COLUMBUS ARRIVES Chapter 1
Prince Henry the Navigator Early 1400s Son of the King of Portugal Sent ships westward into Atlantic to discover legendary “St. Brendan’s Isles” Discovered the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands
Bartolomeu Dias Portuguese Captain Found a route to the Indies in 1488 Sailed south along the coast of Africa Spice trades with the East Indies Sailed to the tip of Africa: The Cape of Good Hope
Christopher Columbus From Genoa, Italy Shipwrecked in 1476 off coast of Portugal Decided to stay in that country Many voyages Canary Islands, Azores, Cape Verde Islands Wanted to prove that the riches of the East could be gained by sailing West
Funding a Voyage Asked King John II of Portugal to fund voyage Denied Asked Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain They were at war with Muslim kingdom of Granada Plan rejected officially 5 years later, in 1491 Fr. Juan Perez asked them to reconsider Rejected again Queen Isabella changed her mind, would fund expedition
The Great Voyage Begins At this time, sailors sailed close to the shore Afraid of being blown too far off coast, unable to get back Columbus’ expedition to do the exact opposite Set sail from Spain on August 3, 1492 Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria Santa Maria was his flagship All three fairly small
Land Ho! Sailors scared, restless Sept 5: Captain of the Pinta said he saw land No one else saw it, 5 days went by Threat of Mutiny Columbus promised he would return to Spain if no land found in 3 days Land found 3 days later October 12, 1492 San Salvador (Holy Savior)
Exploring New Lands Confusion as to what they actually discovered Indies? The Taino were the native people of San Salvador Unlike the people of the East he was expecting The Taino people of Hispaniola wore gold ornaments, said it could be found on the island Columbus wanted to sail to Spain to tell of the news Crashed the Santa Maria on a reef Taino helped him build a fort until he could regroup Set sail to return 1493
Multiple Voyages Voyage 2 17 ships this time, instead of 3 Told to establish a trading post, get gold, and convert natives Took different route Establishment at Navidad (on Hispaniola) had been destroyed by Taino, as the Spanish had mistreated them Set up settlement of Isabela: settlers only interested in gold Didn’t find East or much gold
Multiple Voyages Voyage 3 1498 Sailed along South America Issues in Hispaniola Chaos breaking out as men were not finding gold and riches as they hoped Felt they had been cheated Columbus arrested and sent back to Spain Charges of mismanagement of colony later dropped Had used the natives for forced labor, contrary to Isabella’s wishes
Multiple Voyages Voyage 4 Charges dropped, Columbus freed to sail Had lost much of his fortune 1502 he set sail again Sailed coast of Central America trying to find passage through Returned to Spain in 1504 Died 1506
Columbus’ Four Voyages
Amerigo Vespucci Part of an expedition to Northern Coast of South America in 1499 Found mouth of the Amazon River Mapmaker His name got attributed to the “New World”, as his maps had the lands listed as part of a new continent Columbus had labeled them part of Asia
Ponce de Leon Fell in love with a younger girl Wanted to be young again so she would love him Sailed for legendary Fountain of Youth Landed in “Bimini” on Easter Sunday, 1513 Named it Florida (Pascua Florida = Flowery Easter) Tried to found a settlement Driven off by natives Died from wound of a poisoned arrow
Vasco Nunez de Balboa Spanish Captain Explored Panama in 1513 Saw new ocean Called it the South Sea Later renamed the Pacific Ocean Clearly separated “Indies” from Asia Showed Columbus had not made it to the Indies after all