Columbus Who was he?

Who was Columbus? He was an Italian As a young man he sailed from Iceland to West Africa He called Asia the “Indies”, as did most Europeans He was interested in making money He thought the world was small and round He thought he could get to Asia by sailing west. His first trip to the Americas took 33 days.

Many thought his plan was risky Some thought more the 10,000 miles (actual circumference of Earth about 3950 miles) separated Europe from China. Columbus thought it was even smaller! It would be too hard to go so far because crews would need food and water to last for months Columbus thought the Atlantic Ocean was much smaller

Columbus needs money He goes to many European kings and queens, asking for money Finally, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain agree to fund the trip They wanted to compete the Portugal If he succeeded, they told him to bring back everything he found and claim any lands for Spain….

The trip, cont. Columbus left August 3, 1492 He took three ships (Names?) He took 90 sailors and a year’s worth of food and drink They sailed beyond the maps After a month, the crew began to go crazy Finally on Day 33 – Land was seen!

Define the terms

Columbus in the Bahamas He believed he was on an island off the coast of China Called the people Indians because he thought he was in the Indies – (China) Met the native Tainos, but really only interested in finding gold! After about a 2 months he decided to go back to Spain! He crashed his ship on a coral reef and decided to leave 40 of his men behind.

Back in Spain He crossed back to Spain in January He brought back treasures and Tainos Isabella was horrified at this! She wanted to convert them to Catholicism.. Columbus took more trips, became the first European to see S.Amer. and kept enslaving the Taino. In 1506 he died, “unnoticed and unsung”

Columbus Questions Line of Demarcation (page 42) Treaty of Tordesillas (page 42) Answer questions 4(a. and b.) on page 43. Look at Chapter 2.2 for information to answer these questions.