Though this was not his actual name, Christopher Columbus was an Italian born in the city of Genoa, and accounts shows he was born between 1450 and 1452, to wool weavers parents. This concept confuses historians by the fact that though being born in Italy, Christopher Columbus showed no evidence of speaking Italian. Though the young boy had no formal education, he was very observant, and at an early age, he exhibited the characteristic of exploring (Thomas 1). In view of the fact that he aged early in looks, historians in most situations mistook to be older than he was really was, and he was able to maintain to have engaged in activities before his time. In the year 1475, Columbus made his first voyage but was attacked off the coast of Portugal by a French fleet, and had to swim more than six miles to the port of Lisbon, where he joined his brother Bartolomé ,and for a while he worked there as a chart maker and a merchant. During his stay in Portugal he met a vast number of navigators and pilots, who taught him the art of navigation and astronomy. In the year 1479, Columbus married the daughter of nobleman named Dona Felipa, who bore him a son by the name Diego, but the wife later died of unknown complications between years 1481 and 1485.Its during his stay with his wife when he had access to documents from his father in law depicting possible availability of western lands far in the Atlantic, and this probably initiated Columbus plans of making the voyage to make an investigation (Loewen 65).
Documents shows that immediately after the death, Columbus wholly decided to make his first voyage, and his major motivation factor was to discover new westward route to Asia. His other motive was to find mineral wealth and expand Christianity to regions that were untapped. Columbus methods of travel were motivated by changes occurring in the political arena, where expulsion of Muslims and calm in waters initiated quest for access for new trade routes. His motivation also came from close relationship he had with the church. Earlier he depended on theories of other travelers, and his urge to travel made him to ask for backing from political elite in order to make his proposed voyage. Many people rejected his idea, and for more than seven years he had enough of it and he decided to seek aid from the then King and Queen of Spain. Still they denied him the opportunity, but after several negotiations the queen gave in and three ships were prepared for the voyage. His first voyage was successful, and he was able to discover many islands and lands, which he named as San Salvador, Trinidad, Bahamas, Monte Cristi, and Cuba. Following the success of the first voyage, Columbus prepared for a second voyage, where he travelled with more ships and men, and here he discovered Dominica in West Indies, Guadeloupe, and Borinquén (the modern state of Puerto Rico.In this voyage, Columbus decided to explore the interiors of Cuba, where he discovered Jamaica in his route and had massive battles with the natives. The settlers he had brought became unruly to govern and had to return to Spain once again to clear his name as results of complaints forwarded to the king by the settlers. In his third voyage he discovered South America, but his attempt to govern the Hispaniola failed and had to be rescued from Jamaica where he returned to Spain, and later died few months later in the year 1506 (Felipe 2).
After reading several history books, Columbus his credited to be the first European man to discover North America, but based on the book “Lies My Teacher Told Me”, it’s evident that the Vikings went there about 400 years ago before him. At around 1260, documents shows that Venetian merchants, made a voyage eastwards to the Mongol empire, depicting that voyages existed before Columbus. Many view his voyages as a success, but in normal circumstances he failed miserably in several of his trips ,where at times he was attacked by the natives ,encountered poor weather ,and had to deal with few crew members .Apart from discovering new lands ,the explorer and his crew also introduced new disease to the acquired lands ,and also for them they obtained a new diseases such as syphilis ,common among the natives (Loewen 76). Amazingly, history books regard that the main aim of Columbus voyage was to spread Christianity and find new trade routes, but in reference to “Lies My Teacher Told Me”, the voyage was intended to finds new lands in order to resettle people and ease congestion in Europe in response to high population exhibited immediately after the reformation. Also this was characterized by elements of greed for gold in new lands and fame (Thomas 1). History books claim that Columbus historical adventures were made to ease the trade blocks initiated by the Turks, but in real circumstances it was intended for colonization and expediency in reaching new lands. There are other myths debunked in the book, “Lies My Teacher Told Me” and include the fact that Columbus in most situations as per his dairies always claimed of false alarms of land, and though regarded as a skillful sailor, he was not a good navigator. Regardless as being depicted as the savior of the natives, Columbus instituted slavery among the natives during is second voyage, where the natives were required to deliver gold to him after every 3 months, failure of which their arms were cut and hard labor envisaged on the entire community. Also he faced administrative issues from his fellow crew because of his strict way of handling things, and also for the reason that the men never found lands filled with gold as they had earlier been promised. Contrary to popular myth about Columbus way of life, before he died he was a wealthy man regardless of the fact that the titles he previously held at the start of his first voyage were stripped (Felipe 2).
In conclusion,
Christopher Columbus was great explorer and he his credited to have established elements of western civilization. Without his influence, it’s not clear where the world would be viewed at the moment. Above all, Christopher Columbus unlocked new worlds to Europe, something of significance to the world. Despite his shortcomings, as one of great explores of his time, he deserves recognition for the transformations he initiated which established new of life and the world has never been the same since.
Works Cited
Felipe, Armesto. Columbus - Hero or Villain? History Today.2012. Volume: 42 Issues: 5 .Print.
Loewen, James .Lies My Teacher Told Me. Everything Your American History Textbook Got
Wrong. New York: Touchstone press. 1996. Print.
Thomas, Tirado. Christopher Columbus and his Legacy. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/columbus_legacy_01.shtml . 2011-02-17
