Columbus
Columbus is credited with the discovery of America. By Federal law we now celebrate Columbus
Day on the first Monday of October, but Columbus never really realized he had discovered a new
country.
Christopher Columbus, was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. He loved the sea and became a
sailor at the age of fifteen years. Growing up, he had heard stories of Marco Polo and the
Far East. Even though the rest of the world believed the world was flat, Columbus thought the
world was round. He also knew that Europeans depended on the Far East for items like silk, gems
and rare spices, but obtaining these luxuries was difficult and costly because of the long land
route that had to traveled to the orient and back again, so Columbus decided to sail west in
order to find a short route to the Far East.
Columbus first to went King Henry of Portugal to ask for ships and money needed for his exploration, but King Henry didn't believe that Columbus could make it to the east by going
west, so he denied Columbus' request. Columbus didn't give up, though. Instead, he went to Spain and asked King Ferdinand and Queen Isabelle for ships, men, and money. The Queen said yes, but because
there was a war going on at that time, she told him he would have to wait until the war was
over.
Columbus waited patiently until the war ended in 1492. Then Queen Isabelle gave Columbus
three ships, 90 men, and the money he needed for his trip. On the third of August, 1942,
Columbus set sail with the three ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. These ships
were nothing like the modern ocean liners that sail the oceans today. These little ships were
made of wood and were very uncomfortable on long voyages. The ships had no sophisticated navigational
devices, so Columbus had to navigate by using the stars and the moon. Columbus and his crew
sailed to the Canary islands where they took on fresh supplies before heading for the open
seas.
Columbus and his three ships had been at sea for about four weeks when the
crew began to get worried. No one had ever been at sea for that long without seeing land and
the sailors were afraid they would die at sea. Columbus had to be strong in the face of a
possible mutiny. He told his men that if they did not see land in three days, they would
turn back. He also offered a reward to the first man to spot land.
On the thirty-fifth day, they saw birds. That was a very good sign because
birds do not fly to far away from land. Then at about 2 a.m., a sailor on the Pinta sighted
land. On the morning of October 12, 1492, the men went ashore on the island that they named
San Salvador. San Salvador is the island where Haiti and The Dominican Republic are today.
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