In the second half of 15th century, Portugal was the greatest western centre of explorers and adventurers, and the staging area for the quest to find an ocean path to the East. During the years in Portugal Columbus heard tales from sailors about lands beyond the known world’s western extremity. At that time some people know that the earth was a sphere, but no one was aware of the existence of the continents of America and the Pacific Ocean. Columbus was not interested in the east, but wanted to explore towards the west to reach to the markets of China and Japan. His idea was given a hearing b the Portuguese king, John II, but the king wanted a way to sail eastward around Africa to get to China. Around 1479, Columbus got married, but his wife died in 1485. After having failed to gain Portuguese support on his exploration towards west, Columbus moved to Spain with along with his son Diego. At that time Spain was not a very powerful kingdom and had themselves midst wars against Moors. Nevertheless, Columbus received a polite reception from the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand II and Isabella. In 1492 Spain was successful in capturing Granada from the Muslims and were concentrating more on challenging Portugal at trade and exploration. The monarchs agreed to support Columbus on his westward voyage as well as declared him the governor of the land he discovered. Columbus promised to spread the Christian faith to the east and bring back riches.

Columbus Make his first trip exploring west.

Columbus sailed for King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain. On his first trip, Columbus was given 3 ships, along with about 90 crewmembers. They set their sail on August 3, 1492 from Palos, Spain. On October 11, 1492, they spotted the Caribbean island off southeastern North America. They landed on the island called Guanahani, which Columbus later renamed San Salvador. The people they met there were captured by Columbus’s men and were later sold to slavery. Thinking that he had reached Asia, he called the area Indies, and it’s inhabitants as Indians. Columbus and his men traveled around the islands looking for gold and loot. Columbus later returned to Spain on March 15, 1493.

Second Trip (May 30 1498 – October 1500)

On his second trip, Columbus led a larger expedition and sailed with 17 ships and about 1, 300 men to find gold, and to capture Indians a slaves. Columbus established a base in Hispaniola and sailed around Hispaniola and along the length of southern Cuba. He spotted and named the island of Dominica on November 3, 1493.

Third Trip (May 9, 1502 – November 7, 1504)

On his fourth and last expedition Columbus sailed to Mexico, Honduras, and Panama and Santiago. Columbus died during this expedition and was buried in eastern Hispaniola.

Legacy of Columbus

Some people praise Columbus for remarkable explorations, but others consider him a villain who enslaved the natives. But somewhere in the mix of those divergent opinions exists the truth about the legacy of Columbus. The second Monday in October is celebrated all over America as Columbus Day. It is a celebration of the man who discovered America. It is true that he found a land unknown to civilized world, but he destroyed the natives inhabiting the land. For land and slavery, Columbus and his men completely erased a whole civilization. These actions cannot be considered heroic in any manner. Columbus described his first look at the people of the island as lack of culture, customs and religion. He later took over the land and started to export the slaves. Ferdinand and Isabella had ordered that the natives to be treated kindly. But ignoring the order, Columbus began exporting slaves in great numbers. It was because he was not making enough profit anywhere else on the island. But, by the time the slaves reached Spain third of the usually died. One a ship captain said that the next time Columbus will not need a compass to reach Spain he could just follow the bodies of floating Indians who were thrown abroad when dead. Columbus’s search for fame let to the eradication of an entire culture. His greed and desire for glory caused him to destroy that, for which he is famed and known widely for discovering.