Christopher columbus what was the voyage like

They manifest the greatest affection towards all of us, exchanging valuable things for trifles, content with the very least thing or nothing at all. I gave them many beautiful and pleasing things, which I had brought with me, for no return whatever, in order to win their affection, and that they might become Christians and inclined to love our King and Queen and Princes and all the people of Spain; and that they might be eager to search for and gather and give to us what they abound in and we greatly need.

A suggestion for the editors: A few footnotes would be appreciated--say, for instance, concerning the misprinting that resulted in the "thirty-three days" that appear in the letter. We do not have a Spanish version of this document, but we do have other Spanish language documents.

Please email our Reference Librarian at reference gilderlehrman. Correction: it's Santo Domingo, not San Domingo.

Nobody has ever called it that. Love this site though!!! It's a shame that very few survived, especially since they didn't even know what they were getting themselves into, but this letter explains that all Christopher wanted to do was bring them peace and love towards not only each other and Spain, but also other individuals! It seems that according to the text above the letter, Christopher's intentions weren't exactly accurate. Columbus captured the Natives filled with fear because he could tell them to do whatever he wanted and they would do it.

I think the Europeans first impresion was being amazed. They were probably very happy to see land because they had been sailing over the sea for a while. On Christmas Day , the Santa Maria hit a rock and was wrecked. Columbus transferred to the Nina and left behind the 39 crewmembers of the Santa Maria on the island of Hispaniola. He wanted them to start a new settlement. Columbus reached Spain in March , and claimed his reward in riches.

He was also given new titles. Columbus made three more journeys across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. He was sure that he had found Cipangu Japan , but it was actually Cuba. Conditions were so bad that Spanish authorities had to send a new governor to take over. Columbus was arrested, returned to Spain and stripped of his titles. He did make one last voyage to the Americas, however, this time to Panama — just miles from the Pacific Ocean.

Columbus died in , still believing that he had found a new route to the East Indies. Today his historic legacy as a daring explorer who 'discovered' the New World has been challenged. His voyages launched centuries of European exploration and colonisation of the American continents. Old World wheat became an American food staple. African coffee and Asian sugar cane became cash crops for Latin America, while American foods like corn, tomatoes and potatoes were introduced into European diets.

Today, Columbus has a controversial legacy —he is remembered as a daring and path-breaking explorer who transformed the New World, yet his actions also unleashed changes that would eventually devastate the native populations he and his fellow explorers encountered. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Columbus Day is a U. It was unofficially celebrated in a number of cities and states as early as the 18th century, but did not become a More than years after he "discovered" the New World—kicking off centuries of exploration and colonization of the Americas—Christopher Columbus is honored with a federal holiday on the second Monday of every October.

However, as historians have continued to dig into the life Christopher Columbus has long been exalted as a heroic figure in American history: the first explorer to establish a European presence in the New World. Americans have celebrated his arrival as far back as , the th anniversary of his landing. But it would take almost Forget those myths perpetuated by everyone from Washington Irving to Bugs Bunny.

There was no need for Columbus to debunk the flat-earthers—the ancient Greeks had already done so. As early as the sixth century B. In search of fame and fortune, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan c.

En route he discovered what is now known as the Strait of Magellan and became the Columbus would also make his promised return for the 39 crew members he left in Hispaniola. He left his men to fend for themselves and build a colony. Instead, they were all killed by a local native chief. Following this loss suffered by Columbus, he and his crew went on a rampage to find more gold on the island.

This rampage upset the chief and the people of Hispaniola, resulting in fighting and bloodshed. After all the gold had run out, Columbus did what any colonizer would do and convert the native people to his way of thinking and eventually enslaved them for his monetary gain. Columbus is, in many respects, a murderer. In the end, Columbus never really discovered the Americas as he only disrupted the natural lifestyle of the Indigenous Americans that were already there.