Why christopher columbus sailed

La Nina is a climate pattern that describes the cooling of surface ocean water along the tropical west coast of South America.

Thomas with the assistance of the corrupt governor of the island. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Skip to content. Painting by N. Wyeth, courtesy National Geographic. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Background Info Vocabulary.

More Dates in History January. Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. Media If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. Even if you were to overlook the not-so-minor fact that millions of people were already living in North America in , the fact is that Columbus never set foot on our shores.

In fact, October 12 marks the day of his arrival to the Bahamas. While he did reach the coasts of what today are Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as explore the Central and South American coasts, he never unfurled a Spanish flag in North America. Leif Eriksson is the first European believed to have sailed to North America, having reached Canada years before Columbus set sail to the west.

He may never have reached Asia as planned, but one cannot discount the sheer will required to make his journey. At the age of 41, he defied naysayers across Europe and led four voyages across an uncharted ocean in wooden sailing ships that were not designed to take on the punishing waters of the Atlantic. By , most educated Europeans already believed the earth was round. Contrary to the popular myth, Columbus did not set out to prove that the world was round, but rather that it was possible to sail around it, a voyage the explorer drastically underestimated.

Columbus stood to gain significant wealth and power from his voyage, terms he negotiated with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. His contract with the monarchs, called The Capitulations of Santa Fe, named Columbus the admiral, viceroy, and governor of any land he discovered. Columbus may indeed have had noble intentions when he sailed west, but his agreement with Spain suggests his intentions were far from selfless.

When Columbus first set foot on Hispaniola, he encountered a population of Indigenous peoples called the Taino. A friendly group, they willingly traded jewelry, animals, and supplies with the sailors. They should be good servants. Today, Columbus has a controversial legacy —he is remembered as a daring and path-breaking explorer who transformed the New World, yet his actions also unleashed changes that would eventually devastate the native populations he and his fellow explorers encountered.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Columbus Day is a U. It was unofficially celebrated in a number of cities and states as early as the 18th century, but did not become a More than years after he "discovered" the New World—kicking off centuries of exploration and colonization of the Americas—Christopher Columbus is honored with a federal holiday on the second Monday of every October.

However, as historians have continued to dig into the life Christopher Columbus has long been exalted as a heroic figure in American history: the first explorer to establish a European presence in the New World. Americans have celebrated his arrival as far back as , the th anniversary of his landing.

But it would take almost Forget those myths perpetuated by everyone from Washington Irving to Bugs Bunny. There was no need for Columbus to debunk the flat-earthers—the ancient Greeks had already done so.

As early as the sixth century B. In search of fame and fortune, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan c. En route he discovered what is now known as the Strait of Magellan and became the The story of North American exploration spans an entire millennium and involves a wide array of European powers and uniquely American characters.

A decade later, he was serving as governor of the eastern province of Hispaniola when he decided to explore a nearby island, which became John Cabot or Giovanni Caboto, as he was known in Italian was an Italian explorer and navigator who may have developed the idea of sailing westward to reach the riches of Asia while working for a Venetian merchant. Though the exact details of his life and expeditions are the Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you.