“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
Natalia Zuniga
This is an excellent refresher on Columbus and everything he went through! I especially loved the pictures. The one where Columbus is requesting the fund is a favorite because I had never seen it before and it’s interesting how he did so and went directly to them. It is interesting to also see how long it took him to get the funding.
Johnanthony Hernandez
Great article and well written, even though I knew that Columbus accidentally discovered the New World. It still amazes me each time I read something about it, I’ve always found it interesting because how did he think he was in India and East Asia. But I can see his thought somewhat, if someone said “we will fund you to find a new trade route,” and I found a new land accidentally, I would keep going back to find more and try to spread modern civilization too the people of this new land. Maybe not to the extent of the extremist Christian view, but I can understand his viewpoint.
Aaron Jaramillo
Wow! What a great article. It is well well written and well organized. I was attracted to this article because in my civilization class were are currently learning about Columbus. You did a good job explaining Columbus and his journey. Its interesting to learn what him and his crew went through to discover new land. Overall, great article Aimee, looking forward to more.
Cesar Zavala
It’s crazy how many people missed out on what Columbus discovered. I had previously thought that Columbus had made this voyage to find resources such as spices and so on. I had no idea that he was also trying to spread Christianity throughout the world. Aside from pushing religion on others, I also think it’s amazing that he found the “New World” by accident. Very well written article!
Ana Gonzalez
Good job. Your article was organized and you did a good job explaining in more detail the story we all know about Columbus. I like the images you put in your article because I honestly never knew how Columbus looked. It’s pretty interesting to know that he discovered the Americas on accident, but if he hadn’t then we probably wouldn’t be here today. Your article was well written and you did a good job using dates in your paper to demonstrate the way things occurred.
Steven Clinton
Great article. The discovery of Americas remains to be one the world’s greatest geographical find in history. It’s amazing how determine Columbus was to go on such a journey, for he was rejected four times the funding to make such a voyage. Everything goes to show you the power of willpower. Overall very great article. I’m looking forward to your next!
Faisal Alqarni
I loved your story Aimee, It shows clearly that in order to gain access to great things we all have to be very persisting at all we do as you show in your story where Columbus had to seek and be denied funds for his voyages. I believe that even if he did not realize that it was America he discovered he was content with the results of his voyages and this it is all that it matters really.
Gabriela Serrato
I remember learning about Christopher Columbus in elementary school and all that was really covered was that he “discovered the new world,” and the names of his ships. I enjoyed reading this article because it gave an in depth view of what Columbus endured just in order to make this trip. I did not know he was rejected in funds for his voyage so many times, and I wonder if he never gained the funding, how different would history and present day be.
Mariana Govea
Good article! Very good research on Columbus! I never knew that Columbus did not know he had discovered America until after, I though he had knew it was the Americas all along! I like learning and reading on Christopher Columbus because it was during that era that a lot of discoveries were made and I find it so interesting how people at that time had to constantly accommodate to their environment in order to maintain alive! As well as it is so interesting the voyage that Columbus and his men had to go through in order to discover new land! As well as I was aware that Columbus had been denied money for some og his voyages, because they believed they wouldn’t be able to make it, but I did not know he had been denied loans 4 time, how crazy that after so many people believed they wouldn’t make it they were bale to make it to the Americas!
Nicolas McKay
This was a very well written article. I would have liked to her more about the journey though. I heard that on his logs Columbus divided the days and distances in half. The crew was willing to mutiny so Columbus made a proposition. He would award the first person to spot land with his exotic coat. When someone did spot land Columbus refused to give him his prize because he claimed to have seen it hours before.