Christopher Columbus Research Paper

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451 as the son of a merchant, most likely into a Christian household. As a teenager, he worked on a merchant ship and gained experience in trading voyages in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. He continued similar jobs at sea until his first voyage into the Atlantic Ocean in 1470, when the French attacked his ship along the Portuguese Coast. Despite his sunken ship, Columbus floated to Lisbon, where he married Felipa Perestrello and had a son. At this time, he also began studies in mathematics, astronomy, and navigation, thus inspiring him to begin formulating his world changing plan. After the death of his wife, he moved to Spain, remarried and had another son. Meanwhile, he

Upon completion of first grade, it is likely that children in America will have learned about the famous maritime explorer and navigator, Christopher Columbus. Born in 1451, Columbus was a Genoese captain commissioned by the king and queen of Spain to find a route to the Indies. However, he sailed the opposite direction of his intended goal by crossing the Atlantic and landing in the Americas, resulting in the discovery of the New World for Spain. Like all major figures in history, Columbus has left behind a legacy that people will always remember him for. The nature of this legacy in question is what remains controversial. It can be summed up with two opposing camps: those that view Columbus with a positive, respectful regard that he

Christopher Columbus is an internationally celebrated explorer, due to his voyages to Central America during the Age of Discovery, a period between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when explorers were sponsored by eastern countries to claim land. Columbus was an Italian explorer, on a conquest for gold and riches, who was sponsored by the monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, to travel to Southern Asia. Columbus proposed the idea of traveling from East to West, rather than traveling along the borders of countries and continents, such as Africa and Asia, to eastern countries for gold, spices, and other riches for the monarchs. When Columbus succeeded in landing in the New World, he believed he landed in Southern Asia, but rather he landed in Hispaniola, modern day Haiti and Dominican Republic. The “New World” was a term used for the area Columbus landed in, on October 12, 1492. When Columbus landed in the New World, it was inhabited by native people, who were used by the Spaniards to help navigate and understand the landscape of the islands and as workers to find gold. Columbus has a mixed legacy because he had positive and negative attributes; he made the Columbian Exchange, which increased biodiversity in the New World, and is an important explorer in American history, but also began the African slave trade and caused population devastation due to slavery and diseases in the native populations. The legacy of Christopher Columbus should be remembered as a villain because he was greedy for wealth and power, he introduced diseases to the New World, and enslaved and used violence against the natives.

The Journal of Christopher Columbus is the day to day journal/diary writing of Christopher Columbus. He started taking notes of his journey starting the year of 1492. This took place mostly on his voyage over the Atlantic Ocean on his way to the Indies, and also on the lands he discovers on the way to his destination. He wrote every day of his journeys as a journal to the king and queen of his discoveries.

At Christopher Columbus Middle School, the students who were moving on to Clifton High School were given a spectacular farewell bash in the form of a circus-themed dance.

The discovery of the Americas, has been thoroughly investigated, studied, and debated by historians ever since Christopher Columbus happened upon Cuba in 1492. Columbus has been described as a “resilient, courageous, and confident” explorer that discovered the New World of the Americas. Some historians question whether Columbus, and European conquistadors, like Cortes, conquered the new world ethically and if the destruction of indigenous races to further advance Spain’s territories and influence was morally just. Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States (2003), has a bias that North America was explored and invaded primarily to gain monetary riches. This aligns with his belief in a struggle of social classes. In this

Explorers from Norway, Greenland and Iceland. According to Christopher Klein of History Stories, “Nearly 500 years before the birth of Christopher Columbus, a band of European sailors left their homeland behind in search of a New World…those Viking feet may have been the first European ones to ever have touched North American soil.”, furthermore, the first person who is really known to discover the States is Leif Eriksson. He founded America in 1001 AD, which is 500 years later than Columbus discovery in 1492. In addition, the Upfront Magazine of New York Times published an article saying, “He never set foot in North America” (Brown 20). Therefore, he wasn’t really the one who discovered the America, he just “rediscovered” it. He doesn’t deserve a credit to something that he didn’t really

Christopher Columbus “discovered” the New World, creating the search for profits determining the direction of Spanish exploration. In 1504, Hernando Cortes had sailed the Atlantic Ocean with 600 men, ten cannons, weapons and horses. They had come to fight and conquer “To justify their own imperialism, the rival Europeans elaborated upon some very real Spanish atrocities to craft the notorious persistent “Black Legend”: that the Spanish were uniquely cruel and far more brutal and destructive than other Europeans in their treatment of the Indians. (American Colonies p.51)

If someone were to ask you who founded America, who would be your answer? Although many accusations have been thrown around, such as Christopher Columbus, the Vikings, or even Native American civilizations, there is historical evidence to back particularly one of those explorers up. This argument vocalizes the inaccurate portrayal that was taught about Christopher Columbus being the first to discover the Americas when in fact the Vikings came across the Americas prior to Christopher Columbus.

“In fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue…” If one has ever taken a US history class throughout their education, this would be a well-known beginning to a poem relating to Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the New World. When people think of the New World and who founded the Americas, they automatically attribute it to Christopher Columbus, which wouldn’t be incorrect. However, one does not realize the amount of factors that played in the finding and settlement of the Americas. There were a plethora of key developments that took place, whether good or bad that had influenced the success of America’s settlement. Navigation and trade, germs, European rivalries and great powers, Native people, crops, and slavery all became imperative

As a child who immigrated from Vietnam to United State at the age of ten, I’ve learn America was discovered by Christopher Columbus. Children weren’t taught about the history of the people who lived on the land before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. The history of America was narrated by the view of white supremacy who used genocide to colonize the land.

Leif Erikson was actually the first European that sailed to North America. Children are also taught that he also set sail to prove the Earth was round, but by 1492 most educated Europeans believed the Earth was round. He did not set out to show the Earth was round, but to prove he could sail around it. On his third voyage he wrote the Earth was not round, but rather shaped like a pear.

Christopher Columbus, also known as the founding father of America, altered history when he set off on a voyage in 1492. Encapsulating exportation, encounters, and exchange by voyaging, interacting with natives, and trading, Columbus kick started interests in North America. The newfangled encounter Christopher experienced when exploring the Americas led to the development of trade with in the continent and across the globe. During a rather ominous period of Spanish history occupied with forms of disease Spain looked to Columbus for encouragement. Spain had just completed the “Reconquista”, war expulsing Muslims and Jews from Spain, and turned attentions to the age of discovery.

The most important motive for early European exploration across the Atlantic was the dream of enormous riches. Initially, explorers and merchants hoped to find a sea route across the Atlantic to the thriving markets of Asia. However, Columbus greatly miscalculated the circumference of the earth; thus resulting in the discovery of a completely new world to explore and exploit. Upon arriving in the Americas, the Spanish and Portuguese sought precious metals or land that could be worked for profit, usually by slave labor. For example, the Spanish experience in the Caribbean under the leadership of Columbus was characterized by a search for both natural and human resources, such as gold and slaves (Winn, 2/8). This conquistador mentality that

He was not aware that he was carrying diseases that was gonna have such a harsh, negative impact on the people he met along the way. These diseases were unheard of by the native people. As they were “lacking immunity to Old World pathogens carried by the Spanish, [the indigenous inhabitants] fell victim to terrible plagues of smallpox, influenza, and other viruses”(Pringle). These plagues were slaughtering them at a rapid pace. The lack of knowledge they had on the diseases and how to aid them did not help the cause, they were confused as to what was happening or why it was going on. Before Columbus’ arrival to the New World, their were not many animals and species they were accustomed too. Columbus discovery was very important for Europe which later brought more Europeans and they “brought with them a whole host of organisms that indigenous Americans had never seen before, from horses, cattle, and chickens to food crops and even weeds” (Carter). These animals carry different pathogens and viruses. Most animals carry diseases not only because of where they live but what they eat can also cause harm. The diseases brought over from the Old World went on to affect the for many years to come, including today. Diseases like smallpox, chickenpox, common cold, and measles are viruses still very common today. These originated from Columbus’ voyage to the new land. In return, when Columbus made his sail back to Europe he brought only about a third of the amount of diseases back, that were not common in