One of the most important historical events was the discovery of America, on October 12, 1492, which was achieved by different expeditions Which were the voyages of Christopher Columbus to America, made across the Atlantic Ocean to try to discover new lands.
The voyages of Christopher Columbus: background
The story of the discovery of America seems to be fantasy and the voyages of christopher columbus for kids, but it was a fact that changed the world and it all began with the need to know where the physiognomic features that began to be observed in the sculptures of Mexico came from, since they generated intrigue by representing an Afro-descendant population with which it could have been had contact, although it is not known for sure if they were the same inhabitants at that time.
Before the discovery of America, there were already clues of possible people who could describe part of that New World long before Christopher Columbus, for example on the Pacific coast there is evidence of genetics and materials where it can be concluded that small groups of navigators arrived to the coasts of South America. However, this did not have a permanent impact, perhaps because there was no person to confirm it and it was not considered a discovery.
A few years before the discovery of America, sea voyages had already begun, specifically by the Portuguese to India, which skirted the coast of Africa and continued east through the Indian Ocean, and this worked as a stimulus for those who sailed in Europe believed the idea that it was possible to reach Asia by traveling west
On the other hand, another of the reasons for starting the expeditions towards the discovery of America was that Christopher Columbus had the idea that the diameter of the Earth was small and at the same time the hypothesis that Asia could be reached by traveling from Europe; so in the year 1492 he got the support of the kings Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon and they allowed him to organize the exploration trip that led him to one of the greatest discoveries in history, the discovery of America.
Summary
To talk about a summary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, it must begin with the idea that he had to carry out an expedition to discover the New World, therefore, he decided to undertake a journey for exploratory and colonization purposes to find a route to the west for the trade of the products of Asia.
Christopher Columbus starts the four voyages that he must make and that last two months and nine days leaving from the Port of Palo and crossing the Atlantic Ocean. In these, he had the support of the Catholic kings Isabel de Castilla and Fernando de Aragón to be able to reach the Guanahani island, his plan was to find the route to India and he believed so, but in reality he discovered other lands of which he did not knowledge was known.
This is an important fact in universal history since it corresponds to the meeting of two worlds, although the route to Asia to trade products was not found, this discovery provided the kingdom of Castile with new territories for its extension, in addition to much wealth.
In some capitulations signed in Santa Fe, the kings agreed with Columbus that he would receive benefits from trade as well as the lands he discovered on his way; after this began the preparations for the first of the four voyages of Christopher Columbus. If you are interested in knowing about the biography of great authors, we recommend you visit Biography of Estanislao Zuleta and his books.
First trip
The Catholic kings, wanting to help Christopher Columbus to reach Asia, gave him different titles such as Admiral, Viceroy and Governor in addition to 10% of the wealth. Thus, Columbus recruited 90 crew members and three ships that would leave from the Oviedo port of Palos de la Frontera on August 3, 1492 and in a week's time they reached the Canary Islands on the island of La Gomera.
On September 6 of the same year, they managed to set sail again and on October 7 they stopped following the route and headed for the Bahamas. On October 11, Columbus thought that his eyes showed something, but Rodrigo de Triana was the one who shouted "Land in sight" the next morning. When Columbus arrived in Guanahaní, he landed and exchanged products with the people there, even though they did not have gold, which was one of the things that the Spanish sought the most.
Through the maps of the voyages of Christopher Columbus, he managed to reach America on the first of his trips on October 12, 1492, and arrived through his three ships La Niña, La Pinta and La Santa María; to several Caribbean islands including Guanahani that they named San Salvador, Cuba called Juana and Santo Domingo as Hispaniola; In the latter, Columbus crashed his best ship, which was the Santa María, but with the remains of wood he built another called La Navidad.
These small islands, which Columbus reached before, were confused with Asia, but seeing that there was a small civilization and there were not large numbers of people, they decided to continue sailing. When the Santa María crashed on one of the islands, Columbus decided to leave 40 of his crew there to explore and form friendly relations for when he returned for the second voyage, and thus build a new smaller ship (La Navidad).
Second trip
Once Christopher Columbus arrived in Spain, he explained to the king and queen everything that happened on the trip and he showed them some things that he collected such as gold, pearls and he introduced some Indians to them, the king and queen, seeing and hearing everything that Columbus told them, put to legitimize these discoveries through the signature of Pope Alexander VI which granted Castile those territories and Columbus's task was to start preparing the second trip to colonize those territories.
In this way, a colonization fleet was organized that included 17 ships and 1500 crew members from all kinds of professions, since the hope of finding riches made the people unite and thus they left on September 25, 1493 from the city of Cádiz and its objective was to bring the Spanish presence to the territories that had already been discovered and try to find the way to India, and continue discovering more. They arrived in the Canary Islands on October 5, and then on the island of Dominica in the Lesser Antilles on November 2, and from there they toured the rest of the islands.
The first island that Christopher Columbus discovered was La Descada; Later he came to Puerto Rico and managed to reach Hispaniola, where they had destroyed Fort La Navidad, which he had built together with his troops on the first trip. Later, near that island, Columbus created his first city on January 6, 1494 called Villa Isabela.
He then continued exploring, arriving in Cuba, and then discovering Jamaica, finally returning to Spain in 1496. As a result of the second voyage of Christopher Columbus, there was a great impact in America since different customs and varieties of things were incorporated, such as the variety of food, fruits, animals, and the practice of conquest, they were constantly progressing, and between the years 1499 and 1519 "voyages of discovery and rescue" began to take place frequently.
Américo Vespucio participated in the first of these, who was the first of the Europeans to state that the lands to which Christopher Columbus had arrived were not part of Asia, but of a continent unknown to Europeans and from whose given name the name derives. name of "America".
Third travel
When Christopher Columbus returned to Spain, he met with the Catholic kings, and this time they would become more involved in the organization of this third trip, where they put some conditions, for which Columbus had to go to the Genoese bank to finance part of the same.
Columbus's voyage number three began when he departed on May 30, 1498 from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with 6 ships and 226 crew members who arrived at the Canary Islands and from there they were divided, 3 caravels went to the island of Hispaniola and another 3 to the Cape Verde islands where Columbus traveled to find riches.
After a journey full of various difficulties such as epidemics among the sailors, they arrived at the island of Trinidad on July 31, and later at the Gulf of Paria at the mouth of the Orinoco River, touching continental land for the first time in the north of Venezuela; He decided to call all that land “Land of Graces”, because of the beauty that he observed and because of the kindness of the indigenous people. He thus deduced that he had reached a continent because of the large amount of fresh water.
On August 20 they were in the founded city of Santo Domingo where they found an island in a state of rebellion by the natives and also by the Spanish. There were several confrontations but the most important was the rebellion of Francisco Roldán, the Mayor of Hispaniola, who managed to move and raise more than 300 Spaniards, but in the end Roldán had to negotiate with the rebels and accept their conditions.
All these facts reached the ears of Castile and the kings had to send a judge to the island to investigate what was happening with Columbus, this l returning to the island of Hispaniola Columbus was taken prisoner due to the complaints that the Spaniards had that they were under his command, since there was a lack of riches which according to them they would find. In the year 1500, Francisco de Bobadilla took over the government of the viceroyalty and imprisoned Columbus, who was sent to Castile with serious charges and returned to Spain, where Queen Isabel released him but lost the prestige he had.
Continuing, he then explored the three islands of the current state of Nueva Esparta, in which his main island was called Asunción, the others explored are the current Cubagua and Coche. Later, a pearl settlement was created and from this, in 1528, the first city founded by the Spanish on an American continent was born, called Nueva Cádiz.
Fourth trip
Although Columbus had the problem of losing his prestige and his assets, he decided to carry out his last voyage, which was his fourth, having various prohibitions where he could not reach the lands of Hispaniola due to the problems that had been caused. previously on that island. The new chief or governor of the colony, named Nicolás de Ovando, did not allow any of Columbus' ships to disembark, even if he changed transport to a better one.
The objective of this fourth voyage was that Columbus was looking for the Strait of Malacca, which according to him had reached Asia and that would allow him to finally reach the Indies. He left the port of Cádiz in the years between 1502 and 1504, where he explored the west coast of Central America such as the island of Guanaja, which today are known as the countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
He left on May 11, 1502, with two caravels and two ships called La Capitana, La Gallega, La Vizcaína and Santiago de Palos; and passing through the Canary Islands, she reached the Indies in 30 days. After those four voyages of Christopher Columbus, several expeditions continued with various smaller voyages, but which allowed the entire existence of the American continent to be known and to explore the entire coast of Venezuela.
smaller trips
To reach the discovery of the center of America, they had to travel along the Caribbean coast through what are now the countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, reaching the Belén River where they founded the first Spanish city in the American continent to which they They called Santa María de Belén. There they lost one of the caravels, which was destroyed by weather and storm damage.
In this order, they followed the course along the coasts until they reached the lands of Veragua that already belonged to Alonso de Ojeda and for this reason they could not stay where they lost another caravel, and with only two caravels they continued sailing towards the northern part of Cuba arriving in Jamaica on June 25, 1503, where they sheltered the two remaining caravels so that they would not be lost at sea.
They stayed in Jamaica for a full year, until the different rebellions of the Spaniards who were upset with Christopher Columbus began to increase; thanks to a small expedition of two men who went to Santo Domingo to ask for help and in the end they were rescued, being able to reach the Española island.
The Spanish crown decided to put an end to the trips and navigations to the Indies of Christopher Columbus in the year 1499 and opened the way for other sailors and other businesses to have the opportunity to explore; this paved the way for what were called minor trips or Andalusian trips or reconnaissance and rescue trips, among others.
These names were given to it, since all those who decided to undertake an adventure organized themselves and departed from Andalusia and most of the people who did so were from Spain. Among those who stood out the most were characters such as Pedro Alonso Niño, who was the discoverer of the Gulf of Paria in Venezuela, Juan Ladrillero, discoverer of the Strait of Magellan, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, discoverer of Brazil, Bartolomé Ruiz, who discovered and navigated the Pacific Ocean, among others. .
Consequences of the discovery of America
- The foreign powers, specifically the European ones, imposed their language on their territories, making the natives adapt to it, and Portuguese and Spanish predominate because they were the conquerors mainly from Portugal and Spain. The Spanish from time to time allowed other Indian languages such as Guarani or Quechua.
- The Catholic religion became the official religion.
- Navigation and trade were enlarged, as well as the global spread of food that could only be acquired and consumed by some American cultures, and of which many were not aware.
- When Christopher Columbus arrived, it served as an inspiration for the conquest of America, since other people and other people who were not only the Spanish, but also the Portuguese, the English, the Dutch and the French were involved in the activity.
- High levels of miscegenation were generated between people and between cultures, with native peoples and Europeans.
- The English colonizers created and organized a new concept of society that innovated, with independence, constitution and federalism, and thus gave rise to what is now known as the country of the United States of America, which replaced Great Britain as a world power. .
- The main wealth that the Spanish extracted from the lands of America were gold and silver. At first the amounts of gold were small but later they found great loot in mainland territories.
- There were numerous infections of diseases such as yellow fever, smallpox, among others; since the Europeans incorporated them into the indigenous population and that caused a collapse in it and an increase in its mortality.
- The Spanish and Europeans brought to America animals that would be useful such as horses, donkeys, cows, sheep, among others; as well as farm animals such as chickens and rabbits. Change incorporated some important trees to produce wheat, oats, barley, coffee and sugar cane.
The legacy of the voyages of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid on May 20, 1506, and is considered the discoverer of America, since he explored the areas and founded cities in different places such as the islands of Cuba and Santo Domingo. In this way, he made four trips to America and held different positions that were granted to him, such as governor and viceroy, and ended up being accused of tyranny where he lost all his privileges.
Columbus managed to inspire new navigators, and the newly discovered continent is named after another influenced explorer named Amerigo Vespucci, who also made several expeditions to America in the early XNUMXth century. In his diaries, Vespucci already wrote that these lands were not the Indies, but were part of a new continent that was located between Europe and Asia. Likewise, Columbus also gave some names to the cities, regions and the country Colombia.
The transcendence left by the legacy of Columbus has had a great global impact, since Christopher Columbus deserves special recognition for having opened the doors so that everyone can discover the new places that exist in the world. This was stated by Bartolomé de las Casas in a story he wrote about the voyages, alleging that Columbus was the first to think of opening those doors that had previously been closed for a long period of time.
Bartolomé de las Casas, to this day remains an important source of knowledge regarding Columbus, as his writings are the only existing copy of Columbus' diary, and he writes that: "It was Columbus who provided the light that allowed the others could see how to discover.”, In turn, he is uncritical when the writings describe the destruction suffered by the natives because of Columbus and his group of men, he affirms that the Admiral should have proceeded better.
Although it is true that many have been written about the subsequent Columbian Exchange, that is, it is also true that the exchange of plants, animals, diseases, human migration and cultural exchange; it helped history students never forget that the discovery of a New World also had an intellectual impact and that is the best legacy that could have been left.
During that age of discovery, Western Europeans learned to have the ability to exchange information with everyone around them about everything they know. Thus, the direct influence of Christopher Columbus is evidenced as one of the most important great thinkers of the time and a man who led the way, deserving recognition for having produced an intellectual transformation that marked the beginning of the Modern Era, and if he had not Had it been for Columbus, the world would never be what it is today, and neither would the human race.
Curious facts about the voyages of Christopher Columbus
- The last voyage of Christopher Columbus was in 1508, although he was already prohibited from setting foot on Hispaniola, this time he went to the coast of Honduras.
- Columbus was arrested and lost his privileges in Hispaniola.
- Until 1513, the men who participated in the first voyage of Christopher Columbus received payment for having been on the expedition.
- The texts in which Columbus wrote reveal that he was a man attached to religion and that he felt that he had a call to carry out a mission that God had sent him.
- In 1500, the Catholic Monarchs decided to send Francisco Bobadilla to bring order to the island, since there was a lot of discontent on the part of Christopher Columbus's crew members due to the way in which he handled everything, since he kept the profits for himself and his family. family.
- After the first voyage, Columbus returned to Spain and showed Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon different presents. Six Indians were baptized in the cathedral of Barcelona, and he brought parrots of many colors, gold belts, jewelry made with precious stones that he found, among others.
- Cristóbal Quintero was the owner of "La Pinta" and Martín Alonso Pinzón was in charge. Juan Niño was also the owner of “La Niña”, whose original name was “Santa Clara”.
- On October 12, 1492, two hours after midnight, Rodrigo de Triana was the crew member who shouted "land in sight", he was aboard the ship La Pinta.
- In the discovery of America, the Taino Indians were the first indigenous people who could have contact with Christopher Columbus and his crew.
- Columbus, before dying, stated in one of his last letters that the Earth was pear-shaped, with the circumference of the Earth being smaller at the poles.
- On September 14, Columbus noted in his diary that the sailors of "La Niña" claimed to have seen birds and reed-tailed parakeets.
- After 70 days of travel, Christopher Columbus and his crew reached the shores of Guanahani Island in the Bahamas archipelago, thus forming the relationship between the Old and the New World.
- America was named for Amerigo Vespucci, the navigator who was the first to map the new continent thought to be India.
- It was not until 1547 that the Spanish Crown allowed women to visit the so-called New World.
- The crew that left for America was made up of 90 men, almost all Portuguese, some Basques, ten from Cantabria and five prisoners who changed their sentence for the trip of more than two months.
- Only two caravels participated in the discovery of America, the tails were La Pinta and La Niña, since the Santa María was actually a nao, which is another style of larger ship and was previously called María Galante.
- No member of any religious order traveled with Christopher Columbus.
- The Day of the Race, seeks to remind the value of ethnic and cultural identities and calls attention to historical reflection.
- It was forbidden for women from the old continent to travel to America until 1547.
- The Santa María did not return to Spain. since she hit a reef and with the remains of her a fort was made. Therefore, Columbus only returned with 2 ships and half the crew.
- Various historians claim that Asians crossed over to the continent during the ice age. The Vikings are also believed to have arrived in Canada long before the voyages of Christopher Columbus.
- Thanks to the riches found by exploration trips, there was a price revolution in Europe that allowed the Hispanic Monarchy to finance the many wars in which it was involved
- Important foods such as corn, potato, tomato, chocolate, sweet potato, avocado, pumpkin, among others that originated in the native peoples of the Andes were given. As well as products of equal importance originating in America such as rubber and tobacco.
- Most of the silver and gold, approximately 80%, remained in Spanish America at the time.
