By : Arabella Horsfield
Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, and navigator discovered something shocking. Columbus had completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean trying to find a better way into Asia. Instead, he found the Americas 18 years before passing from age-related causes on May 20, 1506, in Valladolid, Spain. Discovering America opened a spread of Europeans into the Americas starting numerous colonizations and explorations. His expedition, sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, was the first European discovery of the Americas.
During the 1400s to the 1800s, trading with Asia made their country or colony much more powerful for the reason that they had many goods to offer. The majority of the people went east knowing they were to hit Asia, but Columbus decided to go west, hoping to navigate his way to the Indies. His wayfinding pictured it to be pure sea from Spain to Asia. he didn’t know about the Americas, the unknown mainland that would change his expedition forever. So he helmed the three ships the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa María as well as the many crew to what he thought was Asia. Blindly sailing across the Atlantic ocean takes much courage and bravery but that’s exactly what Christopher Columbus did. After 29 days of nothing, at-last land was spotted. Had Christopher Columbus found a quicker and more direct route from Europe to Asia? Unfortunately, he never reached the Indies. Instead, was on the coast of a continent nobody else in Europe knew existed, America. Did he come across a new and entirely different world?
In 1451, an explorer called Cristoforo Colombo was born in the city of Genoa, Italy. In English, we call him Christopher Columbus and he is internationally known for discovering the America’s. His father, Domenico Colombo was a wool weaver and his mother was the daughter of one. It was expected that their children would carry on the family business. But young Christopher did not pursue the same passion as his father did. Instead, he had a great interest and pleasure in exploring new places by ocean. He wanted to become a famous sea captain, famous and rich.
One day, he overheard some merchants talking about a new route to Asia. at the time, you would have to sail through Africa and Arabia and across the Indian Ocean to get there and trade. Christopher Columbus wanted to be the first to find a route directly to the Indies. All he needed was somebody to fund this expedition. He was turned down by the kings of Portugal, France, and England but he did not lose hope. He knew somebody would want to sponsor his voyage, he just had to find the person that would do it. He persuaded King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I of Spain to sponsor his quest to find a westward route to China, India, and Japan. They agreed but at the time, Spain was in the middle of a war! There wasn’t enough money to pay for his expedition to the Indies so he had to wait until the war was over. Time drags when you’re waiting for something. He asked King John II of Portugal to finance his quest again but he was way too busy celebrating another explorer’s return, plus he still thought this idea was silly and foolish. England, Portugal, and France were scratched off the list, so it was up to Spain to make this project successful. Five years later, the war was finally over. He returned to Spain and alas, got the response he’d been looking for for years. Yes!
Now, Christopher Columbus needed boats and a crew. Queen Isabella ordered people from the town of Palos de la Frontera to get three ships to cross with and enough men to help with the boat. Two of the ships from Palos were called the Niña and the Pinta. The last was the biggest ship of the three, a sixty-foot-long Santa María. It was a slow cargo boat but decided to make do. After begging, pleading and even threatening, Columbus got around ninety men to join this passage. The ships were packed with supplies for the journey. That included ropes, maps, and compasses. Fresh and dried meat, milk, fruit, eggs, sardines, anchovies, olive oil, raisins, biscuits, cheese, peas, garlic, onions, rice, and beans. Not to mention, many barrels of water. They took cannons, crossbows, and muskets in case they ran into enemy ships. And for trading, they took bells, wool, copper, tins, scissors, knives, coins, beads, and mirrors.
It was August 2, 1492. Christopher Columbus gathered all his men onshore so that they could pray for good luck. They prayed for discovering a new route to Asia, and also prayed to find many riches. August 3, 1492, the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa María, set sail from Palos, Spain and started their unpredictable adventure.
Christopher Columbus sailed down to Gran Canaria to restock on fresh food before heading west towards Asia. According to Christopher Columbus’s maps, it was a straight line from Gran Canaria to Cipangu (known today as Japan). He thought he just had to sail 2400 miles from the Canaries to reach the Indies. That was his plan, it was wrong. Life on this boat was not pleasant. The crew did not bathe or brush their teeth, this went on for weeks. When they wanted to eat food, they would usually eat at night so that they wouldn’t see what creatures were lurking around in their food. The food was usually rotten or tasted revolting. On September 25, Martín Pinzón thought he saw land. It got everyone onboard hopes up but no, he hadn’t.
The mood on the ship was getting worse by the minute. Some of the men thought Christopher Columbus was absurd and crazy. Where was this madman taking us? Some even wanted to toss him into the Atlantic and sail back towards Spain! On October 7, there was yet another false sighting of land. Columbus now promised if land wasn’t spotted within 3 days they would turn the fleet around and head back defeated and a failure. Luckily, during the night of October, 10, Columbus thought he saw land. This time it was true! Just after midnight of October, 12, it was verified. A crewmember from the Pinta shouted “Tierra! Tierra!” ( Land! Land!) Yes, the outline of an island could be seen. Everybody was overjoyed! They had reached the Indies, or so they thought.
On the morning of October, 12, Columbus was ready to go ashore. He and his crew put on their best clothes and piled themself into rowboats. They brought a Spanish flag, and items to trade with. Other than that, they were also armed with weapons in case they encountered unfriendly natives. Now, what treasures were they going to find? Gold? Spices? Silk?
Christopher Columbus stepped onto this peculiar island. He fell to his knees and kissed the ground. He thanked God for bringing him here. Then, planted the Spanish flag and claimed the land for Spain. He made an appearance in what is now known as the Bahamas. He and his ships landed on an island that the native Lucayan people called “Guanahani”. It was later named by Christopher Columbus “San Salvador”.
Watching Columbus and his men were native inhabitants of the island. They were observing blanky behind bushes minds overflowing with questions. They were called the Taínos. Slowly, they crept closer. Columbus and his crew stared at these strange figures looking startled. They weren’t wearing silk or wool, if truth be told they were hardly wearing anything! The only valuable things on them were their small golden earring fitted between their ears and other small bits of jewelry and accessories. The natives look equally as surprised. They’d never seen white men or people wearing clothes. And ships out in the sea, how ridiculous.
Now, the Taínos. The taíno people were ruled by a chief, either man or woman. Families lived in houses made with woven straw, leaves and wooden poles. The Taínos were exceptional fishermen, farmers and hunters. They were also skilled in crafts such as their beautifully woven hammocks made out of cotton and their ability to carve wood. They worshipped many different gods but it was Columbus’s goal to convert them all to Christianity.
San Salvador was gorgeous. Lush trees, gushing rivers, and large glistering lakes. The Taínos gave cotton, wooden spears, and parrots. Countless and countless vivid, graphical, and vibrant parrots. They also provided sugar, tobacco, potatoes, and rich bitter chocolate to the Old World. In return, the Taínos received glass beads and bells. Columbus still pondered. Where were the palaces with sparkling golden floors and furniture? Where were all the riches and spices that belonged to Asia? He reasoned, there must be a place where they’re getting their gold, how else would they get golden earrings?
Why gold? Gold has always been valuable because of how rare it is and its beauty. It is very beneficial for countries and cities because of how much people trade for them. During the years 1370 and 1420 many big gold mines ran out of gold in Europe. They traveled to Africa and Asia and when Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, they all rushed there. The race to find gold was fiercer than a catfight, the Spaniards got there first and destroyed them all.
Columbus tried communicating with sign language or gestures. The natives said there was an island south of them with more gold, that must be Asia Columbus thought. On October 14, Christopher Columbus and his crew set off to explore some more islands. Before pulling up their anchor, they kidnapped several Taino people and took them on board the ships. They were later going to be taught Spanish and be served as navigators for the other islands or be enslaved. The Niña, Pinta, and Santa María spent two weeks sailing around the islands looking specifically for gold.
During early December, the Pinta had gone off on its own to find some gold. The weather was becoming stormy and cold. They had to head back to Spain soon but there was still so much they had yet to explore. Then, on Christmas eve, disaster struck. Some men were celebrating and Columbus left one man on the boat in charge. The wind was calm and the ship was creeping at a slow pace. Yet, just after midnight, the Santa Maria crashed into a coral reef just behind it. They had dragged! A high scream echoed the boat. Columbus awoke. He desperately tried to save it but boat hulls had already ripped off the boat and it was only the keel and some of the rig that was left.
Columbus took the boat sinking as a sign to start heading back. But he only had one ship left and that was the Niña. The Pinta was still out and was missing, and the Santa María had sunk. He decided to build a fort out of the wood saved from the sunken boat. He named this structure “La Navidad”, in English “ Christmas”.
The Niña was loaded with fresh food and water, then set sail towards Spain. After two days of rough sailing, the Niña came across a wonderful sight, the Pinta! They decided to head back together until a storm separated them again but this time forever.
On March 15, Columbus dropped anchor in the waters of Palos, Spain. The king and queen were so excited to see Christopher Columbus and see if he really found a more direct route to Asia. the people had never seen parrots or corn or even Indians, they were amazed. King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I were so proud and pleased with the discoveries Columbus had made, that they even sent him on three more voyages. I was certainly most interested in the second voyage because that is when he met the Kalinagos.
This journey was much simpler than the last. He knew the way and nobody complained. The passage was 21 days long which was considered incredibly short compared to the last. They arrived on an island which is now called Dominica. Ignoring the Kalinago people’s original name which was “Waitukubuli,” Columbus renamed the island, Domingo, because he had discovered this island on the Sunday of November 3, 1493. It was later taken over by the French who named the island “Dominique”, and then was taken over by the English who gave it its famous name of Dominica.
Why do I believe Dominica is so important and special? Well, that is because when the Europeans came to colonize the island, they had brought in so many diseases such as Smallpox, Measles, and the flu. The locals didn’t have any immunity because they weren’t used to having it around them. Back in those days, medicine wasn’t as good as it is now so most who got the diseases passed because they didn’t have the strength to fight against it. Before the Europeans arrived the islanders lived a very isolated existence. The Europeans brought in foreign animals like mongooses that eradicated the islands and demolished many species. The Kalinagos are the original native tribe living in Dominica. The Kalinagos spread like wildfire up north and down south. They’re now mostly scattered but in Dominica, they have a larger population of people. By larger, I don’t mean very much. There is an unknown amount of native Caribs left and approximately 2,000 live in Dominica.
The Kalinago people lived a self-sufficient life in tune with the nature and blessings of the island. That all changed when Christopher Columbus and other European colonizers came. Starting from 1503, Spain brought settlers into Dominica and other islands allowing them to capture and enslave all Caribs south of Puerto Rico. The native Caribs living on smaller islands ended up being completely wiped out.
As the French and English fought against each other for possession of the island, the Kalinago fought to keep their strongholds the same as they fought for the name of the island. They battled with clubs, spears, bows, and arrows but they had no match against the guns, swords and steel weapons of the colonizers. By the 1760s, Dominica was a British colony and almost all the land had been taken from the Kalinago and was later sold to the English. Plantations were later on made for sugar cane, chocolate, and banana but almost all of it is destroyed by now because of hurricane Maria that swallowed almost everything built-in the past decades and centuries.
Finally, they left Dominica but had already affected it all. They carried on to other islands such as Guadeloupe where they tasted pineapples for the first-ever time, Antigua, the Virgin Islands, and even Puerto Rico.
Finding no gold throughout the past weeks, Columbus thought it best to bring back some Tainos to act as slaves for Spain. It was not a nice thing to do but he thought it was right, he claimed the island after all. He returned to Spain after a long rough trip and news had spread as predicted. King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I were not happy. He did not bring back what he promised from his voyage to “ the Indies ”.
He went on one more voyage to prove the island was going well. The king and queen provided 6 ships and criminals as crew. They set sail and landed in Hispaniola. The place was a mess. Most people he left there were either dead or very ill, from either the mosquitos or the diseases. He tried to clean everything up but the king and queen already sent a private royal investigator to assess the situation. Columbus was being very cruel. Bobadilla the investigator informed the king and queen how abusive and terrible Christopher Columbus truly was. He said that Columbus once punished a man finding him guilty for stealing corn and chopped his nose and ears off. Bobadilla said this was the way he controlled this village. Abusing the people was how he governed Hispaniola. He even started a war knowing he would beat them just to judge them and control them. Since he became in charge he ordered people around the town to bring him gold and if there was a little amount or none they would instantly be beheaded. The Tainos now had to start finding more gold. The crops were dying, they were dying. Most died of starvation, suicide, and mostly Columbus. He was also using them as slaves, not only the Tainos but also the Christians!
Columbus and his brothers finally presented themself to Bobadilla then were put in chains and were sent back to Spain where they would be losers and would be imprisoned for however long King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I wanted them to.
They let him out 6 weeks later for his final voyage. He set off with 140 men and 4 ships. He arrived and explored the islands thoroughly knowing this would be his final expedition. He traveled around the islands, up the north coast, and down the south coast. Finally, he headed back to Spain and was excited to see the Queen. Sadly he was never able to see his greatest supporter because she passed in November 1504.
Christopher Columbus was old and sick, his time as an explorer was over. He grew ill and eventually died on May 20, 1506, still believing he found a more direct route from Europe to Asia. So if he did not reach the indies, why is he so famous? Well, that was because he had discovered new lands. America’s, including the Caribbean, Jamaica, and many more. He was also known for his bravery and confidence, 2 traits that most people in the world would want.