The Voyages of Columbus

First Voyage On August 3, 1492, Columbus sailed from Palos, Spain with three small ships; the Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria in search for a sea road to the Indies. Columbus set sail with an experienced crew with competent officers, opposite from what history has told us.

First Voyage The voyage was prosperous with great weather, but the great distance beyond sight of land began to worry some of the crew members. Thus, by the end of September, the crew of the Santa Maria became unhappy. According to the accounts of Columbus’ son Ferdinand, some sailors proposed to throw Columbus overboard and return to Spain with the report that he had fallen in while watching the stars. Columbus managed to calm his men.

First Voyage On October 12, they made landfall at an island in the Bahamas that Columbus named san Salvador. Cruising southward through the Bahamas, Columbus came to the northeast of Cuba. Next, Columbus sailed eastward to the northern coast of an island (present day Dominican Republic and Haiti), which he named “Espanola” (Hispaniola).

Hispaniola Here the Spaniards became happy because they discovered gold ornaments. Since he thought that he had reached the Indies, he called the people Indians. From Hispaniola, he returned to Spain to report his supposed discovery of the Indies.

Columbus First Voyage

Second Voyage Columbus returned to Hispaniola at the end of 1493 with a fleet of 17 ships carrying twelve hundred people, most of the artisans, peasants, and some “caballeros, hidalgos, and other men of worth, drawn by the fame of gold and other wonders of the land.” The settlers soon gave themselves up to gold hunting and preying on indigenous peoples. Columbus lacked the powers and personal qualities needed to control this turbulent mass of fortune hunters.

Second Voyage In 1496, he returned to Spain to report his discoveries and answer charges sent by disgruntled settlers to the court. He left his brother Bartholomew in charge.

Second Voyage

Third Voyage Columbus returned to the New World in On this voyage he landed at Trinidad and the mouths of the Orinoco River. – The river made Columbus conclude that he was on the shores of a continent, but he also believed that the Orinoco River was one of the rivers of Paradise and had its source in the Garden Eden.

Third Voyage Columbus arrived in Hispaniola to find chaos. – The intolerable demands of the greedy Spaniards had provoked the peaceable Taino natives to the point of war. – The Spaniards, disappointed in their hopes of quick wealth, blamed Columbus’ brother for their misfortunes and revolted.

Third Voyage To calm down the rebels, Columbus issued pardons and granted land and native slaves. However, the men were not happy and continue to complain against Columbus. The men sent out an agent named Francisco de Bodadilla, to supersede Columbus and investigate the charges against him.

Third Voyage When Bodadilla arrived to the island of Hispaniola, he seized Columbus and his brother and sent them to Spain in chains. However, Queen Isabella dismissed Bodadilla’s actions. – Columbus never again exercised the functions of viceroy and governor of the New World.

Third Voyage

Fourth Voyage In 1502, Columbus sailed in search of a route to Southern Asia. He crossed the Caribbean to the coast of Central America and followed it to the isthumus of Panama. – In Panama he found some gold. In september 1504, Columbus returned to Europe. In 1506, Columbus died a rich but disillusioned man.

Fourth Voyage

Columbus’ Voyages

Treaty of Tordesillas Spain and Portugal pressed rival claims to the islands Columbus explored. In 1492, Pope Alexander VI stepped in to keep peace. He set a line of Demarcation that divided the non-European world into two zones. – Spain had the right to trade and explore lands west of the line. – Portugal had the same rights east of the line.

In the spring of 1494, after further exploration, the Portuguese grew dissatisfied with the agreement when they realized how much more land Spain had been given. In June of 1494, the line was re-negotiated and the agreement was officially ratified during the meeting in the Spanish town of Tordesillas. The Treaty of Tordesillas re-established the line 370 leagues (1,770km) west of the Cape Verde Islands.

Treaty of Tordesillas