Haixia liu biography of christopher columbus
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His one remaining vessel ran aground off of Jamaica, where the entire crew sought refuge.
Two sailors volunteered to make a perilous journey by canoe to Hispaniola to seek rescue for the marooned party. The crewmembers completed their journey, but wary officials waited almost a year before sending aid to Columbus. He gave the first island he landed on the name San Salvador, although the native population called it Guanahani.4 Columbus believed that he was in Asia, but was actually in the Caribbean.
Conditions remained dire and many settlers boarded ships for a return to Spain, where they reported their displeasure to the Crown.
In 1496, Columbus left the struggling colony to defend his administration before royal officials. His “re-discovery,” however, inspired a new era of exploration of the American continents by Europeans. "They willingly traded everything they owned… They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features… They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance.
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Christopher became an apprentice in his father’s wool weaving business, but he also studied mapmaking and sailing as well. See map above. The young navigator’s logic was sound, but his math was faulty. The aims of the venture were clear: to establish colonies and discover gold and silver.Landfall was made in the Lesser Antilles* in November.
Due to rough seas, he was forced to land in Portugal, an unfortunate event for Columbus.
On September 6, the ships headed due west, catching the favorable Canaries Current. Hispaniola today includes both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Columbus sailed along the coast of Central America, hoping in vain to find an opening that would allow him to reach the shores of the Far East.
In December 1502, Columbus attempted to return to Hispaniola.
The second voyage resulted in the establishment of a tenuous colony on Hispaniola and the discovery of little in the way of mineral wealth.
Third Voyage (1498-1500)
The third voyage departed from Seville in May 1498, with only six ships. Columbus had no charts for the waters he entered. The purpose for his voyages was to find a passage to Asia by sailing west.
They have no iron… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”
Columbus gifted the journal to Isabella upon his return.
Christopher Columbus's Later Voyages
About six months later, in September 1493, Columbus returned to the Americas. The complaints of earlier colonists had taken their toll and Columbus was forced to include convicts among the assemblage.
But a hurricane, then being denied entrance to Hispaniola, and then another storm made this an unfortunate trip. Having failed to gain Portuguese support for a westward exploratory voyage, Columbus moved to Spain with his son Diego.