Four Important Voyages

Most of the information we have about Columbus's voyages comes from his journals and letters, which were written in Spanish. For his first voyage, Columbus had three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Columbus was the captain of one of the ships, and his two brothers were in charge of the others. The entire crew of all three ships numbered about 90. The ships had good compasses to tell direction but no in­struments to measure distance. Fortunately, Columbus was a very skillful sailor and could navigate well by looking at the stars. He also understood wind patterns and how to use them to his advantage. Although he was wrong about what part of the world he had reached, Columbus's great skill enabled him to find his way back to the same gen­eral area on four expeditions.

The ships sailed from the Canary Islands on September 6, 1492. The crew lost sight of land on September 9, and the men began to sigh and cry. Columbus wrote in his jour­nal, "I comforted them with great promises of land and riches."

Weeks went by, and there was still no land in sight. The sailors became even more frightened. They knew that the world was round, not flat, and they weren't afraid of falling off the edge. But they were afraid that they would die at sea. The crew begged Columbus to turn back; there were even whispers of mutiny. On October 10, Columbus and his crew agreed to sail on for 3 more days and then turn around if no land was seen. Columbus was optimistic. They saw land birds flying overhead and some carved wood floating on the water. He felt certain that land must be nearby.

In the middle of the night, just 36 days after leaving the Canary Islands, the sailors were overjoyed to see pinpoints of light in the darkness and then white sand shining in the moonlight. Columbus's ships were approaching an island in the Bahamas, an island that Columbus named San Salvador. Which island was it? Historians don't all agree, but most think it was the one once called Watling Island and then renamed San Salvador.

When dawn came, Columbus and some of his men came ashore in small boats. The landing party found themselves in a strange, beautiful tropical environment. They placed a Spanish flag and banner in the ground and declared the island a Spanish pos­session. They were greeted by timid but friendly people who wore no clothes. Because Columbus thought he had landed on an island in the Indies near Japan or China, he called these natives Indians. Today, the islands that Columbus explored are called the West Indies.

The three ships spent only a few days at San Salvador. They then sailed on to Cuba and Haiti, where the Santa Maria was wrecked. On January 16, 1493, the Nina and Pinta set sail for Spain. They took with them some samples of unusual findings-trinkets, plants, and birds. They also brought back some New World natives. The voyage home was extremely rough, and some of the Indians died en route. On March 15, Columbus's ships arrived safely in Palos, Spain.

After his first voyage, Columbus was very popular and in favor with the king and queen. For his second expedition, he was given 17 ships and about 1,500 men. Colum­bus's second expedition sailed through the Lesser Antilles and past Puerto Rico. He also explored Cuba. On his third voyage, he landed on Venezuela, finally reaching the mainland of South America.

His later explorations didn't live up to expectations. There was less gold and more trouble. Some Spanish settlers remained in the new land to form a colony called His ­ paniola (where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are now located). These settlers had expected to find huge supplies of gold and other riches. Instead, they found difficult liv­ing conditions, strange foods, hard work, and constant danger. They blamed Columbus for their disappointment. Many went back to Spain and complained about him. Others stayed and rebelled against his leadership. The king's representative came from Spain to settle the trouble in Hispaniola. He put Columbus and his brothers in chains and sent them back to Spain for trial. On board ship, the captain offered to release Colum­bus from his chains, but Columbus refused this offer. When he arrived in Spain, the king and queen freed him, but they replaced him as governor of Hispaniola.

In an attempt to regain his good name, Columbus began his fourth and last voyage. With four ships, he left Spain in 1502. On this voyage, his ships sailed along the east coast of Central America-past the present-day countries of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. During the journey, his ships were badly damaged. As a result, he and his crew were stranded on Jamaica for a year before being rescued and returned to Spain in 1504. Columbus was, at that point, considered an unsuccessful explorer. He had not brought back riches from the Far East. (Later, in the sixteenth century, Spain took huge profits from the Americas, but that was after Columbus's death.) To make matters worse for him, Queen Isabella, his great supporter, died.

During his last years, Columbus had a comfortable income from his share of the gold that was found in Hispaniola. However, he was unhappy because King Ferdinand denied him some of the other rewards he had been promised. Moreover, he was sick and in great pain from arthritis. He died in 1506 at the age of 54 and was buried in Spain. In 1542, his body was moved to the Dominican Republic, once part of "his" colony, His­paniola. He may still be buried there.

Was this controversial man a hero or a villain? Probably both. He was certainly ambitious. That trait motivated him to work hard, take risks, and accomplish something of significance. However, many would say he was also greedy, wanting too much in return for his efforts. His persistence was a virtue. But he was so persistent that he was often stubborn.

- First Voyage 1492-1493

- - Second Voyage 1493-1496

..... Third Voyage 1498-1500

- - - Fourth Voyage 1502-1504

Routes of Columbus`s four voyages

Despite evidence to the contrary, he never faced the fact that he had not reached the Far East. Admitting that would have meant his expeditions failed. Most dis­turbing, however, is the evidence that Columbus was harsh, even cruel, in dealing with his crew, the colonists in Hispaniola, and the Native Americans. He had an autocratic manner with his crew. Trying to make his colony more profitable, he sometimes ordered the killing of Spanish colonists who were troublemakers in Hispaniola. He sent some In­dians to Spain to be sold into slavery and forced others to find a certain quantity of gold per day or face death.

Still, Columbus continues to be admired for his courage, self-confidence, ability, and, perhaps most of all, his persistence. In school, children read Joaquin Miller's famous poem about Columbus. The closing lines say, "He gained a world; he gave that world / Its grandest lesson: 'On! Sail on!'"

Check your comprehension.

What were Columbus`s character strengths? What were his flaws?

Why ‘America’?

If Columbus is considered the most important European explorer of the Western Hemisphere, then why are citizens of the U.S. called Americans, not Columbians? And who were the continents of North and South America named after? These are questions that some newcomers to the U.S. ask.

Columbus's name appears many times on a map of the Western Hemisphere. Several cities in the U.S. are named after him, as is the Columbia River, one of the chief rivers in the U.S.A and Canada. The nation's capital city is called Washington, D.C., with the initials standing for District of Columbia. However, the two continents of the Western Hemisphere are named after Amerigo Vespucci, another Italian explorer. He made at least two (and possibly four) voyages to the Americas, the first only a few years after Columbus's first voyage. Vespucci's 1499 voyage was undertaken for Spain and led by a Spanish explorer. It brought Vespucci to Brazil, Venezuela, and Hispaniola. Then, in 1501, he sailed to Brazil again, this time with the ships of a Portuguese captain. The 1501 voyage convinced Vespucci that he had reached a new continent. He was the first per­son to claim this.

About 1503, Vespucci's account of his discovery of a new continent was published in English under the title New World. It was also translated into many other languages and published in many European countries. Its fame established Vespucci as the discoverer of the New World. Columbus never disputed this claim.

In 1507, a German mapmaker who read Vespucci's writings became the first person to use the name America to describe the area that Columbus and Vespucci had explored. Vespucci received many honors and important jobs. After his death, it was discovered that this so-called great explorer was not really so great. After all, Columbus had reached the Western Hemisphere before Vespucci did. In addition, despite his claims, Vespucci was probably not the leader of the expeditions he was on. Therefore, it is ap­propriate that Amerigo Vespucci is the forgotten explorer, while Columbus is honored annually in many countries.

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