Who is Christopher Columbus ?

Summary of the life of Christopher Columbus:

The Italian explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in the Republic of Genoa in Italy, and his first trip to the Atlantic Ocean was in 1476, and this trip would have cost him his life. Christopher Columbus also participated in several other expeditions to Africa in the year 1492, and Christopher Columbus left for Spain In Santa Maria, he is credited with opening the Americas during European colonization.

Early voyages in the life of Christopher Columbus:

Christopher Columbus went to the sea for the first time when he was a teenager, and he participated in many commercial voyages in the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea, and one of those voyages was in the Greek modern era, and his first voyage to the Atlantic was in 1476 and it would have cost him his life as we mentioned earlier .

While the merchant fleet was sailing, French pirates attacked him off the coast of Portugal, burning his ship. Christopher Columbus swam to the Portuguese shore and made his way to Lisbon, Portugal, where he eventually settled there and married Philippa. The couple had one son, Diego. whom they gave birth to in 1480.

But Christopher Columbus's wife died shortly after, and Christopher Columbus moved to Spain. He had another son, Fernando, whom he fathered out of wedlock in 1488, whose mother was Beatrice Enrique de Arana.

Christopher Columbus participated in several other expeditions to Africa, in which he gained knowledge of the Atlantic currents flowing east and west from the Canary Islands, and at that time Muslims had taken control of the trade routes across the Middle East, which made travel to India and China very difficult, and here was sailing on the way west Transatlantic was faster and safer.

And at that time, Christopher Columbus developed a plan to sail to the west, and he wanted through the west to reach the east. Adhering to the estimate of the Earth's circumference at 25,000 miles.

This made the distance between the Canary Islands and Japan about 12,200 miles from the main system, and although the experts disagreed with Christopher Columbus on these matters of distance, they agreed with him that the journey west from Europe would be a way of water without interruption.

Christopher Columbus' first voyage to the New World:

Christopher Columbus refused a trip that was offered to him by the Portuguese king, and the trip consisted of three vehicles that helped him make a good discovery, and before Christopher Columbus took his first plan from Genoa and then to Venice, then he went to the Spanish Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon, And that in the year 1486.

But the marine experts were skeptical at first about the ideas of Christopher Columbus, but despite all that, the kings were fascinated by him, but they were not ready to listen to his ideas or help him carry out his expedition, as they were busy with their war with the Muslims at the time, and told him that he should wait.

But Christopher Columbus continued to put pressure on the royal court and soon they agreed to his campaign after the Spanish army took control of Granada in January of 1492, and indeed the kings agreed to finance his campaign in August of the same year, and Christopher Columbus left Spain in Santa Maria, after 36 A day of sailing, Christopher Columbus and many of his crew members were able to set foot on an island, and at that time they claimed that it belonged to Spain. Parrots and spears.

Then Christopher Columbus and his men continued their journey, visiting the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola (which are now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and meeting with the indigenous chiefs, but during this time, they destroyed the settlement for the expedition and few men were rescued and Christopher Columbus and his men built Settlement of "Vila de la Navidad" with wood, thirty-nine men remained with him who made the settlement, after which Christopher Columbus sailed home with two of the remaining ships.

Later voyages of Christopher Columbus:

Christopher Columbus returned to Spain in 1493, and Christopher Columbus gave an exaggerated report and there was a warm welcome by the royal court, and in the same year he undertook another expedition to the seas in order to explore more islands in the Caribbean Ocean, and upon his arrival in Hispaniola Christopher Columbus and his crew discovered that the population had not responded to the Queen's wishes, and found many attacked.

Which made Columbus establish a policy of forced labor on the indigenous population to rebuild settlements and prospect for gold, and considered that it would be profitable without a doubt, but his efforts produced these small amounts of gold and great hatred from the local population, and before returning to Spain again, he left and sailed for a while Briefly around the large islands of the Caribbean, he did so in order to convince himself that he had discovered the outer islands of China.

Christopher Columbus did not complete his third voyage until he actually reached the mainland and explored the Orinoco River, which is present-day Venezuela, but unfortunately, Christopher lost control of the situation in Hispaniola and everything deteriorated to the point of rebellion, the settlers claiming that they are being misled by Columbus and complaining about the mismanagement of his brothers.

Immediately, the Spanish king sent his royal official who arrested Columbus and stripped him of his power. Contrary to what he went, Christopher Columbus returned to Spain in chains to confront the royal court, and he was able to drop the charges at a later time, but he lost his titles when he was ruler of the Indies and for some time he also lost a lot of money. The riches that were presented to him during his travels.

Some persuaded King Ferdinand that Christopher Columbus was the most person who could bring abundant fortunes if he made another voyage. Indeed, Columbus went on to participate in a voyage in 1502, traveling along the eastern coast of Central America in the unsuccessful search for a path that leads to the Indian Ocean. A storm came and destroyed one of his ships.

During this time, the local islands, tired of the Spaniards and their mistreatment and obsessed with gold that they think about all the time, so all the islanders agreed and refused to give them food, and later a rescue party finally arrived, they were sent by the royal governor of Hispaniola in July and Christopher Columbus returned and his men to Spain in November 1504.

Mixed heritage in the life of Christopher Columbus:

In the remaining two years of Christopher Columbus's life, he struggled a lot to recover his lost titles. Indeed, in May 1505, he recovered some of his money, but he could never return his titles. Christopher Columbus died on May 20, 1506, and until now it is still believed that he had discovered a shorter path to Asia. .

The legacy of Christopher Columbus is mixed and full of things, he is credited with opening the Americas and also in European colonization, but with all this he had a hand in destroying the indigenous population of many of the islands that he explored, and his travel group came to play a widespread movement between people, plants, and animals, diseases, and cultures that have greatly affected almost every society in the world.

The Persians from Europe allowed the Native American tribes in the Great Plains region of North America to make the transition from nomadism to a hunting life, and foods that extend from the Americas such as potatoes, tomatoes and corn became widespread in Europe and helped increase its population, for example wheat that was From Europe and the Old World it quickly became the main food source for the inhabitants of the Americas, and coffee that came from Africa and sugarcane from Asia became the main cash crops for the countries of Latin America.

It also brought with it new diseases to both hemispheres, for example smallpox that came from the Old World decimated millions of the American population.