The voyage and expedition that changed the world forever was captained by the adventurous Christopher Columbus. Our story begins with him as a young lad, who had a heart for adventure and an extensive imagination.
Christopher Columbus had an obsession with trade at a very young age. This was because his father was in debt “and only by trade can money be quickly got to pay debts.”1 Christopher Columbus had little education, having been an apprentice to a trader when he was young.2 Even though he did not grow rich through trade, he was satisfied with his life as a trader. Columbus gained confidence and skill navigating and trading on the Mediterranean sea.3 He also learned physical and commercial geography while trading. After learning many of these things, he became an excellent tradesman and in his adulthood excelled at his craft.
In adulthood, Columbus continued to trade, though he now became infatuated with discovering new trade routes. Through this infatuation, he began to seek a trade route by sea to India. To start such an expedition, he would need money and approval, which he sought from many royal families. Columbus originally went to seek approval from Portugal’s king, John II. After being shut down by King John II, he went to Spain’s Ferdinand and Isabelle, who also told him no. After that, he went to the first Duke of Medina Sidonia, who yet again told him no. Finally, Columbus went to talk to the Duke of Medina Coeli. While Columbus was talking with the Duke, Queen Isabelle sent a message saying she wanted to meet with Columbus. The Queen had become interested in his expedition, but she left the judgement of it up to the King. The King, seeing Columbus’ importance, had a committee created so it could decide whether or not to allow the expedition, and he kept Columbus at court while the committee decided.
In 1488, Columbus went to Portugal only to find that “a Portuguese navigator Bartholomew Dias… had at least succeeded in rounding the southern tip of Africa…”4 This made him aware that he could have found a route to India if he had not been held at court these many years. Columbus finally received approval in Castile with the Custodian, Friar Juan Perez. Perez had friends in high places and when the Reconquista finally ended in Spain between Christians and Muslims, the King and Queen said, “Let this man be employed.”5 With the King and Queen of Spain providing support for his voyage, Christopher Columbus set off in the year 1492.
From the start of Columbus’s voyage problems arouse. One of these problems was that their ship Pinta had a rudder that came loose and could not be fixed until many days later.6 More problems arose when they discovered that the curvature of the Earth was affecting the compasses, which affected their navigation. At dawn, after a night of navigating by stars, their compass told them that they were many degrees off course. They didn’t start seeing signs of land until the fourth of October. On October 13, they finally reached land.7 On this land, they met the native people who inhabited the land.
“Christopher Columbus became one of the most important figures in western civilization by changing the very thrust of European expansion for the next five hundred years.”8 New industries, such as the sugar cane industry, started to open through his arrival in the New World. The founding of the New World also expanded the power of many imperial lands. The kings and queens of the lands of Europe sent people to the “New World” for colonization and to use its resources.
Christopher Columbus endured many struggles during his quest in trying to find a route to India. He impacted the world politically, economically, and culturally. Christopher Columbus was persistent and did everything he could to achieve his goals. Even though he did not reach the goal he wanted, he did make one of the greatest discoveries in history.
- Daniel Sargent, Christopher Columbus (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1941), 4. ↵
- Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v. “Christopher Columbus 1451- 1506,” by Daniel C. Scavone. ↵
- Daniel Sargent, Christopher Columbus (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1941), 9. ↵
- Daniel Sargent, Christopher Columbus (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1941), 83. ↵
- Daniel Sargent, Christopher Columbus (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1941), 89. ↵
- Oliver Dunn and James E. Kelley Jr., The Dario of Christopher Columbus’s first Voyage to America (United States of America: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989), 25. ↵
- Oliver Dunn and James E. Kelley Jr., The Dario of Christopher Columbus’s first Voyage to America (United States of America: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989), 51-69. ↵
- James Cortada, “Who was Christopher Columbus,” Renaissance and Reformation 10, no. 2 (1974): 99. ↵
26 comments
Anna Guaderrama
I seriously cannot imagine having something that impactful just be something that happened by accident, but with my luck, sounds pretty plausible. I thought it was interesting that he was poor and in debt, I never knew that before. I had always learned about Christopher Columbus as being a ‘great expeditor’, but no one ever really talked about details of his life like that. Overall, I enjoyed reading this short article, it was very informative.
Austin Pena
Great article! Even though it was short the amount of detail in it made it very educational. I think it is interesting that he found the “new world” by accident. And along with that i was unaware of his early days, i also though of him as a sailor but learning that he was a tradesman is a surprise. To think that the governing crown would allow for a tradesman to set out on an adventure to find a new route is shocking.
Andrew Dominguez
It is funny to think he discovered America on accident, i wonder if his investors were frustrated since he didn’t do the job he was supposed to complete. Its also cool to see how far technology has come, since his compass didn’t work, while today we rely on gps. I like how he wasn’t very smart in education, but would have knowledge on the seas. We should take note of this, not everyone may be smart in school, but maybe smart in blue collar work.
Kayla Lopez
This was a very short and sweet article that was jam packed with information. It was nice to be reminded about Christopher Columbus and there was some information that I actually did not know prior to reading this. I did not know that Christopher Columbus had an obsession with trade from a very young age. I always thought it was something he became passionate about at an older age.
Jose Figueroa
When learning about people in a classic history class, we usually just learn who a person is and not how they got there. I had always assumed that Columbus was a born and raised sailor not a trader. My favorite part was how he continued to seek out support for his voyage to India despite being rejected by various Kings. It just goes to show how much persistence can pay off!
Julian Aguero
I found it interesting that Columbus was not a rich person and was a apprentice to tradesman. Knowing this information makes it obvious what his intention were. It amazing that he was actually able to have someone finance his voyage. I like article that depict Columbus in a true manner. Its amazing that someone’s accidents and miscalculations could not impact the entire word and have a impression on all of us to this day. I enjoyed the information in this article great work.
Natalie Childs
Before reading, I knew a good amount about Christopher Columbus, because of the coverage of him in history classes for as long as I can remember. With that said, I never really knew much about his origin story or how he came to the trader, and sailor, that we know him for. It was really interesting to read his story to fill in the pieces that I did not previously have.
Isaac Saenz
This article was a standard story of Columbus and his trials in finding the New World. The introduction was weak and the storytelling aspect was pretty basic. However, the information was good and I learned about a few problems that arose during the voyage such as the rutter malfunction on the Pinta and the unreliability of the compasses as well as the upbringing of Columbus. Overall, not a bad job.
Edgar Ramon
I can’t possibly imagine what it would feel like, what would be experienced, going on an expedition without a certain destination. If we think about it, there is little to nothing that we can not find on the internet these days in some way. Expeditions are a thing long dead I believe, the feeling of probable death, discovery of new vegetation, people, animals, food must have been like nothing I have ever felt. Even though people obviously came before Christopher Columbus, It is hard to deny that it is thanks to him, we were set on this path to the civilization we have today.
Christopher Martinez
As a kid remembering Christopher Columbus was always told to be important to remember especially him being believed the first voyager to the Americas. Some historians still speculate that Chinese civilizations could have been the first ones to make it to the Americas but who really knows. As a kid I always wondered how life would be if the Americas were discovered by someone else and how that might have affected today and the world in general. I still remember the rhyme being “Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492” we always said it and had to remember it in every class as we progressed.