A Short Essay on Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who was widely credited for discovering America. He wasn’t really the person who discovered it. Christopher Columbus was born between August 25 and October 31 in Genoa, Liguria which is now part of Italy. In 1479 or 1480 he had a son named Diego. The land route to China and India wasn’t good anymore so Christopher Columbus thought of going around the world there by sea. He thought the Earth was much smaller than it really was. He went to some kings like John II, King of Portugal to ask for boats, but they said that the length of the circumference of the Earth was a lot longer than what Columbus said. Then he went to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. According to them if he discovered any new islands or mainland, he would get high rewards. On August 3, 1492, Columbus departed from modern Spain with three ships. They were Santa Maria, Pinta, and Nina. First he sailed to the Canary Islands. Then he set sail again. On October 12, 1492, an island was spotted. Columbus named it San Salvador. Nobody knows which island in the Bahamas he named San Salvador.

Map of the world during Christopher Columbus's time.

He also explored the northeast coast of Cuba. He went on a second voyage from modern Spain on September 24, 1493 and on November 3, 1493 he saw an island he named Dominica (Latin for Sunday). He named several islands. When he came back everyone was disappointed he hadn’t found China. He had a third voyage on May 30, 1498 and he explored Trinidad on July 31. On May 11, 1502, Columbus made a fourth voyage. On December 5 they went in a big storm. Then on June 25, 1503 they got stranded on Jamaica. They were stranded there for one year. Help arrived from Spain on June 29, 1504 and they got back on November 7. In Christopher Columbus’s later days he demanded that the Spanish Crown give him 10% of all the profits made in new lands. He died on May 20, 1506 in Valladoid, Castile.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus