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Brief History: Christopher Columbus Diary Columbus Brief History: Christopher Columbus was an Italian-Spanish navigator who sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a route to Asia but achieved fame by making landfall, instead, in the Caribbean Sea. Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. His father was a weaver, and it is believed that Christopher entered this trade as a young man. In the mid- 1470 s he made his first trading voyage to the island of Kh os in the Aegean Sea. In 1476 he sailed with a convoy bound for England. Legend has it that the fleet was attacked by pirates off the coast of Portugal, where Columbus s ship was sunk, but he swam to shore and took refuge in Lisbon.
Settling there, where his brother Bartholomew Columbus was working as a cartographer, he was married in 1479 to the daughter of the governor of the island of Porto Santo. Diego Columbus, the only child of this marriage, was born in 1480. Based on information acquired during his travels, and by reading and studying charts and maps, Christopher concluded that the earth was 25 percent smaller than was previously thought, and composed mostly of land. On the basis of these faulty beliefs, he decided that Asia could be reached quickly by sailing west. In 1484 he submitted his theories to John II, king of Portugal, petitioning him to finance a westward crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. His proposal was rejected by a royal maritime commission because of his miscalculations.
Soon after, Columbus moved to Spain, where his plans won the support of several influential persons, and he secured an introduction, in 1486, to Isabella I, queen of Castile. About this time, Columbus, then a widower, met Beatriz Enriquez, who became his mistress and the mother of his second son, Ferdinand Columbus. In Spain, as in Portugal, a royal commission rejected his plan. Columbus continued to seek support, however, and in April 1492 his persistence was rewarded: Ferdinand V, king of Castile, and Queen Isabella agreed to sponsor the expedition. The signed contract stipulated that Columbus was to become viceroy of all territories he located; other rewards included a hereditary peerage and one-tenth of all precious metals found within his jurisdiction. 3 August 1492: I set sail today with high hopes and lofty expectations.
We left shore at 8 o clock and set our course for the Canary Islands. My three ships are the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. I am going to make new maps and pay close attention to the navigation of the voyage. I also plan to correctly map all that I pass in correct locations by latitude and longitude.
The purpose of my venture into the seas is to reach the Indies. 24 August 1492: On the third day of our voyage there were already signs of sabotage. I believe Gomez Reason deliberately caused damage to the Pinta s rudder. Repairs were made and I am hopeful that no more trouble will arise. Our course to the Grand Canary is looking good and we are making steady progress. I plan to leave the Pinta there, for she is leaking and needs repairs. I hope to obtain another ship there.
On the 9 th day of August we reached Grand Canary and I left the Pinta there while the rest of my ships continued to Gomera where we will wait for the other ship s arrival. After no word from Grand Canary we set sail to there to check on the rest of the crew. On the way we saw a volcano erupt on a nearby island, many of the men had never seen anything like it before. I calmed them by telling them of the many eruptions I had witnessed. 15 September 1492: It took quite a while to repair the Pinta but we finally got on the water. We have used up many supplies during our stay on land. We obtained more on our way past Gomera.
The waters were calm and halted our progress a couple of days. I have begun to record less miles to keep the crew at ease. After we lost sight of land many men wept because they did not know when they would next see land. Today we saw a meteorite fall into the water approximately 12 miles from our location which was taken by some men to be a bad omen. I quieted their fears by recounting all the meteorites I have seen with my own eyes. 19 October 1492: Crew moral is up and our progress is steady.
Our course was off by a little so we had to correctly alter our path. I have become aware of Martin Pinson s independence and I am a little troubled by it. Due to alleged sightings of land the crew has grown more irritable than ever. Some fearing they will not ever get home again. My feelings of Pinzon are correct for it is he who wants all the glory and consistently races aged of the fleet so as to spot land first. He in my opinion cannot be trusted.
I have observed many new exciting birds that fly near the ships. I don t want to waste my time with traveling to islands for I do not deem it to be beneficial to our journey. We saw naked people with darker skin and broader foreheads on the 12 of October. Seeing this we went ashore.
I think these people can easily be converted Christianity. I can t get over the generosity of these simple people. They are so giving. I see no signs of gold so far but I am keeping my eyes open.
I claimed many islands in a matter of a week. 18 November 1492: The Guanahani Indians that are traveling with us are very useful. For they know the area very well and can communicate with the other indigenous tribes of the region. I appreciate the unique beauty of all the villages I have visited so far. I have seen nothing like these small, quaint, simple communities. At every island that I have visited, I have planted crosses in the name of the Lord. I planted the biggest of the crosses at the mouth of Puerto del Principe.
We did not sail today so as to obey the Sabbath. 5 December 1492: Martin Pinzon continues to disobey my commands, and in his most outrageous show of truancy took leave without my command in hopes of finding many treasures. I reached a group of islands. There I found a great abundance of timber which could be made into a mighty fleet of ships and a great river as well. This island is perfect for a sawmill. A little farther along the coast, I encountered Indians who wished to kill me. With this I was not pleased, I threatened them and went along on my way.
I left the area and I am hopeful of the land I can see just ahead. 1 January 1493: On the day our lord was born the ship I was aboard could not be saved. By night she found herself on a rocky ground and sunk herself. Me and my crew will go aboard the Nina. The Indian village up ahead will hopefully provide us with canoes and assistance in unloading the other ship.
They did do this and in a most gracious way. On one of the other islands visited by my men and me a king crowned me with his own crown. In order to repay his generosity I bestowed upon him my own, necklace, ring, cloak, and boots. He was overwhelmed and loved everything. I continue to search for abundances of gold but have not been able to complete this task up to now. 25 September 1492: Very calm waters did not make for good sailing today. At sunset Martin Alonzo called out with great joy from his vessel that he saw land, and demanded a reward for his intelligence.
When I heard him declare this, I fell on my knees and returned thanks to God, and Martin Alonzo with his crew repeated cities of joy, as did my crew. Those on board the Nina ascended the ship, and all declared they saw land. I changed the actual distance to the land and I kept two journals to keep the men at ease. The shorter one falsified, and the other being the true account. The sea was very smooth and many of the sailors went in it to bathe. 7 October 1492: At sunrise, Nina, who kept ahead on account of her swiftness in sailing.
All the vessels were in constant competition trying to outsail one another, and gain the reward promised by the King and Queen by first discovering land erected a flag at her mast head, as a signal that she had discovered land. For I had given orders to that effect. I also ordered that the ships should keep in close company at sunrise and sunset, as the air was more favorable at those times for seeing at a distance. Towards evening seeing nothing of the land which the Nina had made signals for, and observing large flocks of birds coming from the North and making for the southwest, I concluded that they were either going to land to pass the night, or abandoning the countries of the north, on account of the approaching winter, I determined to alter the course.
Bibliography 1. Morison, Samuel Eliot. Admiral of the Ocean Sea. Little, 1942. 2.
Encarta 98. Christopher Columbus. 1998. 3. web! 999.
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