Christopher Columbus example essay topic

Christopher Columbus was the oldest son of Domenico Colombo and Susanna Fontana rossa. Christopher was born between August and October 1451, in Genoa, Italy. Christopher also had two younger brothers, Bartholomew and Diego. Christopher received little formal education and was a largely self-taught man. Later, he learned to read Latin and write Castilian. In 1475, Columbus began his first sea voyage to the Aegean Island of Chios.

One year later, he survived a shipwreck off Cape St. Vincent so he had to swim to shore. In 1477, Columbus sailed to England and Ireland with Portuguese marines. In 1479, Christopher married Felipa Perestello e Moni z from a poor noble Portuguese family. Their son, Diego, was born in 1480. Felipa died in 1485, and Columbus later began a relationship with Beatriz Enriquez de Haran a of Cord abo, with whom Christopher had his second son, Ferdinand. Columbus and Enriquez never were married, but Columbus supported her.

In the mid-1480's, Christopher had become focused on his plans of discovery. His biggest dream was to find a westward route to Asia. In 1484, he had asked King John of Portugal to back his voyage west, but he was refused. The next year, he set out to Spain with his son, Diego to look for help from Queen Elizabeth of Castile and her husband, King Ferdinand of Aragon. Even though the Spanish monarchs first rejected Christopher's request, but they gave him a small grant to live on, and he remained determined to convince them.

In January of 1492, Christopher gained the support of Elizabeth and Ferdinand, after being rejected twice by the Spanish monarchs. On August 3rd, the fleet of three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, set forth from Palos, on the Tinto River in southern Spain. The first sight of land came at dawn on October 12th from the Pinta Ship. The place of the first Caribbean landfall was most likely modern, San Salvador or Waiting Island in the Bahamas. Thinking he has reached the East Indies, Columbus referred to the native residents of the island as "Indians", a name often used to identify local people of the New World. The three ships sailed along the other Bahama Islands and landed in Cuba, which Columbus mistakenly called Mainland of Cathay (China).

There were a little gold there, and his exploration continued by sea to Anti on December 6th, which Columbus renamed La Isla Espanola, or Hispaniola. He seemed to have thought Hispaniola was Japan, but anyways the land was rich in gold and other natural resources, and allowed Columbus to return to Spain in the spring of 1493 with riches enough to convince his power of his success. After a difficult journey back to Europe, Columbus paid a visit to King John of Portugal, which bought up suspicion that he had connections with Spain's enemies. After displaying all of his treasures to the queen and king, they were easily pursued to fund another journey. This time there were at least 17 ships and 1,300 men that set sail on September 25th, 1493. A route to Hispaniola and Navidad, the settlement he had found there, Columbus and his fleet entered the West Indies near Dominica and proceeded past Guadeloupe and other, Lesser Antilles before reaching Borinquen.

Upon reaching Navidad, Columbus found the settlement destroyed and the Spanish settlers dead, victims of a strong native attack. Columbus declared himself Governor of Hispaniola, intending it to become a trading post for European settlers. After searching the Cuban coastline and the Jamaican for gold, Columbus declared Hispaniola the richest source for gold and other spoils. In February 1492, 12 ships returned to Spain from La Isabella commanded by Columbus' associate, Antonio de Torres. Under the command of Columbus two associates led a battle of violence against the native inhabitancy of Hispaniola, in revenge of their murdered comrades Navidad, they killed and captured many natives, taking them as slaves. He set sail on May 9th from Cadiz on four ships, arriving at Santo Domingo on Hispoliniola on June 29th.

He was searching for the passage to India, but he didn't find it and was forced to turn back. By the end of his voyage back, Columbus wasn't too healthy. He was suffering from Arthritis as well as other effects from a bout with Malaria. With a small portion of gold from Hispoliniola, he lived comfortably for his last years. Sadly, Columbus died in Vallodid on May 20th, 1506.