“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” Christopher Columbus is one of the first people we learn about in elementary school, and the discovery of the “New World” is accredited to him. One might think that he knew that he had accomplished a great feat, but in reality he did not accomplish what he had originally set out to do.
Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy, to Domenico Colombo and Susanna Fontanarossa. His fascination with sailing began with the Portuguese merchant marine. Shortly after surviving a shipwreck off the coast of Portugal on his first voyage in 1476, he based himself in Lisbon.1 He sailed again in 1477 and 1478, and married in 1479. From 1477 to 1485, Columbus traded along the Guinea and Gold coasts of West Africa, where he started gaining knowledge of Portuguese navigation and the Atlantic wind systems. It was during this time that Columbus came to the conclusion that sailing west would eventually lead him to the east coast of Asia.2 After bringing his idea to the Portuguese King in 1485 and again in 1488, and being rejected, he took his idea to Genoa. Rejected yet again, he then headed to Venice in search of funding. Hit by rejection once more, he took his plans to Spain in 1486, to King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, where he was rejected for the fourth time.3
In January of 1492, in hopes of being able to gain more strength than Portugal, and hopes of spreading the Christian mission, King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I decided to fund Columbus. In August of 1492 Columbus sailed out from the Spanish port of Palos on the now-famous ships Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.
Besides trying to reach east Asia, Columbus was intent on sailing west until he reached the Indies, where he believed riches of gold, pearls, and spice awaited.4 At the time, it was extremely difficult to access the sea route south from the Red Sea because of the Islamic powers in the Indian Ocean, and the increasing power of the Ottoman Empire was threatening the power of the Christian monarchies in Europe.5 In a letter before his journey Columbus wrote that he believed he would be able to conquer the infidel, gain victory for Christianity, and gain the westward route to discovery and Christian alliance. Being a religious man, Columbus was set on supplying funds to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims, which matched up with the Christian crusade ideas.6
Columbus then continued to make three more trips. He made a second trip in 1493, a third voyage in 1498, and his fourth and final voyage was in 1502. All of these trips were sponsored by Spain.7
Given the title Admiral of the Ocean Seas by Spain’s monarchs, and still thinking he had sailed to Asia, Columbus died never knowing what he had discovered and created. Now, however, everyone knows that his discovery was one of the most significant in history.
- Encyclopedia Britannica, January 2016, s.v. “Christopher Columbus,” by Valerie Flint. ↵
- Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2016, s.v. “Columbus, Christopher.” ↵
- Alphonse de Lamartine, The Life and Times of Christopher Columbus (Toronto: Sutherlands, 1887), 13-26. ↵
- Anam Haider, “Discovery of America by Columbus on 12th October 1492,” Discovery, Volume 2, Number 4, (October 2012): 3. ↵
- Encyclopedia Britannica, January 2016, s.v. “Christopher Columbus,” by Valerie Flint. ↵
- Delno C. West, “Christopher Columbus, lost biblical sites, and the last crusade,” Catholic Historical Review no. 4 (1992): 519. ↵
- Encyclopedia Britannica, January 2016, s.v. “Christopher Columbus,” by Valerie Flint. ↵
41 comments
Alexandria Martinez
Nice article, Aimee. It’s like the saying goes, some of the greatest inventions in the world are born from accidents. The only thing is that in this case it was the discovery of a continent rather than an invention. Columbus may not have reached Asia, his goal, but he really did something great for the rulers and conquerors of the world.
Jazmin Pizana
Interesting article! I especially like your opening quote “In 1492, Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue.” I remember learning about him in elementary school and now reading this article reminds of how things weren’t so black and white as I thought they were back then. It’s interesting to read that Columbus was rejected many times before he could finally live out his dream and sail halfway across the world.
Ashley Tumlinson
I knew he had discovered America on accident but I never really knew the extent of the story! The background of his life was helpful in understanding what he was initially striving for.. also, the pictures included are appreciated as I could never get a fixed image in my head about what the guy looked like! Its crazy how we may set out to find something in particular and end up being surprised by something bigger and better in the process!!
Marco Picardo
I remember much of the story from primary school. Rereading this topic put a smile of my face and got me rethinking about 3rd grade when we all first learned about Colombo. He was a man of God and good character doing what he loved best, sailing. I wonder how it felt to be turned down for funding his voyages so many times. Never the less he stuck with his desires and dreams and finally got his opportunity.
Lianna Ybarra
I enjoyed how you started your article, with the first sentence. That saying is probably one of the first things that we learn in elementary school. I really liked this article and how you told the story of how Columbus finding the “New World” wasn’t exactly what we intended to find. But if he had never founded the New World, then I wonder how much longer it would have taken for it to “get on the map”. Well done!
Cameron Mays
Although your topic of an article could be very interesting, I feel as if you didn’t capitalize on that aspect, and instead rushed something out that is short, and leaving out a multitude of details that would have made your article outstanding. Furthermore, I feel like you just restated everything you vaguely recall from all of the times that American children and teens learn about Columbus. This is something even you alluded too.With this in mind, I’m not really sure why you decided to do an article over this subject and not expand on it.
Sam Vandenbrink
Columbus was truly a hard worker he didn’t only sail once but he did it 4 times, those voyages are not easy and each time I’m sure it took a very strong tole on his body. Great article, Columbus is one of the first things that you learn about in school for sure! But then not much thought goes into thinking about it on a daily basis. Very Strong article!
Briana Bustamante
Learning about Columbus at such an early age in school, this was a great refresher on his discovery. This article was really clear and even though this was not Columbus’ goal, he accomplished something so great and made history by doing so. I really enjoyed how you included his religion and how that influenced his perseverance throughout his voyage. Over all I really liked this article. Great work!
Nataly Solis Chavez
Well done. Having learned such a great deal on Columbus from a young age in school your article did a great job of summing it all up and refreshing my memory. I especially liked how you organized the content of your article. The research you included also gave a great outlook on how religion was a major driving factor for his travels. Nicely done!
Zaraly Frasquillo
Great job, the structure of your article was very well organized. Sometimes it is difficult to read about something that you are already well informed about, but this was not the case. Reading your article was super easy and very informative. You had a lot of information in such a short paper and it did not feel like you were giving a lot of unecessary facts just to fill in space. You wrote a good article, congrats!