Who was Christopher Columbus?

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Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer born in the year 1451. His goal was to lead a group of ships across the Atlantic Ocean to find Asia, where there was a lot of money to be made from trading. A direct route by ocean would have been a major discovery because otherwise, to get to South and East Asia from Europe, travelers would have to go by land or take ships all the way around Africa. Columbus thought he could find a better way.

He had some trouble finding support and funding for his journey, but in 1492, the King and Queen of Spain decided to support him.

He took three pretty famous ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. In August, they set sail for Asia, but Columbus did not realize (nor did many other Europeans) that two big obstacles stood in his way: North America and South America. On October 12, land was sighted. Columbus thought he had found Asia, but he had really found the Caribbean Islands.

He did not discover America. Vikings had been to North America hundreds of years earlier, and Native Americans had been there before that. He did however open up the exploration of the Americas to countries like Spain, France, and England, all of which had a major impact on the history of the two continents. 

Why Some People Don’t Celebrate Columbus Day

In many parts of Europe, after it was discovered that Columbus had found new continents, Columbus was seen as a hero. The Americas offered the Europeans new land and resources to claim as their own.

Native Americans and many others did not share the same view. Europeans captured some of the Native Americans, and others were just kicked off of their land. Europeans also brought diseases to the Americas, which the Native Americans were not immune to.

There are always different ways to look at a situation. Whether people think that Columbus was a good guy, a bad guy, or somewhere in between, he was certainly an excellent navigator who played a huge role in shaping the world as it is today.  

Navigation Exploration

Grab a world map or a globe and pretend for a moment that you are Columbus and trying to get to Asia. Find Spain on the map. That’s where he started his journey. How would you get to the country of India if you were traveling by land?

What different ways could you get there by water? If you see waterways on the map like the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal, keep in mind those hadn’t been built yet, in Columbus’ time.

If North American and South America didn’t exist, what would have been the best way to travel from Spain to India?