Christopher Columbus

Early Life
1. As a teenager, Columbus travelled around on Merchant ships
2. Born in Genoa, Italy in 1451
Beliefs
1. He believed East Indies could be reached by sailing west through the Atlantic Ocean
2. Many maps of the time made the oceans look smaller than they actually are, so he believed it possible to reach China in mere days
Sponsership
1. He appealed to the kings of Portugal, France and England to finance a westward trip to the Indies, but all denied his requests
2. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to finance Columbus
3. They gave him three caravels,
  1. the Niña
  2. the Pinta
  3. the Santa Maria
4. He had a crew of 90 men
Voyage
1. On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail
2. After stopping in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa to restock equipment and to make repairs, Columbus’ caravels hit the open seas
3. The voyage took much longer than Columbus expected, there was no land, just ocean
4. Men were scared
  1. They were running out of food and water
  2. Men were dying of diseases
    1. Scurvy
    2. Typhoid
  3. Mutiny was a threat
    1. Kept two logbooks to ease their panic
5. Equipment
  1. Log and line
  2. Quadrant
  3. Astrolabe
6. No land for 4 weeks
Land Sighted
1. Reach land on Oct 14th he called it San Salvador
2. He thinks he reached Asia
  1. Confused when he didn't find riches he expected
  2. Calls natives Indians
3. Traded cheap beads and goods for gold and unique goods and animals
4. Christmas night 1492, Santa Maria gets shipwrcked
  1. Builds a shack with its remains and leaves 40 men behind
Return to Spain
1. Reaches Spain in March 1493
2. Great welcome
3. Brought back pineapples, parrots, gold and some captive native Americans
Return to the Indies
1. He never found the riches he expected
2. Some began to believe that Columbus had found a new world
3. On his last voyage he was brought back in chains for mistreatment of the native people
4. Columbus returned to the new world 3 more times
5. He died bitter and lonely and because he refused to believe that he discovered a new continent

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Christopher Columbus

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	Created by Rachel Garvin about 10 years ago