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All About Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)
Learn about the explorer's early life, his fateful trip, and his later voyages.
Christopher Columbus was an Italian-born navigator who sailed in the service of
Spain. He is commonly described as the discoverer of the New World —
America. Although Columbus was in search of a westward route to Asia by sea,
the discoveries he did make were more important and valuable than the route he
failed to find. It is certain, however, that Columbus was not the first European to
cross the Atlantic. Documentary evidence supports claims that the Vikings
reached the New World about A.D. 1000. And there is good circumstantial
evidence, though no documentation, to suggest that both Portuguese and
English fishing vessels made the crossing during the 14th century; they probably
landed in Newfoundland and Labrador. Columbus, though he sailed a different
route, followed many Europeans who earlier had crossed the Atlantic.
The Man: Columbus's Early Life
The best available evidence suggests that Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo
Colombo in Italian; Cristóbal Colón in Spanish) was born in Genoa in 1451. His
father was a weaver. Christopher had at least two brothers. The boy had little
education; he learned to read and write only as an adult. He went to sea, as did
many Genoese boys, and voyaged in the Mediterranean. In 1476 he was
shipwrecked off Portugal, found his way ashore, and went to Lisbon. He
apparently traveled to Ireland and England and later claimed to have gone as far
as Iceland. Columbus was in Genoa in 1479. Returning to Portugal, he got
married; however, he soon lost his wife, Dona Felipa, shortly after his son, Diego,
was born (c.1480).
By this time Columbus had become interested in westward voyages. He had
learned of the legendary Atlantic Ocean voyages and sailors' reports of land to
the west of the Madeira Islands and the Azores. Acquiring books and maps,
Columbus accepted Marco Polo's erroneous location for Japan — 2,400 km
(1,500 mi) east of China. In addition, he accepted Ptolemy's underestimation of
the circumference of the Earth and overestimation of the size of the Eurasian
landmass. He came to believe that Japan was about 3,000 mi to the west of
Portugal — a distance that could be sailed in existing vessels. In 1484,
Columbus sought support for an exploratory voyage from King John II of
Portugal, but he was refused. The Portuguese also underestimated the distance
but believed it to be beyond the capabilities of existing ships.
In 1485, Columbus took his son and went to Spain; there he spent almost seven
years trying to get support from Isabella I of Spain. He was received at court,
given a small annuity, and quickly gained both friends and enemies. An
apparently final refusal in 1492 made Columbus prepare to go to France, but a
final appeal to Isabella proved successful. An agreement between the queen and
Columbus set the terms for the expedition.
The First Voyage
The Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa María were outfitted in the minor port of
Palos. Columbus was aided in recruiting a crew by two brothers — Martín Alonso
Pinzón, who received command of the Pinta, and his younger brother Vicente
Yáñez Pinzón, who commanded the Niña. They left Palos on Aug. 3, 1492;
rerigged the Niña in the Canary Islands; and sailed to the west. Landfall was
made on the morning of Oct. 12, 1492; it was an island in the Bahamas that
Columbus named San Salvador.
In December they sailed east to Hispaniola, where, at Christmas, the Santa
María was wrecked near Cap-Haïtien. Columbus got his men ashore. The
Indians seemed friendly; therefore 39 men were left on the island at the
settlement of Navidad while Columbus returned to Spain on the Niña. He had
sailed due west from the Canaries with favorable winds; now he sailed north
before heading east and so again found favorable winds. Martín Alonso Pinzón,
who had explored on his own with the Pinta, rejoined Columbus, but the ships
were separated at sea. Columbus finally landed (March 1493) in Lisbon and was
interviewed by John II. Then he went to Palos and across Spain to Barcelona;
there he was welcomed by Isabella and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon.
Columbus claimed to have reached islands just off the coast of Asia and brought
with him artifacts, Indians, and some gold.
Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid on May 20, 1506, while pressing his
claims at court. He still believed that he had reached Asia. Columbus's real
greatness lies in the fact that having found the West Indies — making major
errors in his navigational computations and location in doing so — he was able to
find his way back to Europe and return to the Indies. It is as a result of
Columbus's "discovery" that the New World became part of the European world.
The Legend: Who Was Columbus?
As the 400th anniversary of the historic voyage approached, authors were willing
to take a less laudatory view. Justin Winsor's balanced biography, published in
1892, dealt with Columbus's overwhelming desire for fame and fortune, his
misrepresentations of what he had found across the ocean, and his poor
leadership in the Indies.
His image, manipulated for over two centuries to support American traditions,
now became appropriated by critics of American policies. Supporters of Native
Americans accused Columbus of initiating centuries of genocide toward the
indigenous populations, even though it was disease that caused most of the
demographic decline. Environmental activists sought to depict him as beginning
a never-ending desecration of the supposedly pristine environment of the
Americas, even though geographers and other scholars recognized the extensive
human alterations made to the American landscape before 1492.
Columbus's attempt to reach Asia from Europe in 1492 failed, but from it
developed increasingly complex global ties. The ultimate consequence, whether
one celebrates or deplores it, is the interconnected modern world.