Who discovered America?

Look at the picture.

Who is he?

Do you know his name? 

Christopher Columbus, a Genoese sailor, wanted to find a new route to India but he did not want to go to Africa first. He wanted to sail west crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Nobody had done this before. So, he asked the King of Portugal to give him ships and men in order to be able to do his voyage, but he rejected Columbus´ project. But Columbus went on insisting on his project so, he asked Catholic Monarchs for help again. Queen Isabel and King Fernando agreed to pay for his first voyage. They gave him a special title and part of the riches from the lands he explored (Capitulation of Santa Fe)

The expedition was organized from the Rábida Monastery. Columbus departed from the port of Palos (Huelva) with Pinzón brothers, more than 100 men and three ships, on the 3rd of August of 1492. The ships were caravels. They were called: the Pinta, the Niña and the Santa María. Finally, on the 12th of October,1492 a sailor called Rodrigo de Triana saw land through his spyglass. They dropped the anchor and went to the shore. They arrived to an island (Guanahaní) and named it San Salvador, in the Archipelago of Bahamas.

Columbus thought they had arrived in the Indies (Asia). That´s why he called the new lands, the Indies and the natives, Indians. This was his Firts expedition

He made three more voyages to the New World:

• SECOND JOURNEY (1493-1496).

On the 25th of September, 1493 he departed from the port of Cádiz and reached an island in the Lesser Antillean Archipelago. He named it La Deseada. He colonized the Hispaniola island (La Española) and discovered the islands of Jamaica and Puerto Rico. He came back to Cádiz on the 7th of June, 1496.

• THIRD JOURNEY (1498-1500)

On the 30th of May,1498 he sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz) and got to Trinidad island. Columbus wanted to go on exploring the new lands. He visited the North cost of Venezuela in this expedition. He arrived in Cádiz on the 25th of November,1500.

• FOURTH JOURNEY (1502-1504)

On the 11th of May,1502 Columbus departed from the port of Cádiz and got to Panamá 30 days later. He travelled around the coast of Central America. He arrived in Sanlúcar de Barrameda on the 7th of November,1502.

Columbus died in 1506, still believing he had reached Indies (Asia).

When Columbus arrived in America the continent had already been inhabited by island caribs for a long time. People who arrived in these lands wanted to explore them for different motivations: some people wanted to find gold and silver from the mines, other people wanted to baptize the indigenous and teach them about Christianity and others wanted to get new territory. The new lands belonged to the Spanish Crown. These people were based on these new lands. This is called “the colonization”.

The indigenous were thrown away from their lands and forced to change their religion. Many of them died because of European illnesses. Spain had to organize these new territories in Central and South America.

Spain sent king´s representatives to rule them. The problem was the shortage of labour. For that reason, slavery started with African people. The indigenous were not considered slaves.

There was a development in trade. The “Casa de Contratación” was the organism responsible for checking that everything was going well.