Columbus'+First+Two+Voyages

=__**//COLUMBUS' FIRST TWO VOYAGES//**__= =__**//Finn Kenny ~ Luke Cox ~ Jake Duignan//**__ = =**__Overview__**= ====Christopher Columbus was born on the 31st of October in the Republic Of Genoa, Italy. He completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean under order of the rulers of Spain. He was the first person to discover the land of the Americas. His voyages resulted in the new spanish colonization on the island of Hispaniola, which lead to the discovery of most of the southern hemisphere, making the world what it is today. When Columbus first discovered the Americas, he mistook it to be the East Indies. Columbus didn't care that he had discovered the Americas at first. He didn't even admit that he had discovered the Americas when he found out. The Americas meant nothing to him because he wasn't being payed to find a brand, new continent, he was being payed to find a way to get to India for the trade routes. Columbus, was actually not the first explorer to reach America, but the discovery of the Americas by Columbus initiated lasting contact between the Americans and the Europeans. Columbus died on the 20th of May in 1506 by a heart attack from reactive arthritis.==== =__**Voyage 1**__=

**__DISCOVERY OF THE AMERICAS__**
====Christopher Columbus departed from the shores of Southern Spain at Palos which is located near Huelua on August 3, 1492. He was in command of 3 ships, The //Nina,// The //Pinta// and The //Santa Maria.// All of is crew members mostly came from local towns such as Lepe and Moguer. Columbus' first stop was at The Canary Islands. This place was known to be one of the Western most parts of Spain. Unfortunately he was delayed there for four weeks because such harsh winds and they were in need of repairs. After days of waiting, finally on the 6th Septemper, 1492 they set sail again from the Island of Gomera. Within the time frame of 2 days, they had already spotted Hierro on September 8. Columbus at first thought that the whole voyage would only take 4 weeks but that was slowly slipping away. His crew were getting more and more wreckless and they really wanted to start heading home but Columbus was very determined that they would spot an island so 10th bus made them a deal. If they don't see land in the three days, then they will start heading home (this was on the 10th of October).====

[[image:http://www.fidnet.com/~weid/map.gif width="444" height="261"]]
====On the 12th of October, one of the sailors aboard The //Pinta// named Rodrigo de Triana spotted land.By the next morning, they had reached the shore of San Salvador. On this Island Columbus did some trading with natives and also captured some of them as guides around the surrounding islands. Columbus and his crew, all stopped at 3 other islands in the Bahamas over the next two weeks. Those 3 islands, named by him were Santa Maria de La Concepcion, Fernandia and Isabela. His final stop in the Bahamas was at the Ragged Island, which he named Islas de Arena which meant Sand Islands. Following the directions of their trusty Native guides, they arrived at Bariay Bay, Cuba on October 28. They spent three weeks on that island searching for gold but they didn’t find anything. Columbus had also heard about Chinese civilization as well so they were on alert for that also. They sailed as far west as Cayo Cruz on October 31. Unfortunately strong winds meant that they had to have a change of plans. The Natives said that there was another island to the east which may have gold. While they were sailing north of Cuba on November 22, Martin Alonso Pinzon, the captain of the Pinta, left the other two ships and sailed off to another island called Babeque where the natives said there would be gold, without telling Columbus.====

====On Christmas Eve, The Santa Maria hit a reef and sunk the next day. The crew aboard the Nina used the remains of the ship to build a fort on the shore of La Navidad (Christmas). The Nina ship couldn’t hold the whole crew so Columbus had no option but to leave 40 men behind. They left the island on January 2, 1493. They started to head down the coast of Hispaniola. On their way back, they were very surprised to find the Pinta. Columbus was very angry at Pinzon but he was very relieved because now they had two ships to carry more men. The 2 ships departed from Samara Bay January 6. On their way back, they got separated during a storm. Fortunately the Nina sighted the island of Santa Maria. They arrived at Lisbon on March 4. By March 15, 1493 they were back home. Unfortunately the Pinta ended up at the Port of Bayona in North Spain. After a stop to repair, the Pinta arrived in Palos a few hours later. Pinzon thought that he would be honoured but when he got there, Columbus had taken the glory. Pinzon died a few hours later.====



**CARRIBEAN EXPLORATION**
====Columbus' second voyage went over a 3 year period (1493-'96) with 7 ships and roughly 1200 men. He set sail on September 24th. It was a very dangerous journey with very brave men as they were exploring uncharted areas. He sighted Dominica in the West Indies at dawn on Sunday, November 3. He then landed his ship at Marie-Galante. The journey from Spain to America, across the Atlantic Ocean, of only 21 days was remarkably fast. After arriving at Guadaloupe, Columbus explored for 6 straight days and departed on November 10 towards the Greater Antilles ( one of three island groups in the Caribbean). He then washed up i n modern-day Puerto Rico on the 19th of November, 1943. On November 22nd, he returned to Hispaniola - where he had left 40 men almost a year earlier.====

====But Christopher Columbus wasn't the 'great man' that we would consider today. He was indeed a man of his time. Back then, all the richest people made their fortune from slavery. Columbus undoubtedly owes the majority of his wealth to the innocent people that he took in as slaves.==== ====In a letter written by Christopher Columbus and sent to Luis de Santangel, who had previously helped fund Columbus’ first voyage, he described the people of where he had landed. //“Of anything they have, if it be asked for, they never say no, but do rather invite the person to accept it, and show as much lovingness as though they would give their hearts.”//He then went on to say,//“their Highnesses may see that I shall give them as much gold as they need... and slaves as many as they shall order to be shipped.”//This basically means that despite these obviously generous and kind people he had found had done nothing to him and his crew, he would take all their gold and take them, their wives and their children and enslave them.====