"Discovery" of America

Columbus is often wrongly considered the first European person to have discovere
d the Americas. This idea is wrong for many reasons. For example, the Caribbean
is not on the American mainland. Also, the first European to find America was th
e Viking Leif Erikson, around 1000 AD.[2][3] Finally, people do not agree that e
ither Erikson or Columbus "discovered" America. Native Americans had been living
there for thousands of years before them.[4][5]
Voyage in 1492
Columbus wanted to find a shorter way to get to Asia. He thought he could get to
Asia by sailing west from Europe. He did not know about the countries in the We
stern Hemisphere, so he did not realize they would block him from getting to Asi
a.[1]
However, Columbus did not have enough money to pay for this voyage on his own. H
e was able to get the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Ca
stile, to pay for the voyage. He promised to bring back gold and spices for them
.[1]
Ships
This is a 60-foot-long ship
the same size as Columbus's largest ship
In August of 1492, Columbus and his sailors left Spain in three ships: the Santa
Mara (the Holy Mary), the Pinta (the Painted), and the Santa Clara (nicknamed th
e Nia: the Little Girl).[6]
The three ships were very small. Historians think that the largest ship, the San
ta Mara, was only about 60 feet (18 metres) long, and about 16 to 19 feet (4.8 to
5.8 metres) wide.[7][8]
Columbus's other ships were even smaller. Historians think they were about 50 60 f
eet (15 18 metres) long.[8]
Voyage
On October 12, 1492, after sailing for about four months, Columbus landed on a s
mall island in the Bahamas. The natives called it Guanahani; Columbus renamed it
San Salvador Island ("Holy Savior"). He met Arawak and Tano Native Americans who
lived on the island. They were friendly and peaceful towards Columbus and his c
rew. Not knowing where he was, and thinking that he had reached Asia, the "Indie
s," he called them "Indians." He claimed their land as Spain's.[9]
Columbus then sailed to what is now Cuba, then to Hispaniola. On Hispaniola, Col
umbus built a fort. This was one of the first European military bases in the Wes
tern Hemisphere. He called it Navidad (Spanish for "Christmas"). He left thirtynine crew members there, and ordered them to find and store the gold.[10]
Treatment of native people
On the day he landed in the Bahamas, Columbus wrote about the Arawaks and Tano:
They ought to make good and skilled servants, [since] they repeat very q
uickly whatever we say to them. I think they can very easily be made Christians,
for they seem to have no religion ... I will take six of them ... when I [leave
, so] they may learn our language ... With 50 men you could subject everyone and
make them do what you wished.[11]
Columbus noticed that some of the Arawaks had gold earrings. He took some of the
m as prisoners and ordered them to lead him to the gold. However, they could not
.[12]
According to Encyclopdia Britannica:
Columbus was determined to take back both material and human cargo to hi

s sovereigns [Ferdinand and Isabella] and for himself, and this could be accompl
ished only if his sailors carried on looting, kidnapping, and other violent acts
, especially on Hispaniola.[1]
Columbus thought the world looked like this
Replica of the Santa Maria
Painting of Columbus landing in the New World
Drawing of Columbus landing on Hispaniola
Route of Columbus's first voyage
Letter from Columbus (1493)
Second voyage
On September 24, 1493, Columbus left Spain with enough ships, supplies, and men
to invade and make Spanish colonies in the New World. He had 17 ships and 1,200
men. These men included soldiers and farmers. There were also priests, whose job
was to convert the natives to Christianity.[13]
On this voyage, Columbus explored some of the islands of the Lesser Antilles. He
also sailed around most of Hispaniola and explored the sides of Jamaica and Cub
a he had not seen on his first voyage.
Then he went back to the Navidad fort. He found the fort burned down. Eleven of
the 37 soldiers Columbus left at the fort were buried there. The rest had disapp
eared. Historians think this happened because of disease and fights with the Ara
wak people.[14]
Treatment of native people
While Columbus was away from Navidad exploring Jamaica and Cuba, his soldiers st
opped working on building a new fort and farms. They made the Arawaks give them
food. They also stole things from the Arawaks and raped Arawak women. This made
the Arawaks decide to fight back against the Spaniards. However, Spain had many
weapons that the Arawaks had never seen, including steel swords, pikes, crossbow
s, dogs, and horses. This made it much easier for Spain to win fights against th
e Arawaks.[15]
Columbus also took revenge against the Arawaks for killing his soldiers at Navid
ad. He made every native older than 14 give him a certain amount of gold every t
hree months. If a person did not do this, Columbus's men would cut off their han
ds, and they would bleed to death. Historian Carl Lehrburger says that about 10,
000 natives died this way.[16] Columbus also led his soldiers to many different
villages in Hispaniola to take them over and make them pay him gold also. If the
y could not pay the gold, people would be made into slaves or killed.[17]
Unfortunately, there really was not that much gold on the parts of the island Co
lumbus took over. To avoid getting their hands cut off, many Arawaks tried to ru
n away from Columbus and his men. However, Columbus's soldiers used dogs to hunt
them down and kill them.[12] Bartolom de las Casas said that the Spanish killed
two out of every three native people in the area (though he may have been exagge
rating).[17]
Start of the transatlantic slave trade
In February 1495, Columbus started the transatlantic slave trade. He and his sol
diers captured about 1,500 Tano. Only 500 could fit on Columbus's ships, so Colum
bus told his men they could take any of the rest as slaves. They took 600 and le

t 400 go. Of the 500 natives that Columbus shipped to Spain as slaves, about 200
died on the trip. Half of the rest were very sick when they arrived. This was t
he first time people had ever been shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold
as slaves.[18]
Michele da Cuneo, a friend of Columbus's, helped capture natives as slaves. In a
letter, da Cuneo later wrote that Columbus gave him a captured native woman to
rape:
"... I captured a very beautiful Carib woman, whom the said Lord Admiral
[Columbus] gave to me. ... She was unwilling, and [so badly scratched] me with
her nails that I wished I had never begun. But ... I then took a piece of rope a
nd whipped her soundly, and she let forth such incredible screams that you would
not have believed your ears. Eventually we came to such terms, I assure you, th
at you would have thought that she had been brought up in a school for whores.[1
9]
Third voyage
Columbus made another voyage in 1498. King
s a continent to the southwest of the Cape
olumbus wanted to find this continent.[20]
inded Columbus that he should treat all of
into Christians.[17]

John II of Portugal had said there wa

Verde islands. On his third voyage, C
Before the voyage, Queen Isabella rem
the native people well and make them

On this voyage, Columbus sent three ships straight to the West Indies (the Carib
bean). He led another three ships: first to two Portuguese islands, then to the
Canary Islands, then Cape Verde. From Cape Verde, they sailed to the northern co
ast of South America and landed in Trinidad. He also explored part of South Amer
ica and the islands now called Tobago and Grenada.[21]
On August 19, 1498, Columbus returned to Hispaniola. He found that many of the S
panish settlers there were unhappy. They thought there would be more gold in the
New World. Some of them had rebelled while he was gone. Columbus had five of th
e rebellion's leaders hanged. He also tried to make the rest of the settlers hap
py by giving them land in Hispaniola. However, the settlers kept sending complai
nts to Spain. In 1499, Queen Isabella sent a man named Francisco de Bobadilla to
Hispaniola. She gave him the power to do whatever he thought he should do. When
he arrived in 1500, the first thing he did was to have Columbus arrested and se
nt back to Spain in chains.[17]
Treatment of native people
When he was trying to make Spanish settlers happy, Columbus started the Encomien
da system in Hispaniola. Under this system, Columbus would give a piece of land
in Hispaniola to an individual Spanish settler. Sometimes, he would give away a
whole native village. Any natives that lived in that area had to work for that S
panish settler. Natives had lived on this land for centuries. Columbus was givin
g their land away, and then forcing them to work on that land.[17]
Later life
Columbus was arrested in Hispaola, now called Santo Domingo, on August 23, 1500.
He was sent to Spain in chains in October 1500. He was released on December 12,
1500, and taken to court.
Luckily, Columbus had important friends, like Dukes, other noblemen, and powerfu
l Italian merchants. These friendships helped him get out of trouble.
Columbus died of heart failure and arthritis in Valladolid, Spain, at the possib
le age of 54.
Personal life
Columbus's relatives said that Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. Today, no hist

orian can say for sure where Columbus was born. Most experts think the best evid
ence says he was born in Genoa. However, other historians think Columbus was bor
n somewhere else, like Spain or Portugal. Some think he was originally a Jew who
converted to Christianity.[1]
Columbus wrote that he first went to sea when he was 14 years old.[22]
In 1477, Columbus married Felipa Moniz Perestrelo. She was from a semi-noble fam
ily with connections to sailing. She died around 1479 or 1480 while giving birth
to their son, Diego.[23]
In 1485, while in Crdoba, Spain, Columbus met Beatriz Enrquez de Trasierra. They l
ived together for a while. They had one child named Fernando.[24]
Columbus's goals
Columbus had a few different goals for his journeys to the New World. First, he
believed he could find a shorter and easier route to Asia, which made things Eur
ope did not. He believed he could find a shorter route to China. Other people ha
d called this belief absurd. Columbus wanted to prove these people wrong.[25]
Second, Columbus wanted to find gold. Gold was the main kind of money used in Co
lumbus's times. In his letter to Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Colu
mbus wrote: Gold is most excellent; gold is treasure, and [the person] who [has]
it does all he wishes to in this world."[26] This means that someone with gold c
an do anything he wants to do. Many historians believe that Columbus wanted to b
ecome a powerful person
and to become powerful, he needed to find gold.
After Columbus
When the Spanish learned about the New World, many conquistadors, or conquerors,
went there. This led to the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
The Spanish conquistadors first settled on the islands of Hispaniola (now the Do
minican Republic and Haiti), Cuba, and Puerto Rico. They grabbed as much gold as
they could. The Spanish also brought priests and forced the Native Americans to
convert to Christianity.
Legacy
In the United States, Columbus Day is a holiday that celebrates Columbus's arriv
al in the New World on October 12, 1492.[27]
The World's Columbian Exposition, which happened in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, w
as held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus visiting the Americas.[28
]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christopher Columbus
Flint, Valerie I.J. (February 11, 2016). "Christopher Columbus". Encyclopdia Brit
annica. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
Bulygin, Eugenio; Gardies, Jean-Louis; Niiniluoto, I. (June 30, 1985). Man, Law
and Modern Forms of Life. Springer Science and Business Media. p. 111. ISBN 9789027718693.
Russell Freedom. Interview with Eric Weiner. Coming to America: Who Was First?.
NPR. October 8, 2007. Assessed on April 20, 2016.
Johansen, Bruce E.; Pritzker, Barry M. (July 23, 2007). Encyclopedia of American
Indian History. ABC-CLIO. p. 451. ISBN 978-1851098187. "The term Paleo-Indians de
scribes the earliest inhabitants of North America (ca. 10,000 8,000 BCE)."
Ferbel, Peter J. (2000). The Indigenous People of the Caribbean (review). Ethnoh
istory 47 (3-4): 816-818. "The indigenous people of the Caribbean
migrated from
Central America some six thousand years ago."
Columbus Day. The History Channel Website. Retrieved Jan 28, 2013.http://www.his

tory.com/topics/columbus-day
Gould, Richard A. (2000). Archaeology and the Social History of Ships. Cambridge
University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0521567893.
Phillips, William D.; Phillips, Carla Rahn (1992). The Worlds of Christopher Col
umbus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 143 145. ISBN 978-0-521-44652-5.
"Christopher Columbus." Explorers & Discoverers of the World. Gale, 1993. Gale B
iography In Context. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.
Tinker, George E. (1993). Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cu
ltural Genocide. Fortress Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1451408409.
Zinn, Howard (2003). A People's History of the United States. New York: HarperCo
llins. pp. 1 22. ISBN 0-06-052837-0.
Baccus, M. Kazim (2000). Utilization, Misuse, and Development of Human Resources
in the Early West Indian Colonies. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 6-7. I
SBN 978-0-88920-982-4
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.
Lineman, Dana; Ward, Kyle (April 1, 2006). History Lessons: How Textbooks from A
round the World Portray U.S. History. The New Press. pp. 10-12. ISBN 978-1595580
825.
Lehrburger, Carl (2015). Secrets of Ancient America: Archaeoastronomy and the Le
gacy of the Phoenicians, Celts, and Other Forgotten Explorers. Inner Traditions
International. pp. 19-23. ISBN 978-1591431930.
Traboulay, David M. (1994). Columbus and Las Casas: The Conquest and Christianiz
ation of America, 1492 1566. University Press of America. pp.26-28. ISBN 978-08191
96422.
Meltzer, Milton (1971). Slavery: A World History. Da Capo Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780306805363.
Cohen, J.M. (1969). The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus. New York: Penguin.
p. 139. ISBN 978-0-14-044217-5.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1963). Journals & Other Documents on the Life & Voyages o
f Christopher Columbus. New York: The Heritage Press. p. 262. ASIN B002KR8WPQ.
Joseph, Edward Lanza (1838). History of Trinidad. The British Library. pp.124-12
6.
Stobaugh, James (2012). World History. Master Books. p.175. ISBN 978-0890516485.
Hume, Robert (1992). Christopher Columbus and the European Discovery of America.
Gracewing Publishing. pp. 19-20. ISBN 978-0852442111.
"Discovery" of America
Columbus is often wrongly considered the first European person to have discovere
d the Americas. This idea is wrong for many reasons. For example, the Caribbean
is not on the American mainland. Also, the first European to find America was th
e Viking Leif Erikson, around 1000 AD.[2][3] Finally, people do not agree that e
ither Erikson or Columbus "discovered" America. Native Americans had been living
there for thousands of years before them.[4][5]
Voyage in 1492
Columbus wanted to find a shorter way to get to Asia. He thought he could get to
Asia by sailing west from Europe. He did not know about the countries in the We
stern Hemisphere, so he did not realize they would block him from getting to Asi
a.[1]
However, Columbus did not have enough money to pay for this voyage on his own. H
e was able to get the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Ca
stile, to pay for the voyage. He promised to bring back gold and spices for them
.[1]
Ships

This is a 60-foot-long ship

the same size as Columbus's largest ship

In August of 1492, Columbus and his sailors left Spain in three ships: the Santa
Mara (the Holy Mary), the Pinta (the Painted), and the Santa Clara (nicknamed th
e Nia: the Little Girl).[6]
The three ships were very small. Historians think that the largest ship, the San
ta Mara, was only about 60 feet (18 metres) long, and about 16 to 19 feet (4.8 to
5.8 metres) wide.[7][8]
Columbus's other ships were even smaller. Historians think they were about 50 60 f
eet (15 18 metres) long.[8]
Voyage
On October 12, 1492, after sailing for about four months, Columbus landed on a s
mall island in the Bahamas. The natives called it Guanahani; Columbus renamed it
San Salvador Island ("Holy Savior"). He met Arawak and Tano Native Americans who
lived on the island. They were friendly and peaceful towards Columbus and his c
rew. Not knowing where he was, and thinking that he had reached Asia, the "Indie
s," he called them "Indians." He claimed their land as Spain's.[9]
Columbus then sailed to what is now Cuba, then to Hispaniola. On Hispaniola, Col
umbus built a fort. This was one of the first European military bases in the Wes
tern Hemisphere. He called it Navidad (Spanish for "Christmas"). He left thirtynine crew members there, and ordered them to find and store the gold.[10]
Treatment of native people
On the day he landed in the Bahamas, Columbus wrote about the Arawaks and Tano:
They ought to make good and skilled servants, [since] they repeat very q
uickly whatever we say to them. I think they can very easily be made Christians,
for they seem to have no religion ... I will take six of them ... when I [leave
, so] they may learn our language ... With 50 men you could subject everyone and
make them do what you wished.[11]
Columbus noticed that some of the Arawaks had gold earrings. He took some of the
m as prisoners and ordered them to lead him to the gold. However, they could not
.[12]
According to Encyclopdia Britannica:
Columbus was determined to take back both material and human cargo to hi
s sovereigns [Ferdinand and Isabella] and for himself, and this could be accompl
ished only if his sailors carried on looting, kidnapping, and other violent acts
, especially on Hispaniola.[1]
Columbus thought the world looked like this
Replica of the Santa Maria
Painting of Columbus landing in the New World
Drawing of Columbus landing on Hispaniola
Route of Columbus's first voyage
Letter from Columbus (1493)
Second voyage
On September 24, 1493, Columbus left Spain with enough ships, supplies, and men
to invade and make Spanish colonies in the New World. He had 17 ships and 1,200

men. These men included soldiers and farmers. There were also priests, whose job
was to convert the natives to Christianity.[13]
On this voyage, Columbus explored some of the islands of the Lesser Antilles. He
also sailed around most of Hispaniola and explored the sides of Jamaica and Cub
a he had not seen on his first voyage.
Then he went back to the Navidad fort. He found the fort burned down. Eleven of
the 37 soldiers Columbus left at the fort were buried there. The rest had disapp
eared. Historians think this happened because of disease and fights with the Ara
wak people.[14]
Treatment of native people
While Columbus was away from Navidad exploring Jamaica and Cuba, his soldiers st
opped working on building a new fort and farms. They made the Arawaks give them
food. They also stole things from the Arawaks and raped Arawak women. This made
the Arawaks decide to fight back against the Spaniards. However, Spain had many
weapons that the Arawaks had never seen, including steel swords, pikes, crossbow
s, dogs, and horses. This made it much easier for Spain to win fights against th
e Arawaks.[15]
Columbus also took revenge against the Arawaks for killing his soldiers at Navid
ad. He made every native older than 14 give him a certain amount of gold every t
hree months. If a person did not do this, Columbus's men would cut off their han
ds, and they would bleed to death. Historian Carl Lehrburger says that about 10,
000 natives died this way.[16] Columbus also led his soldiers to many different
villages in Hispaniola to take them over and make them pay him gold also. If the
y could not pay the gold, people would be made into slaves or killed.[17]
Unfortunately, there really was not that much gold on the parts of the island Co
lumbus took over. To avoid getting their hands cut off, many Arawaks tried to ru
n away from Columbus and his men. However, Columbus's soldiers used dogs to hunt
them down and kill them.[12] Bartolom de las Casas said that the Spanish killed
two out of every three native people in the area (though he may have been exagge
rating).[17]
Start of the transatlantic slave trade
In February 1495, Columbus started the transatlantic slave trade. He and his sol
diers captured about 1,500 Tano. Only 500 could fit on Columbus's ships, so Colum
bus told his men they could take any of the rest as slaves. They took 600 and le
t 400 go. Of the 500 natives that Columbus shipped to Spain as slaves, about 200
died on the trip. Half of the rest were very sick when they arrived. This was t
he first time people had ever been shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold
as slaves.[18]
Michele da Cuneo, a friend of Columbus's, helped capture natives as slaves. In a
letter, da Cuneo later wrote that Columbus gave him a captured native woman to
rape:
"... I captured a very beautiful Carib woman, whom the said Lord Admiral
[Columbus] gave to me. ... She was unwilling, and [so badly scratched] me with
her nails that I wished I had never begun. But ... I then took a piece of rope a
nd whipped her soundly, and she let forth such incredible screams that you would
not have believed your ears. Eventually we came to such terms, I assure you, th
at you would have thought that she had been brought up in a school for whores.[1
9]
Third voyage
Columbus made another voyage in 1498. King John II of Portugal had said there wa
s a continent to the southwest of the Cape Verde islands. On his third voyage, C
olumbus wanted to find this continent.[20] Before the voyage, Queen Isabella rem

inded Columbus that he should treat all of the native people well and make them
into Christians.[17]
On this voyage, Columbus sent three ships straight to the West Indies (the Carib
bean). He led another three ships: first to two Portuguese islands, then to the
Canary Islands, then Cape Verde. From Cape Verde, they sailed to the northern co
ast of South America and landed in Trinidad. He also explored part of South Amer
ica and the islands now called Tobago and Grenada.[21]
On August 19, 1498, Columbus returned to Hispaniola. He found that many of the S
panish settlers there were unhappy. They thought there would be more gold in the
New World. Some of them had rebelled while he was gone. Columbus had five of th
e rebellion's leaders hanged. He also tried to make the rest of the settlers hap
py by giving them land in Hispaniola. However, the settlers kept sending complai
nts to Spain. In 1499, Queen Isabella sent a man named Francisco de Bobadilla to
Hispaniola. She gave him the power to do whatever he thought he should do. When
he arrived in 1500, the first thing he did was to have Columbus arrested and se
nt back to Spain in chains.[17]
Treatment of native people
When he was trying to make Spanish settlers happy, Columbus started the Encomien
da system in Hispaniola. Under this system, Columbus would give a piece of land
in Hispaniola to an individual Spanish settler. Sometimes, he would give away a
whole native village. Any natives that lived in that area had to work for that S
panish settler. Natives had lived on this land for centuries. Columbus was givin
g their land away, and then forcing them to work on that land.[17]
Later life
Columbus was arrested in Hispaola, now called Santo Domingo, on August 23, 1500.
He was sent to Spain in chains in October 1500. He was released on December 12,
1500, and taken to court.
Luckily, Columbus had important friends, like Dukes, other noblemen, and powerfu
l Italian merchants. These friendships helped him get out of trouble.
Columbus died of heart failure and arthritis in Valladolid, Spain, at the possib
le age of 54.
Personal life
Columbus's relatives said that Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. Today, no hist
orian can say for sure where Columbus was born. Most experts think the best evid
ence says he was born in Genoa. However, other historians think Columbus was bor
n somewhere else, like Spain or Portugal. Some think he was originally a Jew who
converted to Christianity.[1]
Columbus wrote that he first went to sea when he was 14 years old.[22]
In 1477, Columbus married Felipa Moniz Perestrelo. She was from a semi-noble fam
ily with connections to sailing. She died around 1479 or 1480 while giving birth
to their son, Diego.[23]
In 1485, while in Crdoba, Spain, Columbus met Beatriz Enrquez de Trasierra. They l
ived together for a while. They had one child named Fernando.[24]
Columbus's goals
Columbus had a few different goals for his journeys to the New World. First, he
believed he could find a shorter and easier route to Asia, which made things Eur
ope did not. He believed he could find a shorter route to China. Other people ha
d called this belief absurd. Columbus wanted to prove these people wrong.[25]

Second, Columbus wanted to find gold. Gold was the main kind of money used in Co
lumbus's times. In his letter to Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Colu
mbus wrote: Gold is most excellent; gold is treasure, and [the person] who [has]
it does all he wishes to in this world."[26] This means that someone with gold c
an do anything he wants to do. Many historians believe that Columbus wanted to b
ecome a powerful person
and to become powerful, he needed to find gold.
After Columbus
When the Spanish learned about the New World, many conquistadors, or conquerors,
went there. This led to the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
The Spanish conquistadors first settled on the islands of Hispaniola (now the Do
minican Republic and Haiti), Cuba, and Puerto Rico. They grabbed as much gold as
they could. The Spanish also brought priests and forced the Native Americans to
convert to Christianity.
Legacy
In the United States, Columbus Day is a holiday that celebrates Columbus's arriv
al in the New World on October 12, 1492.[27]
The World's Columbian Exposition, which happened in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, w
as held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus visiting the Americas.[28
]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christopher Columbus
Flint, Valerie I.J. (February 11, 2016). "Christopher Columbus". Encyclopdia Brit
annica. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
Bulygin, Eugenio; Gardies, Jean-Louis; Niiniluoto, I. (June 30, 1985). Man, Law
and Modern Forms of Life. Springer Science and Business Media. p. 111. ISBN 9789027718693.
Russell Freedom. Interview with Eric Weiner. Coming to America: Who Was First?.
NPR. October 8, 2007. Assessed on April 20, 2016.
Johansen, Bruce E.; Pritzker, Barry M. (July 23, 2007). Encyclopedia of American
Indian History. ABC-CLIO. p. 451. ISBN 978-1851098187. "The term Paleo-Indians de
scribes the earliest inhabitants of North America (ca. 10,000 8,000 BCE)."
Ferbel, Peter J. (2000). The Indigenous People of the Caribbean (review). Ethnoh
istory 47 (3-4): 816-818. "The indigenous people of the Caribbean
migrated from
Central America some six thousand years ago."
Columbus Day. The History Channel Website. Retrieved Jan 28, 2013.http://www.his
tory.com/topics/columbus-day
Gould, Richard A. (2000). Archaeology and the Social History of Ships. Cambridge
University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0521567893.
Phillips, William D.; Phillips, Carla Rahn (1992). The Worlds of Christopher Col
umbus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 143 145. ISBN 978-0-521-44652-5.
"Christopher Columbus." Explorers & Discoverers of the World. Gale, 1993. Gale B
iography In Context. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.
Tinker, George E. (1993). Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cu
ltural Genocide. Fortress Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1451408409.
Zinn, Howard (2003). A People's History of the United States. New York: HarperCo
llins. pp. 1 22. ISBN 0-06-052837-0.
Baccus, M. Kazim (2000). Utilization, Misuse, and Development of Human Resources
in the Early West Indian Colonies. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 6-7. I
SBN 978-0-88920-982-4
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.

Lineman, Dana; Ward, Kyle (April 1, 2006). History Lessons: How Textbooks from A
round the World Portray U.S. History. The New Press. pp. 10-12. ISBN 978-1595580
825.
Lehrburger, Carl (2015). Secrets of Ancient America: Archaeoastronomy and the Le
gacy of the Phoenicians, Celts, and Other Forgotten Explorers. Inner Traditions
International. pp. 19-23. ISBN 978-1591431930.
Traboulay, David M. (1994). Columbus and Las Casas: The Conquest and Christianiz
ation of America, 1492 1566. University Press of America. pp.26-28. ISBN 978-08191
96422.
Meltzer, Milton (1971). Slavery: A World History. Da Capo Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780306805363.
Cohen, J.M. (1969). The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus. New York: Penguin.
p. 139. ISBN 978-0-14-044217-5.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1963). Journals & Other Documents on the Life & Voyages o
f Christopher Columbus. New York: The Heritage Press. p. 262. ASIN B002KR8WPQ.
Joseph, Edward Lanza (1838). History of Trinidad. The British Library. pp.124-12
6.
Stobaugh, James (2012). World History. Master Books. p.175. ISBN 978-0890516485.
Hume, Robert (1992). Christopher Columbus and the European Discovery of America.
Gracewing Publishing. pp. 19-20. ISBN 978-0852442111.
Beding, Silvio A. (2016). The Chrstopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Springer. p.24.
ISBN 978-1349125739.
Daniels, Patricia; Hyslop, Stephen Garrison; & Brinkley, Douglas (2011). "Naviga
ting the Globe: 1492 1522.". National Geographic Almanac of World History. Natio
nal Geographic Books. pp. 184-185. ISBN 978-1426208904.
Franzosi, Roberto (2004). From Words to Numbers: Narrative, Data, and Social Sci
ence. Cambridge University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0521541459.
http://www.history.com/topics/columbus-day
"Bird's-Eye View of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893". World
Digital Library. 1893. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
Categories:
1506 deathsDeaths from heart failureDisease-related deaths in SpainItalian e
xplorersPeople from Ge"Discovery" of America
Columbus is often wrongly considered the first European person to have discovere
d the Americas. This idea is wrong for many reasons. For example, the Caribbean
is not on the American mainland. Also, the first European to find America was th
e Viking Leif Erikson, around 1000 AD.[2][3] Finally, people do not agree that e
ither Erikson or Columbus "discovered" America. Native Americans had been living
there for thousands of years before them.[4][5]
Voyage in 1492
Columbus wanted to find a shorter way to get to Asia. He thought he could get to
Asia by sailing west from Europe. He did not know about the countries in the We
stern Hemisphere, so he did not realize they would block him from getting to Asi
a.[1]
However, Columbus did not have enough money to pay for this voyage on his own. H
e was able to get the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Ca
stile, to pay for the voyage. He promised to bring back gold and spices for them
.[1]
Ships
This is a 60-foot-long ship
the same size as Columbus's largest ship
In August of 1492, Columbus and his sailors left Spain in three ships: the Santa
Mara (the Holy Mary), the Pinta (the Painted), and the Santa Clara (nicknamed th
e Nia: the Little Girl).[6]

The three ships were very small. Historians think that the largest ship, the San
ta Mara, was only about 60 feet (18 metres) long, and about 16 to 19 feet (4.8 to
5.8 metres) wide.[7][8]
Columbus's other ships were even smaller. Historians think they were about 50 60 f
eet (15 18 metres) long.[8]
Voyage
On October 12, 1492, after sailing for about four months, Columbus landed on a s
mall island in the Bahamas. The natives called it Guanahani; Columbus renamed it
San Salvador Island ("Holy Savior"). He met Arawak and Tano Native Americans who
lived on the island. They were friendly and peaceful towards Columbus and his c
rew. Not knowing where he was, and thinking that he had reached Asia, the "Indie
s," he called them "Indians." He claimed their land as Spain's.[9]
Columbus then sailed to what is now Cuba, then to Hispaniola. On Hispaniola, Col
umbus built a fort. This was one of the first European military bases in the Wes
tern Hemisphere. He called it Navidad (Spanish for "Christmas"). He left thirtynine crew members there, and ordered them to find and store the gold.[10]
Treatment of native people
On the day he landed in the Bahamas, Columbus wrote about the Arawaks and Tano:
They ought to make good and skilled servants, [since] they repeat very q
uickly whatever we say to them. I think they can very easily be made Christians,
for they seem to have no religion ... I will take six of them ... when I [leave
, so] they may learn our language ... With 50 men you could subject everyone and
make them do what you wished.[11]
Columbus noticed that some of the Arawaks had gold earrings. He took some of the
m as prisoners and ordered them to lead him to the gold. However, they could not
.[12]
According to Encyclopdia Britannica:
Columbus was determined to take back both material and human cargo to hi
s sovereigns [Ferdinand and Isabella] and for himself, and this could be accompl
ished only if his sailors carried on looting, kidnapping, and other violent acts
, especially on Hispaniola.[1]
Columbus thought the world looked like this
Replica of the Santa Maria
Painting of Columbus landing in the New World
Drawing of Columbus landing on Hispaniola
Route of Columbus's first voyage
Letter from Columbus (1493)
Second voyage
On September 24, 1493, Columbus left Spain with enough ships, supplies, and men
to invade and make Spanish colonies in the New World. He had 17 ships and 1,200
men. These men included soldiers and farmers. There were also priests, whose job
was to convert the natives to Christianity.[13]
On this voyage, Columbus explored some of the islands of the Lesser Antilles. He
also sailed around most of Hispaniola and explored the sides of Jamaica and Cub

a he had not seen on his first voyage.

Then he went back to the Navidad fort. He found the fort burned down. Eleven of
the 37 soldiers Columbus left at the fort were buried there. The rest had disapp
eared. Historians think this happened because of disease and fights with the Ara
wak people.[14]
Treatment of native people
While Columbus was away from Navidad exploring Jamaica and Cuba, his soldiers st
opped working on building a new fort and farms. They made the Arawaks give them
food. They also stole things from the Arawaks and raped Arawak women. This made
the Arawaks decide to fight back against the Spaniards. However, Spain had many
weapons that the Arawaks had never seen, including steel swords, pikes, crossbow
s, dogs, and horses. This made it much easier for Spain to win fights against th
e Arawaks.[15]
Columbus also took revenge against the Arawaks for killing his soldiers at Navid
ad. He made every native older than 14 give him a certain amount of gold every t
hree months. If a person did not do this, Columbus's men would cut off their han
ds, and they would bleed to death. Historian Carl Lehrburger says that about 10,
000 natives died this way.[16] Columbus also led his soldiers to many different
villages in Hispaniola to take them over and make them pay him gold also. If the
y could not pay the gold, people would be made into slaves or killed.[17]
Unfortunately, there really was not that much gold on the parts of the island Co
lumbus took over. To avoid getting their hands cut off, many Arawaks tried to ru
n away from Columbus and his men. However, Columbus's soldiers used dogs to hunt
them down and kill them.[12] Bartolom de las Casas said that the Spanish killed
two out of every three native people in the area (though he may have been exagge
rating).[17]
Start of the transatlantic slave trade
In February 1495, Columbus started the transatlantic slave trade. He and his sol
diers captured about 1,500 Tano. Only 500 could fit on Columbus's ships, so Colum
bus told his men they could take any of the rest as slaves. They took 600 and le
t 400 go. Of the 500 natives that Columbus shipped to Spain as slaves, about 200
died on the trip. Half of the rest were very sick when they arrived. This was t
he first time people had ever been shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold
as slaves.[18]
Michele da Cuneo, a friend of Columbus's, helped capture natives as slaves. In a
letter, da Cuneo later wrote that Columbus gave him a captured native woman to
rape:
"... I captured a very beautiful Carib woman, whom the said Lord Admiral
[Columbus] gave to me. ... She was unwilling, and [so badly scratched] me with
her nails that I wished I had never begun. But ... I then took a piece of rope a
nd whipped her soundly, and she let forth such incredible screams that you would
not have believed your ears. Eventually we came to such terms, I assure you, th
at you would have thought that she had been brought up in a school for whores.[1
9]
Third voyage
Columbus made another voyage in 1498. King
s a continent to the southwest of the Cape
olumbus wanted to find this continent.[20]
inded Columbus that he should treat all of
into Christians.[17]

John II of Portugal had said there wa

Verde islands. On his third voyage, C
Before the voyage, Queen Isabella rem
the native people well and make them

On this voyage, Columbus sent three ships straight to the West Indies (the Carib
bean). He led another three ships: first to two Portuguese islands, then to the

Canary Islands, then Cape Verde. From Cape Verde, they sailed to the northern co
ast of South America and landed in Trinidad. He also explored part of South Amer
ica and the islands now called Tobago and Grenada.[21]
On August 19, 1498, Columbus returned to Hispaniola. He found that many of the S
panish settlers there were unhappy. They thought there would be more gold in the
New World. Some of them had rebelled while he was gone. Columbus had five of th
e rebellion's leaders hanged. He also tried to make the rest of the settlers hap
py by giving them land in Hispaniola. However, the settlers kept sending complai
nts to Spain. In 1499, Queen Isabella sent a man named Francisco de Bobadilla to
Hispaniola. She gave him the power to do whatever he thought he should do. When
he arrived in 1500, the first thing he did was to have Columbus arrested and se
nt back to Spain in chains.[17]
Treatment of native people
When he was trying to make Spanish settlers happy, Columbus started the Encomien
da system in Hispaniola. Under this system, Columbus would give a piece of land
in Hispaniola to an individual Spanish settler. Sometimes, he would give away a
whole native village. Any natives that lived in that area had to work for that S
panish settler. Natives had lived on this land for centuries. Columbus was givin
g their land away, and then forcing them to work on that land.[17]
Later life
Columbus was arrested in Hispaola, now called Santo Domingo, on August 23, 1500.
He was sent to Spain in chains in October 1500. He was released on December 12,
1500, and taken to court.
Luckily, Columbus had important friends, like Dukes, other noblemen, and powerfu
l Italian merchants. These friendships helped him get out of trouble.
Columbus died of heart failure and arthritis in Valladolid, Spain, at the possib
le age of 54.
Personal life
Columbus's relatives said that Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. Today, no hist
orian can say for sure where Columbus was born. Most experts think the best evid
ence says he was born in Genoa. However, other historians think Columbus was bor
n somewhere else, like Spain or Portugal. Some think he was originally a Jew who
converted to Christianity.[1]
Columbus wrote that he first went to sea when he was 14 years old.[22]
In 1477, Columbus married Felipa Moniz Perestrelo. She was from a semi-noble fam
ily with connections to sailing. She died around 1479 or 1480 while giving birth
to their son, Diego.[23]
In 1485, while in Crdoba, Spain, Columbus met Beatriz Enrquez de Trasierra. They l
ived together for a while. They had one child named Fernando.[24]
Columbus's goals
Columbus had a few different goals for his journeys to the New World. First, he
believed he could find a shorter and easier route to Asia, which made things Eur
ope did not. He believed he could find a shorter route to China. Other people ha
d called this belief absurd. Columbus wanted to prove these people wrong.[25]
Second, Columbus wanted to find gold. Gold was the main kind of money used in Co
lumbus's times. In his letter to Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Colu
mbus wrote: Gold is most excellent; gold is treasure, and [the person] who [has]
it does all he wishes to in this world."[26] This means that someone with gold c
an do anything he wants to do. Many historians believe that Columbus wanted to b

ecome a powerful person

After Columbus

and to become powerful, he needed to find gold.

When the Spanish learned about the New World, many conquistadors, or conquerors,
went there. This led to the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
The Spanish conquistadors first settled on the islands of Hispaniola (now the Do
minican Republic and Haiti), Cuba, and Puerto Rico. They grabbed as much gold as
they could. The Spanish also brought priests and forced the Native Americans to
convert to Christianity.
Legacy
In the United States, Columbus Day is a holiday that celebrates Columbus's arriv
al in the New World on October 12, 1492.[27]
The World's Columbian Exposition, which happened in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, w
as held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus visiting the Americas.[28
]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christopher Columbus
Flint, Valerie I.J. (February 11, 2016). "Christopher Columbus". Encyclopdia Brit
annica. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
Bulygin, Eugenio; Gardies, Jean-Louis; Niiniluoto, I. (June 30, 1985). Man, Law
and Modern Forms of Life. Springer Science and Business Media. p. 111. ISBN 9789027718693.
Russell Freedom. Interview with Eric Weiner. Coming to America: Who Was First?.
NPR. October 8, 2007. Assessed on April 20, 2016.
Johansen, Bruce E.; Pritzker, Barry M. (July 23, 2007). Encyclopedia of American
Indian History. ABC-CLIO. p. 451. ISBN 978-1851098187. "The term Paleo-Indians de
scribes the earliest inhabitants of North America (ca. 10,000 8,000 BCE)."
Ferbel, Peter J. (2000). The Indigenous People of the Caribbean (review). Ethnoh
istory 47 (3-4): 816-818. "The indigenous people of the Caribbean
migrated from
Central America some six thousand years ago."
Columbus Day. The History Channel Website. Retrieved Jan 28, 2013.http://www.his
tory.com/topics/columbus-day
Gould, Richard A. (2000). Archaeology and the Social History of Ships. Cambridge
University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0521567893.
Phillips, William D.; Phillips, Carla Rahn (1992). The Worlds of Christopher Col
umbus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 143 145. ISBN 978-0-521-44652-5.
"Christopher Columbus." Explorers & Discoverers of the World. Gale, 1993. Gale B
iography In Context. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.
Tinker, George E. (1993). Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cu
ltural Genocide. Fortress Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1451408409.
Zinn, Howard (2003). A People's History of the United States. New York: HarperCo
llins. pp. 1 22. ISBN 0-06-052837-0.
Baccus, M. Kazim (2000). Utilization, Misuse, and Development of Human Resources
in the Early West Indian Colonies. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 6-7. I
SBN 978-0-88920-982-4
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.
Lineman, Dana; Ward, Kyle (April 1, 2006). History Lessons: How Textbooks from A
round the World Portray U.S. History. The New Press. pp. 10-12. ISBN 978-1595580
825.
Lehrburger, Carl (2015). Secrets of Ancient America: Archaeoastronomy and the Le
gacy of the Phoenicians, Celts, and Other Forgotten Explorers. Inner Traditions

International. pp. 19-23. ISBN 978-1591431930.

Traboulay, David M. (1994). Columbus and Las Casas: The Conquest and Christianiz
ation of America, 1492 1566. University Press of America. pp.26-28. ISBN 978-08191
96422.
Meltzer, Milton (1971). Slavery: A World History. Da Capo Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780306805363.
Cohen, J.M. (1969). The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus. New York: Penguin.
p. 139. ISBN 978-0-14-044217-5.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1963). Journals & Other Documents on the Life & Voyages o
f Christopher Columbus. New York: The Heritage Press. p. 262. ASIN B002KR8WPQ.
Joseph, Edward Lanza (1838). History of Trinidad. The British Library. pp.124-12
6.
Stobaugh, James (2012). World History. Master Books. p.175. ISBN 978-0890516485.
Hume, Robert (1992). Christopher Columbus and the European Discovery of America.
Gracewing Publishing. pp. 19-20. ISBN 978-0852442111.
Beding, Silvio A. (2016). The Chrstopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Springer. p.24.
ISBN 978-1349125739.
Daniels, Patricia; Hyslop, Stephen Garrison; & Brinkley, Douglas (2011). "Naviga
ting the Globe: 1492 1522.". National Geographic Almanac of World History. Natio
nal Geographic Books. pp. 184-185. ISBN 978-1426208904.
Franzosi, Roberto (2004). From Words to Numbers: Narrative, Data, and Social Sci
ence. Cambridge University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0521541459.
http://www.history.com/topics/columbus-day
"Bird's-Eye View of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893". World
Digital Library. 1893. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
Categories:
1506 deathsDeaths from heart failureDisease-related deaths in SpainItalian e
xplorersPeople from Ge"Discovery" of America
Columbus is often wrongly considered the first European person to have discovere
d the Americas. This idea is wrong for many reasons. For example, the Caribbean
is not on the American mainland. Also, the first European to find America was th
e Viking Leif Erikson, around 1000 AD.[2][3] Finally, people do not agree that e
ither Erikson or Columbus "discovered" America. Native Americans had been living
there for thousands of years before them.[4][5]
Voyage in 1492
Columbus wanted to find a shorter way to get to Asia. He thought he could get to
Asia by sailing west from Europe. He did not know about the countries in the We
stern Hemisphere, so he did not realize they would block him from getting to Asi
a.[1]
However, Columbus did not have enough money to pay for this voyage on his own. H
e was able to get the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Ca
stile, to pay for the voyage. He promised to bring back gold and spices for them
.[1]
Ships
This is a 60-foot-long ship
the same size as Columbus's largest ship
In August of 1492, Columbus and his sailors left Spain in three ships: the Santa
Mara (the Holy Mary), the Pinta (the Painted), and the Santa Clara (nicknamed th
e Nia: the Little Girl).[6]
The three ships were very small. Historians think that the largest ship, the San
ta Mara, was only about 60 feet (18 metres) long, and about 16 to 19 feet (4.8 to
5.8 metres) wide.[7][8]

Columbus's other ships were even smaller. Historians think they were about 50 60 f
eet (15 18 metres) long.[8]
Voyage
On October 12, 1492, after sailing for about four months, Columbus landed on a s
mall island in the Bahamas. The natives called it Guanahani; Columbus renamed it
San Salvador Island ("Holy Savior"). He met Arawak and Tano Native Americans who
lived on the island. They were friendly and peaceful towards Columbus and his c
rew. Not knowing where he was, and thinking that he had reached Asia, the "Indie
s," he called them "Indians." He claimed their land as Spain's.[9]
Columbus then sailed to what is now Cuba, then to Hispaniola. On Hispaniola, Col
umbus built a fort. This was one of the first European military bases in the Wes
tern Hemisphere. He called it Navidad (Spanish for "Christmas"). He left thirtynine crew members there, and ordered them to find and store the gold.[10]
Treatment of native people
On the day he landed in the Bahamas, Columbus wrote about the Arawaks and Tano:
They ought to make good and skilled servants, [since] they repeat very q
uickly whatever we say to them. I think they can very easily be made Christians,
for they seem to have no religion ... I will take six of them ... when I [leave
, so] they may learn our language ... With 50 men you could subject everyone and
make them do what you wished.[11]
Columbus noticed that some of the Arawaks had gold earrings. He took some of the
m as prisoners and ordered them to lead him to the gold. However, they could not
.[12]
According to Encyclopdia Britannica:
Columbus was determined to take back both material and human cargo to hi
s sovereigns [Ferdinand and Isabella] and for himself, and this could be accompl
ished only if his sailors carried on looting, kidnapping, and other violent acts
, especially on Hispaniola.[1]
Columbus thought the world looked like this
Replica of the Santa Maria
Painting of Columbus landing in the New World
Drawing of Columbus landing on Hispaniola
Route of Columbus's first voyage
Letter from Columbus (1493)
Second voyage
On September 24, 1493, Columbus left Spain with enough ships, supplies, and men
to invade and make Spanish colonies in the New World. He had 17 ships and 1,200
men. These men included soldiers and farmers. There were also priests, whose job
was to convert the natives to Christianity.[13]
On this voyage, Columbus explored some of the islands of the Lesser Antilles. He
also sailed around most of Hispaniola and explored the sides of Jamaica and Cub
a he had not seen on his first voyage.
Then he went back to the Navidad fort. He found the fort burned down. Eleven of
the 37 soldiers Columbus left at the fort were buried there. The rest had disapp
eared. Historians think this happened because of disease and fights with the Ara

wak people.[14]
Treatment of native people
While Columbus was away from Navidad exploring Jamaica and Cuba, his soldiers st
opped working on building a new fort and farms. They made the Arawaks give them
food. They also stole things from the Arawaks and raped Arawak women. This made
the Arawaks decide to fight back against the Spaniards. However, Spain had many
weapons that the Arawaks had never seen, including steel swords, pikes, crossbow
s, dogs, and horses. This made it much easier for Spain to win fights against th
e Arawaks.[15]
Columbus also took revenge against the Arawaks for killing his soldiers at Navid
ad. He made every native older than 14 give him a certain amount of gold every t
hree months. If a person did not do this, Columbus's men would cut off their han
ds, and they would bleed to death. Historian Carl Lehrburger says that about 10,
000 natives died this way.[16] Columbus also led his soldiers to many different
villages in Hispaniola to take them over and make them pay him gold also. If the
y could not pay the gold, people would be made into slaves or killed.[17]
Unfortunately, there really was not that much gold on the parts of the island Co
lumbus took over. To avoid getting their hands cut off, many Arawaks tried to ru
n away from Columbus and his men. However, Columbus's soldiers used dogs to hunt
them down and kill them.[12] Bartolom de las Casas said that the Spanish killed
two out of every three native people in the area (though he may have been exagge
rating).[17]
Start of the transatlantic slave trade
In February 1495, Columbus started the transatlantic slave trade. He and his sol
diers captured about 1,500 Tano. Only 500 could fit on Columbus's ships, so Colum
bus told his men they could take any of the rest as slaves. They took 600 and le
t 400 go. Of the 500 natives that Columbus shipped to Spain as slaves, about 200
died on the trip. Half of the rest were very sick when they arrived. This was t
he first time people had ever been shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold
as slaves.[18]
Michele da Cuneo, a friend of Columbus's, helped capture natives as slaves. In a
letter, da Cuneo later wrote that Columbus gave him a captured native woman to
rape:
"... I captured a very beautiful Carib woman, whom the said Lord Admiral
[Columbus] gave to me. ... She was unwilling, and [so badly scratched] me with
her nails that I wished I had never begun. But ... I then took a piece of rope a
nd whipped her soundly, and she let forth such incredible screams that you would
not have believed your ears. Eventually we came to such terms, I assure you, th
at you would have thought that she had been brought up in a school for whores.[1
9]
Third voyage
Columbus made another voyage in 1498. King
s a continent to the southwest of the Cape
olumbus wanted to find this continent.[20]
inded Columbus that he should treat all of
into Christians.[17]

John II of Portugal had said there wa

Verde islands. On his third voyage, C
Before the voyage, Queen Isabella rem
the native people well and make them

On this voyage, Columbus sent three ships straight to the West Indies (the Carib
bean). He led another three ships: first to two Portuguese islands, then to the
Canary Islands, then Cape Verde. From Cape Verde, they sailed to the northern co
ast of South America and landed in Trinidad. He also explored part of South Amer
ica and the islands now called Tobago and Grenada.[21]
On August 19, 1498, Columbus returned to Hispaniola. He found that many of the S

panish settlers there were unhappy. They thought there would be more gold in the
New World. Some of them had rebelled while he was gone. Columbus had five of th
e rebellion's leaders hanged. He also tried to make the rest of the settlers hap
py by giving them land in Hispaniola. However, the settlers kept sending complai
nts to Spain. In 1499, Queen Isabella sent a man named Francisco de Bobadilla to
Hispaniola. She gave him the power to do whatever he thought he should do. When
he arrived in 1500, the first thing he did was to have Columbus arrested and se
nt back to Spain in chains.[17]
Treatment of native people
When he was trying to make Spanish settlers happy, Columbus started the Encomien
da system in Hispaniola. Under this system, Columbus would give a piece of land
in Hispaniola to an individual Spanish settler. Sometimes, he would give away a
whole native village. Any natives that lived in that area had to work for that S
panish settler. Natives had lived on this land for centuries. Columbus was givin
g their land away, and then forcing them to work on that land.[17]
Later life
Columbus was arrested in Hispaola, now called Santo Domingo, on August 23, 1500.
He was sent to Spain in chains in October 1500. He was released on December 12,
1500, and taken to court.
Luckily, Columbus had important friends, like Dukes, other noblemen, and powerfu
l Italian merchants. These friendships helped him get out of trouble.
Columbus died of heart failure and arthritis in Valladolid, Spain, at the possib
le age of 54.
Personal life
Columbus's relatives said that Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. Today, no hist
orian can say for sure where Columbus was born. Most experts think the best evid
ence says he was born in Genoa. However, other historians think Columbus was bor
n somewhere else, like Spain or Portugal. Some think he was originally a Jew who
converted to Christianity.[1]
Columbus wrote that he first went to sea when he was 14 years old.[22]
In 1477, Columbus married Felipa Moniz Perestrelo. She was from a semi-noble fam
ily with connections to sailing. She died around 1479 or 1480 while giving birth
to their son, Diego.[23]
In 1485, while in Crdoba, Spain, Columbus met Beatriz Enrquez de Trasierra. They l
ived together for a while. They had one child named Fernando.[24]
Columbus's goals
Columbus had a few different goals for his journeys to the New World. First, he
believed he could find a shorter and easier route to Asia, which made things Eur
ope did not. He believed he could find a shorter route to China. Other people ha
d called this belief absurd. Columbus wanted to prove these people wrong.[25]
Second, Columbus wanted to find gold. Gold was the main kind of money used in Co
lumbus's times. In his letter to Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Colu
mbus wrote: Gold is most excellent; gold is treasure, and [the person] who [has]
it does all he wishes to in this world."[26] This means that someone with gold c
an do anything he wants to do. Many historians believe that Columbus wanted to b
ecome a powerful person
and to become powerful, he needed to find gold.
After Columbus
When the Spanish learned about the New World, many conquistadors, or conquerors,
went there. This led to the Spanish colonization of the Americas.

The Spanish conquistadors first settled on the islands of Hispaniola (now the Do
minican Republic and Haiti), Cuba, and Puerto Rico. They grabbed as much gold as
they could. The Spanish also brought priests and forced the Native Americans to
convert to Christianity.
Legacy
In the United States, Columbus Day is a holiday that celebrates Columbus's arriv
al in the New World on October 12, 1492.[27]
The World's Columbian Exposition, which happened in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, w
as held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus visiting the Americas.[28
]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christopher Columbus
Flint, Valerie I.J. (February 11, 2016). "Christopher Columbus". Encyclopdia Brit
annica. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
Bulygin, Eugenio; Gardies, Jean-Louis; Niiniluoto, I. (June 30, 1985). Man, Law
and Modern Forms of Life. Springer Science and Business Media. p. 111. ISBN 9789027718693.
Russell Freedom. Interview with Eric Weiner. Coming to America: Who Was First?.
NPR. October 8, 2007. Assessed on April 20, 2016.
Johansen, Bruce E.; Pritzker, Barry M. (July 23, 2007). Encyclopedia of American
Indian History. ABC-CLIO. p. 451. ISBN 978-1851098187. "The term Paleo-Indians de
scribes the earliest inhabitants of North America (ca. 10,000 8,000 BCE)."
Ferbel, Peter J. (2000). The Indigenous People of the Caribbean (review). Ethnoh
istory 47 (3-4): 816-818. "The indigenous people of the Caribbean
migrated from
Central America some six thousand years ago."
Columbus Day. The History Channel Website. Retrieved Jan 28, 2013.http://www.his
tory.com/topics/columbus-day
Gould, Richard A. (2000). Archaeology and the Social History of Ships. Cambridge
University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0521567893.
Phillips, William D.; Phillips, Carla Rahn (1992). The Worlds of Christopher Col
umbus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 143 145. ISBN 978-0-521-44652-5.
"Christopher Columbus." Explorers & Discoverers of the World. Gale, 1993. Gale B
iography In Context. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.
Tinker, George E. (1993). Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cu
ltural Genocide. Fortress Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1451408409.
Zinn, Howard (2003). A People's History of the United States. New York: HarperCo
llins. pp. 1 22. ISBN 0-06-052837-0.
Baccus, M. Kazim (2000). Utilization, Misuse, and Development of Human Resources
in the Early West Indian Colonies. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 6-7. I
SBN 978-0-88920-982-4
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.
Lineman, Dana; Ward, Kyle (April 1, 2006). History Lessons: How Textbooks from A
round the World Portray U.S. History. The New Press. pp. 10-12. ISBN 978-1595580
825.
Lehrburger, Carl (2015). Secrets of Ancient America: Archaeoastronomy and the Le
gacy of the Phoenicians, Celts, and Other Forgotten Explorers. Inner Traditions
International. pp. 19-23. ISBN 978-1591431930.
Traboulay, David M. (1994). Columbus and Las Casas: The Conquest and Christianiz
ation of America, 1492 1566. University Press of America. pp.26-28. ISBN 978-08191
96422.
Meltzer, Milton (1971). Slavery: A World History. Da Capo Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-

0306805363.
Cohen, J.M. (1969). The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus. New York: Penguin.
p. 139. ISBN 978-0-14-044217-5.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1963). Journals & Other Documents on the Life & Voyages o
f Christopher Columbus. New York: The Heritage Press. p. 262. ASIN B002KR8WPQ.
Joseph, Edward Lanza (1838). History of Trinidad. The British Library. pp.124-12
6.
Stobaugh, James (2012). World History. Master Books. p.175. ISBN 978-0890516485.
Hume, Robert (1992). Christopher Columbus and the European Discovery of America.
Gracewing Publishing. pp. 19-20. ISBN 978-0852442111.
Beding, Silvio A. (2016). The Chrstopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Springer. p.24.
ISBN 978-1349125739.
Daniels, Patricia; Hyslop, Stephen Garrison; & Brinkley, Douglas (2011). "Naviga
ting the Globe: 1492
1522.". National Geographic Almanac of World History. Natio
nal Geographic Books. pp. 184-185. ISBN 978-1426208904.
Franzosi, Roberto (2004). From Words to Numbers: Narrative, Data, and Social Sci
ence. Cambridge University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0521541459.
http://www.history.com/topics/columbus-day
"Bird's-Eye View of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893". World
Digital Library. 1893. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
Categories:
1506 deathsDeaths from heart failureDisease-related deaths in SpainItalian e
xplorersPeople from Ge"Discovery" of America
Columbus is often wrongly considered the first European person to have discovere
d the Americas. This idea is wrong for many reasons. For example, the Caribbean
is not on the American mainland. Also, the first European to find America was th
e Viking Leif Erikson, around 1000 AD.[2][3] Finally, people do not agree that e
ither Erikson or Columbus "discovered" America. Native Americans had been living
there for thousands of years before them.[4][5]
Voyage in 1492
Columbus wanted to find a shorter way to get to Asia. He thought he could get to
Asia by sailing west from Europe. He did not know about the countries in the We
stern Hemisphere, so he did not realize they would block him from getting to Asi
a.[1]
However, Columbus did not have enough money to pay for this voyage on his own. H
e was able to get the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Ca
stile, to pay for the voyage. He promised to bring back gold and spices for them
.[1]
Ships
This is a 60-foot-long ship
the same size as Columbus's largest ship
In August of 1492, Columbus and his sailors left Spain in three ships: the Santa
Mara (the Holy Mary), the Pinta (the Painted), and the Santa Clara (nicknamed th
e Nia: the Little Girl).[6]
The three ships were very small. Historians think that the largest ship, the San
ta Mara, was only about 60 feet (18 metres) long, and about 16 to 19 feet (4.8 to
5.8 metres) wide.[7][8]
Columbus's other ships were even smaller. Historians think they were about 50 60 f
eet (15 18 metres) long.[8]
Voyage
On October 12, 1492, after sailing for about four months, Columbus landed on a s

mall island in the Bahamas. The natives called it Guanahani; Columbus renamed it
San Salvador Island ("Holy Savior"). He met Arawak and Tano Native Americans who
lived on the island. They were friendly and peaceful towards Columbus and his c
rew. Not knowing where he was, and thinking that he had reached Asia, the "Indie
s," he called them "Indians." He claimed their land as Spain's.[9]
Columbus then sailed to what is now Cuba, then to Hispaniola. On Hispaniola, Col
umbus built a fort. This was one of the first European military bases in the Wes
tern Hemisphere. He called it Navidad (Spanish for "Christmas"). He left thirtynine crew members there, and ordered them to find and store the gold.[10]
Treatment of native people
On the day he landed in the Bahamas, Columbus wrote about the Arawaks and Tano:
They ought to make good and skilled servants, [since] they repeat very q
uickly whatever we say to them. I think they can very easily be made Christians,
for they seem to have no religion ... I will take six of them ... when I [leave
, so] they may learn our language ... With 50 men you could subject everyone and
make them do what you wished.[11]
Columbus noticed that some of the Arawaks had gold earrings. He took some of the
m as prisoners and ordered them to lead him to the gold. However, they could not
.[12]
According to Encyclopdia Britannica:
Columbus was determined to take back both material and human cargo to hi
s sovereigns [Ferdinand and Isabella] and for himself, and this could be accompl
ished only if his sailors carried on looting, kidnapping, and other violent acts
, especially on Hispaniola.[1]
Columbus thought the world looked like this
Replica of the Santa Maria
Painting of Columbus landing in the New World
Drawing of Columbus landing on Hispaniola
Route of Columbus's first voyage
Letter from Columbus (1493)
Second voyage
On September 24, 1493, Columbus left Spain with enough ships, supplies, and men
to invade and make Spanish colonies in the New World. He had 17 ships and 1,200
men. These men included soldiers and farmers. There were also priests, whose job
was to convert the natives to Christianity.[13]
On this voyage, Columbus explored some of the islands of the Lesser Antilles. He
also sailed around most of Hispaniola and explored the sides of Jamaica and Cub
a he had not seen on his first voyage.
Then he went back to the Navidad fort. He found the fort burned down. Eleven of
the 37 soldiers Columbus left at the fort were buried there. The rest had disapp
eared. Historians think this happened because of disease and fights with the Ara
wak people.[14]
Treatment of native people
While Columbus was away from Navidad exploring Jamaica and Cuba, his soldiers st
opped working on building a new fort and farms. They made the Arawaks give them

food. They also stole things from the Arawaks and raped Arawak women. This made
the Arawaks decide to fight back against the Spaniards. However, Spain had many
weapons that the Arawaks had never seen, including steel swords, pikes, crossbow
s, dogs, and horses. This made it much easier for Spain to win fights against th
e Arawaks.[15]
Columbus also took revenge against the Arawaks for killing his soldiers at Navid
ad. He made every native older than 14 give him a certain amount of gold every t
hree months. If a person did not do this, Columbus's men would cut off their han
ds, and they would bleed to death. Historian Carl Lehrburger says that about 10,
000 natives died this way.[16] Columbus also led his soldiers to many different
villages in Hispaniola to take them over and make them pay him gold also. If the
y could not pay the gold, people would be made into slaves or killed.[17]
Unfortunately, there really was not that much gold on the parts of the island Co
lumbus took over. To avoid getting their hands cut off, many Arawaks tried to ru
n away from Columbus and his men. However, Columbus's soldiers used dogs to hunt
them down and kill them.[12] Bartolom de las Casas said that the Spanish killed
two out of every three native people in the area (though he may have been exagge
rating).[17]
Start of the transatlantic slave trade
In February 1495, Columbus started the transatlantic slave trade. He and his sol
diers captured about 1,500 Tano. Only 500 could fit on Columbus's ships, so Colum
bus told his men they could take any of the rest as slaves. They took 600 and le
t 400 go. Of the 500 natives that Columbus shipped to Spain as slaves, about 200
died on the trip. Half of the rest were very sick when they arrived. This was t
he first time people had ever been shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold
as slaves.[18]
Michele da Cuneo, a friend of Columbus's, helped capture natives as slaves. In a
letter, da Cuneo later wrote that Columbus gave him a captured native woman to
rape:
"... I captured a very beautiful Carib woman, whom the said Lord Admiral
[Columbus] gave to me. ... She was unwilling, and [so badly scratched] me with
her nails that I wished I had never begun. But ... I then took a piece of rope a
nd whipped her soundly, and she let forth such incredible screams that you would
not have believed your ears. Eventually we came to such terms, I assure you, th
at you would have thought that she had been brought up in a school for whores.[1
9]
Third voyage
Columbus made another voyage in 1498. King
s a continent to the southwest of the Cape
olumbus wanted to find this continent.[20]
inded Columbus that he should treat all of
into Christians.[17]

John II of Portugal had said there wa

Verde islands. On his third voyage, C
Before the voyage, Queen Isabella rem
the native people well and make them

On this voyage, Columbus sent three ships straight to the West Indies (the Carib
bean). He led another three ships: first to two Portuguese islands, then to the
Canary Islands, then Cape Verde. From Cape Verde, they sailed to the northern co
ast of South America and landed in Trinidad. He also explored part of South Amer
ica and the islands now called Tobago and Grenada.[21]
On August 19, 1498, Columbus returned to Hispaniola. He found that many of the S
panish settlers there were unhappy. They thought there would be more gold in the
New World. Some of them had rebelled while he was gone. Columbus had five of th
e rebellion's leaders hanged. He also tried to make the rest of the settlers hap
py by giving them land in Hispaniola. However, the settlers kept sending complai
nts to Spain. In 1499, Queen Isabella sent a man named Francisco de Bobadilla to

Hispaniola. She gave him the power to do whatever he thought he should do. When
he arrived in 1500, the first thing he did was to have Columbus arrested and se
nt back to Spain in chains.[17]
Treatment of native people
When he was trying to make Spanish settlers happy, Columbus started the Encomien
da system in Hispaniola. Under this system, Columbus would give a piece of land
in Hispaniola to an individual Spanish settler. Sometimes, he would give away a
whole native village. Any natives that lived in that area had to work for that S
panish settler. Natives had lived on this land for centuries. Columbus was givin
g their land away, and then forcing them to work on that land.[17]
Later life
Columbus was arrested in Hispaola, now called Santo Domingo, on August 23, 1500.
He was sent to Spain in chains in October 1500. He was released on December 12,
1500, and taken to court.
Luckily, Columbus had important friends, like Dukes, other noblemen, and powerfu
l Italian merchants. These friendships helped him get out of trouble.
Columbus died of heart failure and arthritis in Valladolid, Spain, at the possib
le age of 54.
Personal life
Columbus's relatives said that Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. Today, no hist
orian can say for sure where Columbus was born. Most experts think the best evid
ence says he was born in Genoa. However, other historians think Columbus was bor
n somewhere else, like Spain or Portugal. Some think he was originally a Jew who
converted to Christianity.[1]
Columbus wrote that he first went to sea when he was 14 years old.[22]
In 1477, Columbus married Felipa Moniz Perestrelo. She was from a semi-noble fam
ily with connections to sailing. She died around 1479 or 1480 while giving birth
to their son, Diego.[23]
In 1485, while in Crdoba, Spain, Columbus met Beatriz Enrquez de Trasierra. They l
ived together for a while. They had one child named Fernando.[24]
Columbus's goals
Columbus had a few different goals for his journeys to the New World. First, he
believed he could find a shorter and easier route to Asia, which made things Eur
ope did not. He believed he could find a shorter route to China. Other people ha
d called this belief absurd. Columbus wanted to prove these people wrong.[25]
Second, Columbus wanted to find gold. Gold was the main kind of money used in Co
lumbus's times. In his letter to Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Colu
mbus wrote: Gold is most excellent; gold is treasure, and [the person] who [has]
it does all he wishes to in this world."[26] This means that someone with gold c
an do anything he wants to do. Many historians believe that Columbus wanted to b
ecome a powerful person
and to become powerful, he needed to find gold.
After Columbus
When the Spanish learned about the New World, many conquistadors, or conquerors,
went there. This led to the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
The Spanish conquistadors first settled on the islands of Hispaniola (now the Do
minican Republic and Haiti), Cuba, and Puerto Rico. They grabbed as much gold as
they could. The Spanish also brought priests and forced the Native Americans to
convert to Christianity.

Legacy
In the United States, Columbus Day is a holiday that celebrates Columbus's arriv
al in the New World on October 12, 1492.[27]
The World's Columbian Exposition, which happened in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, w
as held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus visiting the Americas.[28
]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christopher Columbus
Flint, Valerie I.J. (February 11, 2016). "Christopher Columbus". Encyclopdia Brit
annica. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
Bulygin, Eugenio; Gardies, Jean-Louis; Niiniluoto, I. (June 30, 1985). Man, Law
and Modern Forms of Life. Springer Science and Business Media. p. 111. ISBN 9789027718693.
Russell Freedom. Interview with Eric Weiner. Coming to America: Who Was First?.
NPR. October 8, 2007. Assessed on April 20, 2016.
Johansen, Bruce E.; Pritzker, Barry M. (July 23, 2007). Encyclopedia of American
Indian History. ABC-CLIO. p. 451. ISBN 978-1851098187. "The term Paleo-Indians de
scribes the earliest inhabitants of North America (ca. 10,000 8,000 BCE)."
Ferbel, Peter J. (2000). The Indigenous People of the Caribbean (review). Ethnoh
istory 47 (3-4): 816-818. "The indigenous people of the Caribbean
migrated from
Central America some six thousand years ago."
Columbus Day. The History Channel Website. Retrieved Jan 28, 2013.http://www.his
tory.com/topics/columbus-day
Gould, Richard A. (2000). Archaeology and the Social History of Ships. Cambridge
University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0521567893.
Phillips, William D.; Phillips, Carla Rahn (1992). The Worlds of Christopher Col
umbus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 143 145. ISBN 978-0-521-44652-5.
"Christopher Columbus." Explorers & Discoverers of the World. Gale, 1993. Gale B
iography In Context. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.
Tinker, George E. (1993). Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cu
ltural Genocide. Fortress Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1451408409.
Zinn, Howard (2003). A People's History of the United States. New York: HarperCo
llins. pp. 1 22. ISBN 0-06-052837-0.
Baccus, M. Kazim (2000). Utilization, Misuse, and Development of Human Resources
in the Early West Indian Colonies. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 6-7. I
SBN 978-0-88920-982-4
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.
Lineman, Dana; Ward, Kyle (April 1, 2006). History Lessons: How Textbooks from A
round the World Portray U.S. History. The New Press. pp. 10-12. ISBN 978-1595580
825.
Lehrburger, Carl (2015). Secrets of Ancient America: Archaeoastronomy and the Le
gacy of the Phoenicians, Celts, and Other Forgotten Explorers. Inner Traditions
International. pp. 19-23. ISBN 978-1591431930.
Traboulay, David M. (1994). Columbus and Las Casas: The Conquest and Christianiz
ation of America, 1492 1566. University Press of America. pp.26-28. ISBN 978-08191
96422.
Meltzer, Milton (1971). Slavery: A World History. Da Capo Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780306805363.
Cohen, J.M. (1969). The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus. New York: Penguin.
p. 139. ISBN 978-0-14-044217-5.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1963). Journals & Other Documents on the Life & Voyages o
f Christopher Columbus. New York: The Heritage Press. p. 262. ASIN B002KR8WPQ.

Joseph, Edward Lanza (1838). History of Trinidad. The British Library. pp.124-12
6.
Stobaugh, James (2012). World History. Master Books. p.175. ISBN 978-0890516485.
Hume, Robert (1992). Christopher Columbus and the European Discovery of America.
Gracewing Publishing. pp. 19-20. ISBN 978-0852442111.
Beding, Silvio A. (2016). The Chrstopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Springer. p.24.
ISBN 978-1349125739.
Daniels, Patricia; Hyslop, Stephen Garrison; & Brinkley, Douglas (2011). "Naviga
ting the Globe: 1492
1522.". National Geographic Almanac of World History. Natio
nal Geographic Books. pp. 184-185. ISBN 978-1426208904.
Franzosi, Roberto (2004). From Words to Numbers: Narrative, Data, and Social Sci
ence. Cambridge University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0521541459.
http://www.history.com/topics/columbus-day
"Bird's-Eye View of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893". World
Digital Library. 1893. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
Categories:
1506 deathsDeaths from heart failureDisease-related deaths in SpainItalian e
xplorersPeople from Ge"Discovery" of America
Columbus is often wrongly considered the first European person to have discovere
d the Americas. This idea is wrong for many reasons. For example, the Caribbean
is not on the American mainland. Also, the first European to find America was th
e Viking Leif Erikson, around 1000 AD.[2][3] Finally, people do not agree that e
ither Erikson or Columbus "discovered" America. Native Americans had been living
there for thousands of years before them.[4][5]
Voyage in 1492
Columbus wanted to find a shorter way to get to Asia. He thought he could get to
Asia by sailing west from Europe. He did not know about the countries in the We
stern Hemisphere, so he did not realize they would block him from getting to Asi
a.[1]
However, Columbus did not have enough money to pay for this voyage on his own. H
e was able to get the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Ca
stile, to pay for the voyage. He promised to bring back gold and spices for them
.[1]
Ships
This is a 60-foot-long ship
the same size as Columbus's largest ship
In August of 1492, Columbus and his sailors left Spain in three ships: the Santa
Mara (the Holy Mary), the Pinta (the Painted), and the Santa Clara (nicknamed th
e Nia: the Little Girl).[6]
The three ships were very small. Historians think that the largest ship, the San
ta Mara, was only about 60 feet (18 metres) long, and about 16 to 19 feet (4.8 to
5.8 metres) wide.[7][8]
Columbus's other ships were even smaller. Historians think they were about 50 60 f
eet (15 18 metres) long.[8]
Voyage
On October 12, 1492, after sailing for about four months, Columbus landed on a s
mall island in the Bahamas. The natives called it Guanahani; Columbus renamed it
San Salvador Island ("Holy Savior"). He met Arawak and Tano Native Americans who
lived on the island. They were friendly and peaceful towards Columbus and his c
rew. Not knowing where he was, and thinking that he had reached Asia, the "Indie
s," he called them "Indians." He claimed their land as Spain's.[9]

Columbus then sailed to what is now Cuba, then to Hispaniola. On Hispaniola, Col
umbus built a fort. This was one of the first European military bases in the Wes
tern Hemisphere. He called it Navidad (Spanish for "Christmas"). He left thirtynine crew members there, and ordered them to find and store the gold.[10]
Treatment of native people
On the day he landed in the Bahamas, Columbus wrote about the Arawaks and Tano:
They ought to make good and skilled servants, [since] they repeat very q
uickly whatever we say to them. I think they can very easily be made Christians,
for they seem to have no religion ... I will take six of them ... when I [leave
, so] they may learn our language ... With 50 men you could subject everyone and
make them do what you wished.[11]
Columbus noticed that some of the Arawaks had gold earrings. He took some of the
m as prisoners and ordered them to lead him to the gold. However, they could not
.[12]
According to Encyclopdia Britannica:
Columbus was determined to take back both material and human cargo to hi
s sovereigns [Ferdinand and Isabella] and for himself, and this could be accompl
ished only if his sailors carried on looting, kidnapping, and other violent acts
, especially on Hispaniola.[1]
Columbus thought the world looked like this
Replica of the Santa Maria
Painting of Columbus landing in the New World
Drawing of Columbus landing on Hispaniola
Route of Columbus's first voyage
Letter from Columbus (1493)
Second voyage
On September 24, 1493, Columbus left Spain with enough ships, supplies, and men
to invade and make Spanish colonies in the New World. He had 17 ships and 1,200
men. These men included soldiers and farmers. There were also priests, whose job
was to convert the natives to Christianity.[13]
On this voyage, Columbus explored some of the islands of the Lesser Antilles. He
also sailed around most of Hispaniola and explored the sides of Jamaica and Cub
a he had not seen on his first voyage.
Then he went back to the Navidad fort. He found the fort burned down. Eleven of
the 37 soldiers Columbus left at the fort were buried there. The rest had disapp
eared. Historians think this happened because of disease and fights with the Ara
wak people.[14]
Treatment of native people
While Columbus was away from Navidad exploring Jamaica and Cuba, his soldiers st
opped working on building a new fort and farms. They made the Arawaks give them
food. They also stole things from the Arawaks and raped Arawak women. This made
the Arawaks decide to fight back against the Spaniards. However, Spain had many
weapons that the Arawaks had never seen, including steel swords, pikes, crossbow
s, dogs, and horses. This made it much easier for Spain to win fights against th
e Arawaks.[15]

Columbus also took revenge against the Arawaks for killing his soldiers at Navid
ad. He made every native older than 14 give him a certain amount of gold every t
hree months. If a person did not do this, Columbus's men would cut off their han
ds, and they would bleed to death. Historian Carl Lehrburger says that about 10,
000 natives died this way.[16] Columbus also led his soldiers to many different
villages in Hispaniola to take them over and make them pay him gold also. If the
y could not pay the gold, people would be made into slaves or killed.[17]
Unfortunately, there really was not that much gold on the parts of the island Co
lumbus took over. To avoid getting their hands cut off, many Arawaks tried to ru
n away from Columbus and his men. However, Columbus's soldiers used dogs to hunt
them down and kill them.[12] Bartolom de las Casas said that the Spanish killed
two out of every three native people in the area (though he may have been exagge
rating).[17]
Start of the transatlantic slave trade
In February 1495, Columbus started the transatlantic slave trade. He and his sol
diers captured about 1,500 Tano. Only 500 could fit on Columbus's ships, so Colum
bus told his men they could take any of the rest as slaves. They took 600 and le
t 400 go. Of the 500 natives that Columbus shipped to Spain as slaves, about 200
died on the trip. Half of the rest were very sick when they arrived. This was t
he first time people had ever been shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold
as slaves.[18]
Michele da Cuneo, a friend of Columbus's, helped capture natives as slaves. In a
letter, da Cuneo later wrote that Columbus gave him a captured native woman to
rape:
"... I captured a very beautiful Carib woman, whom the said Lord Admiral
[Columbus] gave to me. ... She was unwilling, and [so badly scratched] me with
her nails that I wished I had never begun. But ... I then took a piece of rope a
nd whipped her soundly, and she let forth such incredible screams that you would
not have believed your ears. Eventually we came to such terms, I assure you, th
at you would have thought that she had been brought up in a school for whores.[1
9]
Third voyage
Columbus made another voyage in 1498. King
s a continent to the southwest of the Cape
olumbus wanted to find this continent.[20]
inded Columbus that he should treat all of
into Christians.[17]

John II of Portugal had said there wa

Verde islands. On his third voyage, C
Before the voyage, Queen Isabella rem
the native people well and make them

On this voyage, Columbus sent three ships straight to the West Indies (the Carib
bean). He led another three ships: first to two Portuguese islands, then to the
Canary Islands, then Cape Verde. From Cape Verde, they sailed to the northern co
ast of South America and landed in Trinidad. He also explored part of South Amer
ica and the islands now called Tobago and Grenada.[21]
On August 19, 1498, Columbus returned to Hispaniola. He found that many of the S
panish settlers there were unhappy. They thought there would be more gold in the
New World. Some of them had rebelled while he was gone. Columbus had five of th
e rebellion's leaders hanged. He also tried to make the rest of the settlers hap
py by giving them land in Hispaniola. However, the settlers kept sending complai
nts to Spain. In 1499, Queen Isabella sent a man named Francisco de Bobadilla to
Hispaniola. She gave him the power to do whatever he thought he should do. When
he arrived in 1500, the first thing he did was to have Columbus arrested and se
nt back to Spain in chains.[17]
Treatment of native people

When he was trying to make Spanish settlers happy, Columbus started the Encomien
da system in Hispaniola. Under this system, Columbus would give a piece of land
in Hispaniola to an individual Spanish settler. Sometimes, he would give away a
whole native village. Any natives that lived in that area had to work for that S
panish settler. Natives had lived on this land for centuries. Columbus was givin
g their land away, and then forcing them to work on that land.[17]
Later life
Columbus was arrested in Hispaola, now called Santo Domingo, on August 23, 1500.
He was sent to Spain in chains in October 1500. He was released on December 12,
1500, and taken to court.
Luckily, Columbus had important friends, like Dukes, other noblemen, and powerfu
l Italian merchants. These friendships helped him get out of trouble.
Columbus died of heart failure and arthritis in Valladolid, Spain, at the possib
le age of 54.
Personal life
Columbus's relatives said that Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. Today, no hist
orian can say for sure where Columbus was born. Most experts think the best evid
ence says he was born in Genoa. However, other historians think Columbus was bor
n somewhere else, like Spain or Portugal. Some think he was originally a Jew who
converted to Christianity.[1]
Columbus wrote that he first went to sea when he was 14 years old.[22]
In 1477, Columbus married Felipa Moniz Perestrelo. She was from a semi-noble fam
ily with connections to sailing. She died around 1479 or 1480 while giving birth
to their son, Diego.[23]
In 1485, while in Crdoba, Spain, Columbus met Beatriz Enrquez de Trasierra. They l
ived together for a while. They had one child named Fernando.[24]
Columbus's goals
Columbus had a few different goals for his journeys to the New World. First, he
believed he could find a shorter and easier route to Asia, which made things Eur
ope did not. He believed he could find a shorter route to China. Other people ha
d called this belief absurd. Columbus wanted to prove these people wrong.[25]
Second, Columbus wanted to find gold. Gold was the main kind of money used in Co
lumbus's times. In his letter to Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Colu
mbus wrote: Gold is most excellent; gold is treasure, and [the person] who [has]
it does all he wishes to in this world."[26] This means that someone with gold c
an do anything he wants to do. Many historians believe that Columbus wanted to b
ecome a powerful person
and to become powerful, he needed to find gold.
After Columbus
When the Spanish learned about the New World, many conquistadors, or conquerors,
went there. This led to the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
The Spanish conquistadors first settled on the islands of Hispaniola (now the Do
minican Republic and Haiti), Cuba, and Puerto Rico. They grabbed as much gold as
they could. The Spanish also brought priests and forced the Native Americans to
convert to Christianity.
Legacy
In the United States, Columbus Day is a holiday that celebrates Columbus's arriv
al in the New World on October 12, 1492.[27]

The World's Columbian Exposition, which happened in 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, w

as held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus visiting the Americas.[28
]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Christopher Columbus
Flint, Valerie I.J. (February 11, 2016). "Christopher Columbus". Encyclopdia Brit
annica. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
Bulygin, Eugenio; Gardies, Jean-Louis; Niiniluoto, I. (June 30, 1985). Man, Law
and Modern Forms of Life. Springer Science and Business Media. p. 111. ISBN 9789027718693.
Russell Freedom. Interview with Eric Weiner. Coming to America: Who Was First?.
NPR. October 8, 2007. Assessed on April 20, 2016.
Johansen, Bruce E.; Pritzker, Barry M. (July 23, 2007). Encyclopedia of American
Indian History. ABC-CLIO. p. 451. ISBN 978-1851098187. "The term Paleo-Indians de
scribes the earliest inhabitants of North America (ca. 10,000 8,000 BCE)."
Ferbel, Peter J. (2000). The Indigenous People of the Caribbean (review). Ethnoh
istory 47 (3-4): 816-818. "The indigenous people of the Caribbean
migrated from
Central America some six thousand years ago."
Columbus Day. The History Channel Website. Retrieved Jan 28, 2013.http://www.his
tory.com/topics/columbus-day
Gould, Richard A. (2000). Archaeology and the Social History of Ships. Cambridge
University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0521567893.
Phillips, William D.; Phillips, Carla Rahn (1992). The Worlds of Christopher Col
umbus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 143 145. ISBN 978-0-521-44652-5.
"Christopher Columbus." Explorers & Discoverers of the World. Gale, 1993. Gale B
iography In Context. Web. 5 Feb. 2013.
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.
Tinker, George E. (1993). Missionary Conquest: The Gospel and Native American Cu
ltural Genocide. Fortress Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1451408409.
Zinn, Howard (2003). A People's History of the United States. New York: HarperCo
llins. pp. 1 22. ISBN 0-06-052837-0.
Baccus, M. Kazim (2000). Utilization, Misuse, and Development of Human Resources
in the Early West Indian Colonies. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 6-7. I
SBN 978-0-88920-982-4
Chacon, Richard J.; Mendoza, Ruben G. (2007). Latin American Indigenous Warfare
and Ritual Violence. University of Arizona Press. pp. 95-96. ISBN 978-0816525270
.
Lineman, Dana; Ward, Kyle (April 1, 2006). History Lessons: How Textbooks from A
round the World Portray U.S. History. The New Press. pp. 10-12. ISBN 978-1595580
825.
Lehrburger, Carl (2015). Secrets of Ancient America: Archaeoastronomy and the Le
gacy of the Phoenicians, Celts, and Other Forgotten Explorers. Inner Traditions
International. pp. 19-23. ISBN 978-1591431930.
Traboulay, David M. (1994). Columbus and Las Casas: The Conquest and Christianiz
ation of America, 1492 1566. University Press of America. pp.26-28. ISBN 978-08191
96422.
Meltzer, Milton (1971). Slavery: A World History. Da Capo Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780306805363.
Cohen, J.M. (1969). The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus. New York: Penguin.
p. 139. ISBN 978-0-14-044217-5.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1963). Journals & Other Documents on the Life & Voyages o
f Christopher Columbus. New York: The Heritage Press. p. 262. ASIN B002KR8WPQ.
Joseph, Edward Lanza (1838). History of Trinidad. The British Library. pp.124-12
6.
Stobaugh, James (2012). World History. Master Books. p.175. ISBN 978-0890516485.
Hume, Robert (1992). Christopher Columbus and the European Discovery of America.
Gracewing Publishing. pp. 19-20. ISBN 978-0852442111.

Beding, Silvio A. (2016). The Chrstopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Springer. p.24.

ISBN 978-1349125739.
Daniels, Patricia; Hyslop, Stephen Garrison; & Brinkley, Douglas (2011). "Naviga
ting the Globe: 1492
1522.". National Geographic Almanac of World History. Natio
nal Geographic Books. pp. 184-185. ISBN 978-1426208904.
Franzosi, Roberto (2004). From Words to Numbers: Narrative, Data, and Social Sci
ence. Cambridge University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0521541459.
http://www.history.com/topics/columbus-day
"Bird's-Eye View of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893". World
Digital Library. 1893. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
Categories:
1506 deathsDeaths from heart failureDisease-related deaths in SpainItalian e
xplorersPeople from GeBeding, Silvio A. (2016). The Chrstopher Columbus Encyclop
edia. Springer. p.24. ISBN 978-1349125739.
Daniels, Patricia; Hyslop, Stephen Garrison; & Brinkley, Douglas (2011). "Naviga
ting the Globe: 1492 1522.". National Geographic Almanac of World History. Natio
nal Geographic Books. pp. 184-185. ISBN 978-1426208904.
Franzosi, Roberto (2004). From Words to Numbers: Narrative, Data, and Social Sci
ence. Cambridge University Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0521541459.
http://www.history.com/topics/columbus-day
"Bird's-Eye View of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893". World
Digital Library. 1893. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
Categories:
1506 deathsDeaths from heart failureDisease-related deaths in SpainItalian e
xplorersPeople from Ge