Interesting Facts About Christopher Columbus

The problem with facts about Christopher Columbus is that there are less of them than you might imagine. Much of what you may have learned in school is being revised as historians continue to explore the life of this famous explorer. Even things as simple as his nationality are open for debate.

We do know that Columbus successfully petitioned the king and queen of Spain to receive financing for a trip west across the Atlantic Ocean. It was already common knowledge that the Earth was round by this point, so there is no truth to the persistent rumor that Columbus proved the world is round. Instead, by using the shape of the Earth, Columbus assumed that he could reach India and their valuable spices, teas and cloth by sailing west.

Voyages to India at this time required either a long overland trip across Europe and the Middle East or a long southern trip by ship around the southern tip of Africa. Both paths had their inherent dangers. The overland trip risked being attacked by various bandits and warlords. Going by sea risked dangerous weather and pirates.

Also, it cannot be said that he “discovered” the New World. Millions of people lived in the Western Hemisphere before he arrived. Sailors from Iceland visited North America hundreds of years before Columbus set sail.

Instead, Columbus is now known for opening the New World to trade, exploration and conquest for the European powers. He had a contract with Spain that allowed him to keep ten per cent of any riches he discovered, along with a noble title and governorship of the lands he found.

He kept detailed records of his voyages which discuss not only the wildlife he encountered and the moods of his crew, but also the reasons why he felt he could enslave the native people. He not only enslaved them to build settlements in the Caribbean but also sent 500 slaves to the queen. She rejected his gift as she believed that the people found in the New World were Spanish subjects and could therefore not be made slaves.

His first attempt to form a settlement at Hispaniola ended when he returned on his second voyage to find that the natives had completely destroyed it. He then left his two brothers to rebuild with some of his crew and hundreds of native slaves. On his third trip, he found that the colonists of Hispaniola had staged a bloody revolt over the brutality of his brothers. The Spanish government was forced to send someone else to govern the colony.

The native population after being enslaved and forced to search for gold and work on plantations was nearly wiped out. Within sixty years of Columbus’ first voyage, the native Taino population was reduced from as many as 250,000 people to only a few hundred. Columbus was arrested and returned to Spain in chains.

Columbus managed to avoid persecution for the most serious charges against him but he was stripped of the titles he had received for his explorations and discoveries.

He made one more trip to the New World but storms and angry natives forced him to return home empty-handed. He died in Spain just four years later.

While Columbus was undeniably a great seafarer and navigator and a daring explorer who changed the world, he is also remembered for the changes he began which were devastating to the natives he encountered.

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