![]() ![]() The transfers between the Old World and New World that followed his first voyage are known as the Columbian exchange, and the period of human habitation in the Americas prior to his arrival is known as the Pre-Columbian era. Columbus's strained relationship with the Spanish crown and its appointed colonial administrators in America led to his arrest and removal from Hispaniola in 1500, and later to protracted litigation over the benefits that he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown.Ĭolumbus's expeditions inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for centuries, helping create the modern Western world. ![]() He continued to seek a passage to the East Indies, and the extent to which he was aware that the Americas were a wholly separate landmass is uncertain he gave the name indios ("Indians") to the indigenous peoples he encountered. Many of the names he gave to geographical features-particularly islands-are still in use. Word of his discoveries soon spread throughout Europe.Ĭolumbus made three further voyages to the New World, exploring the Lesser Antilles in 1493, Trinidad and the northern coast of South America in 1498, and the eastern coast of Central America in 1502. He arrived back in Castile in early 1493, bringing a number of captive natives with him. Columbus subsequently visited Cuba and Hispaniola, establishing a colony in what is now Haiti-the first European settlement in the Americas since the Norse colonies almost 500 years earlier. His landing place was an island in the Bahamas, known by its native inhabitants as Guanahani its exact location is uncertain. Columbus left Castile in August 1492 with three ships, and after a stopover in the Canary Islands made landfall in the Americas on 12 October (now celebrated as Columbus Day). He formulated a plan to seek a western sea passage to the East Indies, hoping to profit from the lucrative spice trade.Īfter years of lobbying, the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon agreed to sponsor a journey west, in the name of the Crown of Castile. Though largely self-educated, Columbus was widely read in geography, astronomy, and history. He married Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo and was based in Lisbon for several years, but later took a Castilian mistress he had one son with each woman. He went to sea at a young age and travelled widely, as far north as the British Isles (and possibly Iceland) and as far south as what is now Ghana. While what he thought he had discovered was a route to the Far East, he is credited with the opening of the Americas for conquest and settlement by Europeans.Ĭolumbus's early life is somewhat obscure, but scholars generally agree that he was born in the Republic of Genoa and spoke a dialect of Ligurian as his first language. ![]() Columbus discovered a viable sailing route to the Americas, a continent that was then unknown to the Old World. He led the first European expeditions to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, initiating the permanent European colonization of the Americas. Christopher Columbus ( before 31 October 1451 – ) was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonist who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon. ![]()
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