of Haiti. In the first voyage voyage he had left 39 men there with the remains of the Santa Maria. On November 28, 1493, Columbus returned and found the ship burned and all his men dead, said to be probably killed by the Carib Indians. Columbus disobeyed Queen Isabella and kidnapped 560 natives for slavery and took them back to Spain and 200 died on the way. She ordered him to release them and they were later then allowed to return to their homeland.

3rd Voyage: Columbus left the port of Sanlucar in Spain on May 30, 1498 with six ships. While leaving the Canary Islands, three ships sailed to Hispaniola with supplies for the colonists, and the other three to explore further south. They faced lack of wind for eight days and arrived in the West Indies. After changing the course to head north, they sighted an island that had three hills, Columbus named it Trinidad, after the Holy Trinity.
The crew became the first Europeans to see the continent of South America. Columbus proposed that the earth was shaped like a pear.

4th Voyage: In his fourth and final voyage on May 12, 1502, Columbus was searching for a westward passage to the Indian Ocean. He explored the coasts of Central America in 21 days. He discovered the Mayan civilization, battled mutineers, and was trapped on a Jamaican beach for an entire year. He predicted a hurricane, but was still forced to sail and the only ship to reach Spain had Columbus money and belongings on it, and all of his friends and enemies had drowned. Returning to Spain in November 7, 1504, he declined quickly. He was frustrated and resentful. He died of arthritis and malaria in 1506 at the age of 54.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/books/review/columbus-the-four-voyages-by-laurence-bergreen-book-review.html?pagewanted=all http://www.carnaval.com/columbus/4voyages.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyages_of_Christopher_Columbus