Westward with Columbus

This chapter covers a brief description on Christopher Columbus’s early life and his first voyage,

TRADE

During the fifteenth century, Europeans sailors and geographers were learning more about countries that were beyond their own. Things like spices, silk, pearls and other precious stuff were being transported by caravans from Asia to the shores of the Mediterranean. These goods were then transported to various parts of Europe but by the time they got to these places they were very expensive. That’s because much had been lost along the way, shipwrecks happened often and they would sometimes get robbed. This was a reason that many traders wanted to find an shorter route to Asia.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

Columbus was born in the busy seaport of Genoa, Italy in 1451. He was the song of a wool merchant and a weaver. He loved the sea and at sometime in his adolescence (at fourteen or fifteen) joined a ship and set out for life at sea. Columbus had two younger brothers: Bartholomew and Diego, who later had a very important role to play in his life.

Columbus went on many voyages through out his life and one was shipwrecked and was able to save his life. He ended up on the shores of Portugal where he started a mapmaking business with his brother Bartholomew. It was at this point in his life where he met Dona Felipa, who was apart of a very important Portuguese family. He married her and they had a son named Diego. He became settled into his life as a merchant.

Columbus wanted to find a new route to the Indies and this idea consumed him. In 1483 Dona Felipa died and Columbus threw himself into this project taking up all of his energy.

ENTERPRISE OF THE INDIES

For such a difficult voyage, Columbus needed a monarch willing to risk men and money for such a expedition. He tried to persuade the court of Portugal to assist him on this voyage. He presented his plans to the king, John iii. he said that by sailing west he could reach Cipangu, Marco Polo’s name for Japan.  He called this plan “Enterprise of the Indies”. The court did not question Columbus’s logic but they had many other questions. Columbus claimed that he could get to Japan by sailing west from the canary islands for only 2,400 miles but they thought that Japan was more than 10,000 miles away. They refused in end.

Columbus then went to the Court of Spain instead where he tried to get king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to hear out his idea. By lingering around the court and using every official to makes friends and gaining their favor. The monarchs could not help Columbus because they were busy fighting the Moors (Muslims from Morocco) who still held a part of Spain called Granada. The court had no money to risk for such ventures.

In January of 1492, the Moors were finally driven out of Granada. The king and queen were finally willing to give Columbus ships. They gave orders for Columbus to be provided with every thing. He was given three ships: The Niña, The Pinta and The Santa Maria. Columbus chose the Santa Maria, the biggest one, to be his flagship

The ships left port on August 3rd 1492. They sailed westward from palos harbor. After a stop at the Canary islands for repairs, the ships headed into unknown waters, where many sailors feared mythical monsters and whirlpools, though the weather was initially good.

After over three weeks without seeing land, the sailors grew worried. They noticed their compasses were not pointing true north, which Columbus had to explain was normal due to magnetic north variation. After sixty days without land , the sailors became rebellious and demanded the expedition turn back. Only Columbus’ skillful leadership prevented a mutiny; he promised that if land would not be found they would turn back.

Signs of land quickly started to show, including birds flying, green branches showing and a sailor picking up a carved stick. On the night of October 11th, Columbus saw a light. Mariners strained their eyes and a reward was offered to the first person who could spot land. A few hours later, a sailor shouted on the Pinta “Tierra, Tierra! - Land, Land!”. The ships found a safe anchorage near the white sand beach on October 12, 1492.

Canoes from the sky

The island was low and flat, surrounded by coral reefs. It’s native people were the Arawaks of the Lucayan tribe. They called the island “Guanahani”. These peaceful, copper- colored people lived a simple life of spinning cotton, hunting and growing cassava. The islanders woke up amazed to find a set of what they thought were “white wings floating on the sea”. Out what they could only describe as giant canoes came out these strange men. The dressed head to toe in colorful clothes, some shining like the sun itself. Their heads and chests had sheets of metal and they had huge strips of colorful cloth dancing on sticks. Their skin was pale and hair grew out of their cheeks. These men were not gods these people were “Gods”.

The Natives believed that these men were truly Gods so they went and collected every thing they had and presented it to the sailors. They shouted “Taino! Taino!” which meant peace in their language.

Columbus wrongly believed that he was in Asia still and named the island the island San Salvador for God’s Glory was the thing that lead him there. The people then became known as Indians even thought they were not. The ships stayed at San Salvador for two day and the Spaniards noted the islanders’ honesty and friendliness.

Columbus noted how the islanders never carried any weapons and that hey were so peaceful that he immediately thought about enslaving them and they would be easily turned into Christians and servants.

The sailors were so fixated on finding gold that they started to notice gold rings in their noses. Columbus inquired where they could find the precious metal and the natives pointed and said “Cubacana”. Columbus thought they said “Kublai Khan” in which he was wrong again. Columbus then committed an act of force: he took some of the inhabitants captive to serve as a guide on his ships.

Columbus sailed through the Bahamas (like Rum Cay and Long Island). On the coast of Cuba he noticed the islanders breathing in smoke, which was the Europeans first knowledge of tobacco. Sailing east they cam upon the mountainous island of Hispaniola, which the Indians here had more gold jewelry than on the other islands.

Two days before Christmas, Columbus received news of a gold rich place in Cibao which was right in the middle of Hispaniola. He mistook this for Cipangu and continued going. Their greed for gold was slowly putting them in danger..

On Christmas morning 1492, the flagship, Santa Maria, was severely damaged after running into a coral reef. The Spaniards used the remainder of the ships to build a a small fort called La Navidad - The Nativity. Men were left behind to continue looking for gold while columbus returned on the other two ships.

A HERO’S WELCOME

The journey back was difficult and with storms separating the two ships. Columbus who was aboard the nina , faced massive waves and eventually reached Portugal. Columbus made a triumphant procession and to the court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in Barcelona. The king and queen stood to greet him a great honor and granted him with all the titles he could’ve asked for like “Don Christobal”, “Our Admiral of the Ocean Sea” and “Viceroy and Governor of the islands discovered in the indies”.

Plans were made for another voyage. Spain was determined to gain control over the wonderful lands Columbus had opened up.

THE HISTORY TODAY

Spanish heritage is still present in the Caribbean today especially countries like Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Places in Latin America and Columbia are named after Columbus. Monument of his voyages still stand today reminding us of the forever change history of the Caribbean.