Native people themselves, however, regularly dismissed European pretensions to superiority and sometimes poked fun at Europeans’ ineptitude in coping with their new environment. Europeans frequently claimed that Indigenous people regarded them with awe, as godlike. They seem to have been impressed by the Europeans’ technology, particularly their ships, guns, and metal tools, but shocked by their appearance, language, and behavior. Native Americans generally greeted the newcomers with cautious hospitality and goodwill. His encounters also triggered centuries of exploitation of native American populations.During the 1600s, Spanish, French, Dutch, Swedish, and English colonizers all contended for a foothold on the American continent. His voyages launched centuries of European exploration and colonisation of the American continents. Today his historic legacy as a daring explorer who 'discovered' the New World has been challenged. What is Columbus’s legacy?Ĭolumbus died in 1506, still believing that he had found a new route to the East Indies. He did make one last voyage to the Americas, however, this time to Panama – just miles from the Pacific Ocean. Columbus was arrested, returned to Spain and stripped of his titles. He visited Trinidad and the South American mainland before returning to the ill-fated Hispaniola settlement, where the ‘Indian’ inhabitants had staged a bloody revolt against the Europeans.Ĭonditions were so bad that Spanish authorities had to send a new governor to take over. He was sure that he had found Cipangu (Japan), but it was actually Cuba. What other journeys did Columbus make?Ĭolumbus made three more journeys across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. He was made Admiral of the Ocean Sea and Governor of the Indies. Columbus reached Spain in March 1493, and claimed his reward in riches. He wanted them to start a new settlement. Columbus transferred to the Nina and left behind the 39 crewmembers of the Santa Maria on the island of Hispaniola. On Christmas Day 1492, the Santa Maria hit a rock and was wrecked. He claimed the island for the King and Queen of Spain, although it was already populated.Ĭolumbus called all the people he met in the islands ‘Indians’, because he was sure that he had reached the Indies. This initial encounter opened up the 'New World' to European colonisation, which would come to have a devastating impact on indigenous populations. He landed on a small island in the Bahamas, which he named San Salvador. What did he 'discover'?Īfter sailing across the Atlantic Ocean for 10 weeks, land was sighted by a sailor called Rodrigo Bernajo (although Columbus himself took the credit for this). The ships were small, between 15 and 36 metres long. The third, the Santa Maria, was a nao – a larger square-rigged ship. Two, the Nina and the Pinta were caravels – small ships with triangular sails. In 1492 Columbus set sail from Palos in Spain with three ships. Columbus knew that the world was round and realised that by sailing west - instead of east around the coast of Africa, as other explorers at the time were doing - he would still reach his destination. If he could reach these lands, he would be able to bring back rich cargoes of silks and spices. Columbus wanted to find a new route to India, China, Japan and the Spice Islands. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Europeans wanted to find sea routes to the Far East. Ferdinand and Isabella, the King and Queen of Spain, agreed to finance him. He then moved to Lisbon, Portugal, to gain support for a journey he was planning to find new trade routes to the Far East. As a young lad he went to sea and became an experienced sailor. Where was Christopher Columbus born?Ĭolumbus was born in the Italian seaport of Genoa in 1451, to a family of wool weavers. He never got close to what is now called the United States. On his subsequent voyages he went farther south, to Central and South America. He was the first European to sight the Bahamas archipelago and then the island later named Hispaniola, now split into Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In actual fact, Columbus did not discover North America. Explorer Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) is known for his 1492 ‘discovery’ of the New World of the Americas on board his ship Santa Maria.
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