There are few figures in history that have been as controversial and ambiguous as that of the navigator and discoverer Christopher Columbus. Discoverer of America, although he never knew it, he died with the idea that he had found a new route to reach the Indies. We tell you all about Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America.
His true identity, his origins, his education, his place of birth, all these data have been unknown throughout history, causing disquisitions and debates between biographers and historians. In this post we intend to clarify certain doubts and create a timeline of the facts for a better understanding and also refer to other theories about whether Columbus discovered America or not, taking into account his knowledge of the Viking voyages to America.
Who was Cristobal Colon
Christopher Colombo, born in Genoa in the year 1451 and died in Valladolid in 1506. The origins of this illustrious navigator, possibly Italian, have been a mystery throughout history, a mystery fueled both by him and by his first biographer, his son Hernando Columbus.
Biographical Data
The Christopher Columbus’ biography points out that he began as a modest craftsman and merchant, making contact with the sea through cabotage, which is the maritime or river transport of people, goods and national luggage for commercial purposes.
In 1476 the Genoese fleet in which he was traveling was shipwrecked, when attacked by French corsairs near Cape Saint Vincent (Portugal), since then Columbus settled in Lisbon as a commercial agent of the Centurione house, for which he made trips to Madeira, Guinea, England and even Iceland (1477).
He became interested in cartography, acquiring their knowledge in a self-taught way, cultivated in classical languages that allowed him to read ancient geographical treatises. Classics such as Aristotle or Ptolemy, who defended the sphericity of the Earth.
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How did the idea of going to America come about?
Christopher Columbus started from the idea that, being the spherical Earth, the eastern coast of Asia could easily be reached by sailing west. A series of erroneous calculations had made him underestimate the terrestrial perimeter and led him to assume, consequently, that Japan was 2,400 nautical miles from the Canary Islands, a distance that, in reality, is the distance that separates the Antilles from the Canary archipelago.
Certainly, some Portuguese sailors, experts in Atlantic navigation, informed him of the existence of islands that would allow a stopover in transoceanic navigation, and it is even possible that he had news of the existence of land to explore on the other side of the Ocean, coming from sailors Portuguese or Nordic (or from the papers of his own father-in-law, colonizer of Madeira).
Around 1480 Columbus was determined to achieve the enterprise of opening a naval route to Asia from the west, based on the correct hypothesis that the Earth was round, and on the double error of supposing it to be smaller than it is and ignoring the existence of the American continent, which stood in the way of the projected route. A exploration trip that I never would have imagined.
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The commercial context They made the project of undoubted economic interest since European trade with the Far East, based on the importation of spices and luxury goodsIt was extremely lucrative.
Until now, trade with the Middle East was carried out by land, these routes were controlled by the Arabs. Secondly, The Portuguese they had been trying for years to open a sea route to India bordering the African coast, company that would culminate Vasco Da Gama in 1498.
A few years before the discovery of America, Portuguese sea voyages to India along the coast of Africa and following the course east across the Indian Ocean served as a stimulus for other European navigators who believed that it was possible to reach the regions of East Asia, by sailing west.
Christopher Columbus defended the hypothesis that the diameter of the Earth was so small that Asia could be reached by sailing from Europe to the west. The project was not new, was even popular with cartographers and navigators as a possible alternative to the long spice route. So much so that One of Columbus’ greatest fears was that someone else might cross the Atlantic before him.
But what neither he nor the wise men or the sailors of that time could imagine was the immense extension of the “terra incognita”, nor the unexpected immensity of the Pacific. That was the true scientific discovery that began on that day in 1492, not only did a “New World” appear, but the ancient globe expanded to nearly twice the size it was supposed to.
When did Christopher Columbus arrive in the Americas?
On October 12, 1492, the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus arrived in what is now the Bahamas. Columbus and his ships landed on an island that the indigenous Lucayans called Guanahanie. Christopher Columbus renamed it San Salvador.
The modern identity of Guanahani remains a matter of historical debate, and over the years several Bahamian islands have been suggested as candidates for “Guanahani,” including Sanama Cay, Rum Cay, Grand Turk Island, and Plana Cays. However, the most common theory is that Guanahaní was the island now known as San Salvador (it was called Isla Watling until it was officially renamed San Salvador in 1925 due to its recognition as a place of worship). first landing).
Confusion over the identity of modern Guanahaní stems primarily from Christopher Columbus’s description of the island in his diary, describing Guanahaní as having “very green trees, many ponds, and fruits of all kinds.” What Columbus cannot know is that this can be said for a large number of islands in the region.
How was the discovery of America summary?
Before 1492, the Americas were ruled by indigenous tribes, the most important being the Aztecs and the Incas. The largest indigenous community in the area known today as Mexico was the Aztec Empire. The capital was Tenochtitlan, a city in the middle of Lake Texcoco, and the Aztec ruler at the time of the Spanish conquest was Moctezuma. The Aztecs were the most powerful tribe in this region and incorporated smaller tribes into their empire through warfare, including the Tlaxcalans and the Mixtecs. These conquered societies had to pay a tribute, a tax, to the Aztecs, which often placed a great burden on these small tribes.
The Incas work in a similar way. His stronghold was the region now known as Peru, and his capital was Cusco. They also incorporated less powerful tribes into their empire, but they did so through negotiation and intimidation rather than war. The Incas also offered tangible advantages to the tribes they incorporated, including trade opportunities and desirable products, in exchange for land and labor. However, life among these tribes was not without violence and warfare before the arrival of the Spanish, whose tribes often clashed with each other and some smaller tribes cooperated with the Spanish to bring down the Aztec and Inca empires.
Although the Spanish and indigenous peoples cooperated during the early years of exploration, the colonization of the Americas soon brought death and destruction to the communities that lived there. Diseases in Europe have devastated indigenous communities highly vulnerable to lack of contact. Smallpox is especially deadly. In fact, the European plague attack killed more natives than European swordsmen. For the survivors, it turned into a life of forced labor and virtual slavery. Conditions for the indigenous population improved as the 16th century progressed, as indigenous slavery was outlawed in Latin America and “Defenders of the Indians” were appointed to protect the interests of indigenous peoples. However, the discovery of the Americas still represented a great interruption in the lives of the indigenous peoples.
While the discovery clearly upset the indigenous population, it also had profound effects across the Atlantic. Discovering new lands means discovering new basic products, such as tobacco, coffee and cocoa. A complex trading system known as the “Colombian Stock Exchange” developed, representing the trade of goods to and from the United States. These new products greatly influenced European culture. When smoking became a popular pastime, coffee shops sprang up all over Europe. In addition, the European diet changed, with potatoes being especially preferred. The Americas also contained so much gold and silver that Spain and Portugal were so rich that the British, French, and Dutch inspired the discovery of the Americas, leading to the colonization of North America, the Americas, and the Caribbean.
What was the first country discovered in America?
On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus and his crew left Spain in three ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María. On October 12, the ships landed, not in the East Indies, as Christopher Columbus supposed, but in one of the Bahamas, presumably San Salvador. For several months, Christopher Columbus sailed from island to island in what we call the Caribbean, in search of “pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and other things and goods.” He promised his Spanish sponsors, but I couldn’t find much. In January 1493, leaving behind a few dozen men in the temporary colony of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic), he set out for Spain.
The discovery of America
The discovery of America has been considered as the most important event in world history. With the discovery of America, a long historical period such as the Middle Ages ends. On the night of October 11 to 12, 1492, Pilar day, the expedition led by Admiral Christopher Columbus and financed by the kings Isabel I of Castile and Fernando II of Aragon, touched land for the first time.
Christopher Columbus had left two months and nine days before, on August 3, 1492, from the Port of Palos (Huelva), looking for a new and unknown route to Indiacrossing the Atlantic to the west since he was certain that the earth was round.
His crew traveled with the Admiral, spread over three ships, the caravels La Pinta, La Niña and the nao Santa María. The nao was the largest, Made with wood from Cantabria, the Admiral traveled in it. The first sighting of dry land screamed it Rodrigo de Triana, from the Caravel La Pinta, since it was the fastest, it sailed in front of the Santa María. The first solid land sighted was described by Columbus as an “Islet” that the Indians (because he believed that he had reached India), called Guanahani.
This island would be…