Christopher Columbus
- Born
o Where: Italy
- How did Columbus end up in Portugal and then Spain?
o At the age of 25, Columbus began a voyage to England. On the way his ship was attacked by French Privateers
o He swam ___ miles clinging to the wreckage to the coast of Portugal
o After recovering from this shipwreck, Columbus settled in Lisbon, Portugal and eventually married Felipa Perestrello e Moniz, daughter of a noble-man, though rather poor.
- Sail West to go East! Where did he get that idea?
o There he studied ocean currents and winds
o In particular, he studied the Canaries Current
o It was here that he began formulating his plans to travel West to reach the Indies.
- Did Columbus “discover” that the world was round?
o It had already been established since Ancient Greek times that the Earth is spherical.
o Ancient Grecians had already estimated the size of the Earth
o This was not accepted at the time, and the size of the Earth had been re-estimated using maps and known continents and land masses.
o Columbus used the smallest estimate
o Europe did not know of the existence of the Americas
o And they did not know that most of the world is water
- Where did he get his ships?
o Spain, however, was in the midst of war with the Moors, desperately trying to expel them from the Country, and had little time to consider Columbus’ request. Besides, they were already very far behind the rest of Europe in terms of exploration.
o They refused.
o Tradition holds that the Spanish court changed its mind and as Columbus rode away on his mule, they dispatched a messenger to bring Columbus back.
o He was given 3 ships
o Columbus sailed with three ships, his flagship, the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Niña
o The ships carried provisions for a year, and this was a time when a two week voyage was considered long.
§ “Supplies on board included foodstuffs, such as water, dried fish, salt meat, live pigs and hens (to be killed aboard ship), rice, cheese, and figs; navigational instruments, including nautical almanacs, charts, compasses, magnets, hourglasses, and rulers; and trade items, such as glass beads, brass rings, knitted caps, gold, silver, pearls, and spices.”
o Navigation: In familiar skies and on clear nights, sailors would use the stars to find their position, but this proved difficult.
o Dead Reckoning: By calculating the last known position of the ship, determining the direction the ship had traveled and for how long, the navigators could roughly determine the position of a ship.
o After 36 days of sailing, the wearied sailors sighted LAND!!!!
o They named the Island San Salvador
o Thinking he had found the outskirt Islands of India, Columbus declared that he had found the West Indies