Essays on Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator, who discovered the "New World" of the Americas on an expedition in 1492. Columbus was born in 1451 in the Republic of Genoa. In his 20s he moved to Lisbon.

On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus started his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, departed from Palos de la Frontera with a crew of 90 men and three ships—the "Niña", "Pinta", and "Santa Maria". Columbus made it to what is now the Bahamas in 61 days.

On 24 September 1493, Italian explorer sailed from Cádiz with 17 ships and 1,500 colonists aboard. The purpose was to convert the indigenous Americans to Christianity. On 3 November 1493, he landed on an island that he named Dominica. It was the Canary Islands. From April to August 1494, Columbus explored Cuba and Jamaica. The second voyage marked the start of colonialism in the New World.

On 30 May 1498, Columbus left with six ships from Sanlúcar, Spain. They arrived at Gomera in the Canary Islands on June 19. On July 31, they sighted an island, which Columbus named Trinidad. Finally, being shipped back to Spain as a prisoner, Columbus’ Third Voyage was a fiasco.

On 11 May 1502 Columbus, left Cadiz with his flagship Santa María and three other vessels. Columbus explored Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica between August 14th and October 16th. After that, he spent five months exploring Panama. On 25 June they were beached in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, and spent there one year. On 7 November 1504 he sailed back to Sanlúcar.

The Columbus voyages became a turning point in world history. It marked the beginning of globalization and demographic, economic, social, and political changes in the world.