In 1492, Christopher Columbus, Italian-born but is funded by a Spanish monarch, set sail across the Atlantic ocean hoping to find a direct passage from Europe to India and Asia. Instead of finding a sailing route to India and Asia, he instead came upon America. He mistook America for India and named the citizens he found “Indians”. He then proceeded to sail back to the Spanish monarch where they decided to fund three more voyages (CCHC). However, one question over time has arisen. Why would a Spanish monarch support Italian-born Columbus instead of Spanish explorers? The answer is God, glory, and gold.
There are many reasons as to why the Spanish monarchy funded Columbus, but it all can be divided into three main reasons: God, glory, gold. The Spanish monarch is rich in gold and is a super-power country (QINW). By funding Columbus, the monarchy would lose virtually nothing. Actually, if successful, the results would be vice-versa in the long run. The cost to fund Columbus’ voyage will only cost Spain the amount of money it would cost to host a small noble at court. However, if Columbus was successful, merchants will save money as they will not require as much resources to make the trip. If Columbus found a faster and much safer route to the Spice Lands, the name given to Asia and India due to the high amount and variety of spices used there, the Spanish monarchy will save money over time. This would also help bolster the economy of Spain as merchants can travel
Christopher Columbus came thinking he found Asia when in fact all he found was the Americas. The ship they were in was called Saint Maria. The first place they landed was Cuba. They were in search for gold mostly, which Columbus promised the king and queen in Spain. He took the Arawaks Indians as slaves when it was hard for him to find gold. When he arrived in Haiti he created the first military base called Navidad which means charismas. Columbus then traveled to the Hispaniola and his thoughts was he arrived in China. He described the Indians as naive and willing to share. Indians did not believe in marriage. To them people may choose who are their mates and if
When Granada was finally taken control of, Isabella and Ferdinand began to take notice of Columbus’ proposition. They realized that the outcome would be very beneficial to their kingdom, and it would not cost much money for them to fund the expedition (“Queen Isabella’s Influence in the New World”). They had also recently discovered some islands to the west, so they thought there could be more. They concluded that funding Columbus was worth the effort (In Depth Info).
Christopher Columbus was an Italian who worked on behalf of, King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. The Spanish monarchs’ ultimate goals were to find a trade routine to India, Asia and to spread the Catholic religion to others. They financed Columbus with the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria to find a western route to India. Thinking that it was India, Columbus found land. In his journal, Columbus described his first account of the natives as “they were very friendly to us, and perceived that they could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force” (“Fordham University”). Also, he plans for them to be great servants so they “may learn our language” (“Fordham University”). He says
The main idea behind the voyage was to find a faster route to the Indies, as well as introduce Christianity and The King and Queen to the new world along with its inhabitants. As said by Columbus “Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians, and princes who love and promote the holy Christian faith, and are enemies of the doctrine of Mahomet, and of all idolatry and heresy, determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above-mentioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith; and furthermore directed that I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that any one has gone.” Like said, it shows that Columbus wished to find a faster route, so Spain could easily be able to obtained traded goods which would produce more profit for the country of Spain. This kind of shows that Spain needed to find this route due
In 1492, Italian cartographer and explorer, Christopher Columbus, set off on a mission from Spain in order to find a quicker, alternative route to Asia. With him, Columbus brought eighty-seven men and three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, to sail across the large and vast Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately for Columbus, a new route to Asia was never discovered by Spain that year because he had arrived in the Caribbean, which was found in North America. Thinking that he had just entered the Indies, he started to call the people of this land, “Indians”. These Indians were actually Native Americans who had lived on these lands for thousands of years prior. Immediately, letters from Columbus to the King and Queen of Spain were sent by boat back to Europe and soon Columbus was seen as the man who helped create a bridge of prosperous trading and riches between Europe and “Asia”.1 While this discovery proved that Columbus was a hero-like figure to Spain, it’s what he did within the new land that actually makes him one of the biggest villains to ever set foot on Earth. But what classifies this explorer as a villain? Columbus captured thousands of natives, many of which were sent back to Spain to live and work as slaves. Along with that, Columbus also forced the Christian religion onto them, spread diseases that killed thousands of lives, and used violence as a means of persuasion and control.2 Corrupted by his pursuit of riches,
On May in 1486 almost a year after Columbus had enter Spain, he was finally allowed to meet with the queen who is said to be known for her great judgment in choosing the right man for the right job. The queen turned down Christopher’s proposals several times before giving it any true thought. The queen sent out her confessor to examine the great project to see if it was feasible. For the next six months Columbus lived the worst days of his life. Christopher was subjected to continuous prejudice even though he knew his great project would open new pathways to maritime achievement and opportunity, but still the public viewed his revolutionary planes as a crackpot idea. Very few of the queen’s staff were in favor of the great quest except for one, Diego de Deza who granted Columbus 12,000 maravedis a year, which was about $83 in gold. It was enough to support a man like Columbus. Columbus had simple tastes.
Spanish exploration and settlement of the western hemisphere lasted from 1492 until 1898, from Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the loss of its last colonies in the Spanish-American war. As with all major seafaring European nations, they were in pursuit of the fabled Northwest Passage, a direct route to Asia. This was how Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the Americas, on his quest for this route. The Spanish were after more though, specifically gold and spread of the Christian faith. With this page we will discuss multiple historical figures, places, and ideas that emphasized what the Spanish found most important at the time, God and gold.
Christopher Columbus was a well-known traveler who originated from Italy. Christopher Columbus had a legacy that was troubled with disagreements for reason of his treatment towards the native population. His journeys encouraged mass amount of Europeans to obtain interest in taking over the Americas. Throughout his letter written to Sant’ Angel, Columbus explains his emotion in being very satisfied with the results he has revised throughout his first voyage. Christopher Columbus then goes into detail concerning his appreciation to the royal King and Queen, Ferdinand and Isabella as he mentions, “I passed over the Indies with the fleet which the most illustrious King and Queen, our lords, gave to me” (Columbus 8). Christopher Columbus creates a powerful image for the King and Queen because he trusts that the maintenance of Ferdinand and Isabella throughout his journey was an incredible aspect that resulted in his spectacular accomplishment.
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella gave funds to the Italian explorer and navigator, Christopher Columbus, to discover a new route to Asia. By finding a new route to Asia, Spain would have the advantage in trading with them by having access to a shorter and safer trade route instead of having to go around the African continent. Why did King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella hire Columbus instead of a Spanish Explorer? The deal between Spain and Columbus was that any minerals and resources found would go to Spain and Columbus would become Governor of any place he landed at. In this way, there are many advantages and disadvantages of working relationships between foreign parties.
Christopher Columbus was an Italian-born man that managed to win the favor and funding of the Spanish monarchy. With this funding, Columbus led the most well-known voyage in human history: the voyage to the New World in 1492. This voyage laid the foundation for future colonies and, eventually, many nations in the world. However, this voyage would not have gone past conceptualization if Columbus had not been supported by the Spanish monarchy. While a variety of factors affected the monarchy’s decision, the primary factors were Columbus’ experience in navigation, assistance Columbus received from Jewish supporters, and the capitulations laid out by Columbus himself.
The legacy of Christopher Columbus has been a divisive topic for many years. Indeed, according to Laurence Bergreen, the Columbian legacy has been divisive since the time of his voyages. In an excerpt from his book Columbus: The Four Voyages, Laurence Bergreen juxtaposes his extensive historical knowledge with a deep understanding of modern American culture to demonstrate that, for all his successes and failures, Columbus is significant as a reminder that we are all deeply complex and contradictory beings.
The full measure of Columbus's failure as a colonizer was not yet apparent when he returned to Castile in 1496. Yet by the end of six or seven years of his governorship, with his own, the monarchs', and the settlers' objectives all still unachieved, and Hispaniola suffering an apparently interminable series of rebellions not only by the Indians but by the colonists too, Columbus was to be superseded and disgraced, and shipped home to Spain in chains.1 Overall, Fernandez-Armesto depicted Columbus as an annoyingly eccentric person incapable of succeeding. Although, he discovered the Americas, he failed to be a leader to his crew and the natives. Instead, he was on the lookout for ways of manipulating the motives for profit.
In the movie the director continued to show Columbus as a greedy perpetrator who destroyed the lives of innocent humans and took a land that wasn’t his. Columbus was not seen as a hero who discovered America, the way he was presented in the movie is totally agreeable. It was clear that Columbus thought highly of himself. In his letter addressed to the king, he explains how the Indians believe he was chosen by God. Throughout the movie and in his own written letter, it is clear that his purpose was to get recognition from the King and Queen of Spain. While also trying to get as much gold as possible for his own selfish needs. In The letter of Columbus, he describes himself as being the only one who discovered everything. Furthermore, in the movie scenes of Columbus’s arrival and conquest of the indigenous people, he forces them to convert to Catholicism. They are exploited for seditious outrage. The Indians didn’t mind giving the Spanish gold or being slaves. But when the Spanish started to kill them they had to rebel.
Christopher Columbus is known for being an explorer and is said to have made one of the most important voyages in world history without even wanting to. Something else that is also believed is that he “opened up” the Americas to European nations, which changed the course of American history. Before he went on his voyage though, he was in need of resources. So he asked Portugal, France, Italy among many other countries but they all denied Columbus and thought his statement was incorrect. Columbus’ statement was that he had found a faster way to get to Asia than the Portuguese had, which was going around the continent of Africa. Columbus lived a majority of his life in Spain, so when it came to setting sail for the west, Spain was one of the first nations he asked for funding. Though it took Columbus a little more than a few years to convince a nation to fund his voyage, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand from Spain subsequently granted to endow him in 1492. He would then leave for “Asia” on August 3, 1492. There are many unanswered questions and thoughts on why Spain decided to finally fund Columbus’ voyage, especially since he was an explorer that was born in Italy.
Hence, The Spanish explorations were most notably able to occur due to the King and Queen’s efforts to unify the Spanish nation and the growing competition between the unified Spain and its neighboring country, Portugal (Nardo, 1947). The King and Queen did many other things to improve and fund exploration in Spain, and perhaps the most significant thing they did was sponsor Christopher Columbus after he proposed an exploration to India, guaranteeing that he could discover and establish valuable trade routes from India to Eastern Asia (Nardo, 1947). The King and Queen agreed to sponsor him because Spain often sought out trade opportunities and wanted to find gold and valuable spices from Asia, specifically from India, and this exploration almost guaranteed all of that (Nardo, 1947). Therefore, the reasons for Spanish exploration include the desire to establish trade routes between India and Eastern Asia, to find valuable resources, the empire’s competition with Portugal, and the King and Queen’s unification of their kingdoms and sponsorship of Christopher