"In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." With this simple rhyme, many students memorize the date for the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus. The story of this brave man is often told today to remind people of the courage of the early European explorers and of their voyages to the New World.
Although there are few accounts of his early life, it is believed that Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. In his teenage years, he became an experienced sailor. At 25 he was hired to join an armed convoy to northern Europe to deliver valuable cargo. This would prove to be an important event in Columbus’ life. As the convoy was sailing along the coast, it was intercepted by French privateers. Luckily Columbus survived by swimming almost ten kilometers to shore.
This experience, however, was just one example of the many dangers that merchants faced. Unfortunately navigation technology was very simple at the time, and many sailors were reluctant to travel too far from land, where they would lose sight of the shore. The land route to the East was also an arduous one. Those who bought spices and silk from Asia and sold them in Europe were desperate to find an alternative trade route.
This situation gave Columbus an outstanding idea. What if it was possible to sail directly across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to Asia? By the fifteenth century, there was ample evidence that the Earth was round. All he needed were ships to command, men to serve as crewmembers, and enough food and supplies for the length of the voyage. So the enterprising Italian set out to find a benefactor who would pay for an expedition to test his prediction.
The charismatic Columbus was easily able to gain audiences with royal families, but most declined to fund his proposal. Everyone thought it was unsafe to travel such a long distance. No ship, they said, could carry enough food to sustain its crew. But Columbus was determined.
Finally, after several years, Columbus convinced the rulers of Spain, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, to support his expedition. They wanted access to valuable trade with China, so even though there were still some concerns about Columbus’ plan, Spain was willing to take the risk. They offered him three vessels, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, and paid for a crew and supplies.
On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail. Both the Niña and the Pinta were light, fast, and maneuverable, whereas the Santa Maria, which carried all of their cargo, was longer, wider, and slower than the other two. The expedition was expected to take several weeks.
Columbus was quite confident. He had learned everything about sailing while he was a young boy, and read everything he could about navigation. He knew, for example, that at certain latitudes, the wind tends to blow in a constant direction, either east or west. Columbus could rely on these prevailing winds to carry him back and forth between Europe and Asia.
His crewmembers, on the other hand, were inexperienced and many had never sailed before. Some of them were convicts who had agreed to participate in the voyage only because they had been offered their freedom in exchange. They had no knowledge of prevailing winds and thought that, since the wind was constantly blowing them west, they would never be able to return home. This made them very uneasy.
They stopped at the Canary Islands, where the crew picked up provisions such as fresh water, wine, and wood. Food on board the ships mostly consisted of items that could be preserved: cheese, chickpeas, almonds, salted fish, and beef and pork. Then they continued sailing westward.
After 34 days on the open water, they had still not sighted land, and the crew was quite anxious. They were ready to mutiny, but Columbus convinced them to continue west for three more days. The very next day, land was sighted. On October 12 they dropped anchor and went ashore. Relieved that he had avoided mutiny, Columbus named it San Salvador Island, meaning "holy savior." Today this island is part of the Bahamas.
After some exploration they returned to their ships and continued on their journey. They visited Cuba and the island of Hispaniola, which today contains the countries Haiti and the Dominican Republic. At each place Columbus and his crew encountered many native tribes. He referred to them as "Indians" in the mistaken belief that his ships were off the coast of India. To this day Native Americans are still sometimes called Indians.
Columbus was preparing to return home when a catastrophe occurred. The Santa Maria hit a coral reef and could not continue. There was not enough room on the Niña and the Pinta to carry the extra crew, so Columbus left 39 of his men behind with instructions to establish a fort on Hispaniola. Then he set sail for Europe, arriving in Spain on March 15, 1493.
The Spanish deemed Columbus’ expedition a triumph. He had traded with the Native Americans for tobacco, pineapples, and gold that he brought back for the king and queen. They were very pleased. Word of his discovery spread rapidly throughout the rest of Europe. King Ferdinand immediately offered the explorer the opportunity to return to the islands, which Columbus believed were part of Asia. In an accord between Columbus and the king, the explorer was given the difficult task of colonizing the region.
Columbus made three more voyages to the New World. In the first, he commanded 17 ships that carried 1,200 settlers for the new colonies. He was away for almost a year and explored many more islands in the Caribbean, including Jamaica and Puerto Rico. He also discovered the mainland of South America, which he believed to be China.
Columbus’ next voyage, in 1498, was much less successful. The colonies that he had started on his previous voyage were in disarray. Some had been destroyed in disputes with natives; others had fallen apart in hunger and despair. In fact, the colonies were such a failure that the Spanish monarchy sent a ship to arrest Columbus; he was brought back to Spain in chains. Although the charges were later dropped, Columbus was never again allowed to govern a Spanish colony.
In his fourth voyage, Columbus returned to the New World one final time. Unfortunately his ships were marooned in Jamaica because of a storm, and it was a year before help arrived. Upon his return to Europe, Columbus used the gold he had amassed over the years to retire.
Today the legacy of Columbus’ actions is quite controversial. For many Americans, Columbus’ achievements make him a hero. He was the first to bravely travel across the Atlantic and open the Americas to the West. For others, especially Native Americans, Columbus is viewed as little more than a criminal. He enslaved many of them and stole their natural resources by chopping down their trees and stealing their gold, for example. Additionally his arrival brought deadly new diseases from Europe that killed millions. While the debate will no doubt continue, perhaps it is best to remember Columbus for the qualities that made him extraordinary: his courage, his skill, and his ambition.