The Exploration Era-Part 1 Columbus

I will start a new series which I will run Parallel to my Civil War series.

The Exploration Era started when Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). Sailed across the Atlantic ocean to try to find a quicker way to get to India in 1492. He had always been fascinated by the sea and sailing. He had gone to sea at ten years old. We do not know much about his early life. He made a theory that he could go westward by sea and reach India faster than the Portuguese who had to sail all the way around Africa. Most people of that day believed (even though science said otherwise) that the earth was flat and at the end of the earth were great monsters that would devour all ships that came there. But after much persistence he persuaded Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to give him ships to sail and find this quicker route to India. They gave him three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. They set sail on Aug. 3, 1492 from Palos, Spain, and on October 11, 1492, they spotted the Caribbean islands off southeastern North America. Now Columbus thought that these islands were just offshore from India. But with further exploring they realized that they were not near India. They visited the modern day islands of San Salvador, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

On the return voyage the Santa Maria, was wrecked so Columbus arrived back at Spain on March 15, 1493.

On Sept. 25, 1493, Columbus set sail with 17 ships and 1,200 to 1,500 men to find gold and capture Indians as slaves in the Indies(Which is what Columbus called them). Columbus established a fort in Hispaniola(which now encompasses Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and sailed around Hispaniola and along the length of southern Cuba. He spotted and named the island of Dominica on November 3, 1493.

Later on a third expedition (May 30, 1498-October 1500), Columbus sailed farther south, to Trinidad and Venezuela (including the mouth of the Orinoco River). Columbus was the first European to set foot on the mainland of America, since the Viking Leif Ericcson. Also when he returned to the fort on Hispaniola it had been attacked and destroyed.

When Columbus retired he had been striped of his great title by people who wanted his glory. He died a poor man.

But he had one of the largest impacts in history. God used him to start a nation over 250 years after his death.