Evgenia antipova biography of christopher columbus

Also Read: Accomplishments of John Cabot. His expeditions opened up direct trade routes between Europe and the Americas, bypassing the previously dominant overland routes through the Middle East. The discovery of new lands and resources in the Americas sparked a surge in trade between the two continents. European merchants eagerly sought valuable commodities from the New World, such as gold, silver, tobacco, sugar, and exotic goods.

This trade between Europe and the Americas led to economic growth, the establishment of trade networks, and the rise of powerful trading companies, ultimately shaping the development of global trade in the centuries that followed. Upon arriving in the New World, Columbus encountered various indigenous societies with diverse languages, customs, and belief systems.

This encounter led to the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and technologies between the two cultures. Europeans introduced new crops, animals, and technologies to the Americas, while indigenous peoples shared their knowledge of local resources, navigation, and agricultural practices. However, this exchange was not without conflict and the detrimental effects of colonization, including the introduction of diseases and the displacement of indigenous populations.

Nonetheless, this cultural exchange has left a lasting impact on both sides and has influenced art, language, cuisine, and various aspects of contemporary American and European cultures. He was rejected each time. Their focus was on a war with the Muslims, and their nautical experts were skeptical, so they initially rejected Columbus.

The idea, however, must have intrigued the monarchs, because they kept Columbus on a retainer. Columbus continued to lobby the royal court, and soon, the Spanish army captured the last Muslim stronghold in Granada in January Shortly thereafter, the monarchs agreed to finance his expedition. On October 12,after 36 days of sailing westward across the Atlantic, Columbus and several crewmen set foot on an island in present-day Bahamas, claiming it for Spain.

There, his crew encountered a timid but friendly group of natives who were open to trade with the sailors. They exchanged glass beads, cotton balls, parrots, and spears. The Europeans also noticed bits of gold the natives wore for adornment. Columbus and his men continued their journey, visiting the islands of Cuba which he thought was mainland China and Hispaniola now Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which Columbus thought might be Japan and meeting with the leaders of the native population.

During this time, the Santa Maria was wrecked on a reef off the coast of Hispaniola. Thirty-nine men stayed behind to occupy the settlement. Convinced his exploration had reached Asia, he set sail for home with the two remaining ships. Returning to Spain inColumbus gave a glowing but somewhat exaggerated report and was warmly received by the royal court.

InColumbus took to the seas on his second expedition and explored more islands in the Caribbean Ocean. Upon arrival at Hispaniola, Columbus and his crew discovered the Navidad settlement had been destroyed with all the sailors massacred. Spurning the wishes of the local queen, Columbus established a forced labor policy upon the native population to rebuild the settlement and explore for gold, believing it would be profitable.

His efforts produced small amounts of gold and great hatred among the native population. Before returning to Spain, Columbus left his brothers Bartholomew and Giacomo to govern the settlement on Hispaniola and sailed briefly around the larger Caribbean islands, further convincing himself he had discovered the outer islands of China. The Spanish Crown sent a royal official who arrested Columbus and stripped him of his authority.

He returned to Spain in chains to face the royal court. The charges were later dropped, but Columbus lost his titles as governor of the Indies and, for a time, much of the riches made during his voyages. After convincing King Ferdinand that one more voyage would bring the abundant riches promised, Columbus went on his fourth and final voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in His evgenia antipova biography of christopher columbus marked a pivotal moment in history, as he became the first European to make contact with the Americas.

His landfall in the Bahamas not only opened the door to further exploration but also signaled the start of European colonization in the New World. Columbus' voyages prompted significant exchanges of culture and goods, now referred to as the Columbian Exchange, fundamentally altering global trade and interaction. However, Columbus faced numerous challenges during and after his expeditions.

Despite his initial acclaim, his governance of the settlements he established was marred by poor leadership and harsh treatment of Indigenous peoples, resulting in conflict and resistance. Subsequent voyages revealed the stark realities of colonial exploitation and the devastating impact of introduced diseases on native populations. Compounded by mismanagement, complaints from settlers led to his arrest and loss of authority, showcasing the difficulties of sustaining exploration efforts in the face of political and social obstacles.

Ultimately, Columbus' legacy is a complex tapestry—a journey of exploration intertwined with the consequences of colonization and the suffering of Indigenous cultures. Christopher Columbus's voyages in the late 15th century opened the Americas to European exploration and colonization, fundamentally altering the course of both European and Indigenous civilizations.

His expeditions marked the beginning of extensive transatlantic exchange, known as the Columbian Exchange. This exchange involved not only the transfer of goods but also the sharing of cultures, ideas, and, unfortunately, diseases. The arrival of Europeans led to the introduction of horses, wheat, and coffee to the Americas while crops like potatoes and corn became integral to European diets, significantly impacting agricultural practices on both sides of the Atlantic.

However, the legacy of Columbus is complex and controversial. While his discoveries contributed to the rapid expansion of European power, they also resulted in significant suffering and destruction for Indigenous populations. The introduction of Old World diseases like smallpox devastated native communities, effectively decimating their populations.

As a result, the once vibrant cultures of Indigenous peoples were irrevocably altered, leading to loss of identity and heritage. His exact routes across different places and the places where he made his landings are a matter of hectic debates in coming to concrete conclusions about the specific details of his expeditions. Most historians are however in consensus about his landmark achievements and the pivotal role he played in connecting the old worlds of Africa, Asia, and Europe and the new world comprising of the Americas and its peripheral islands.

Columbus is most revered for having found the routes that enabled connectivity between the new and old worlds that had till then hardly known about each other. The new routes discovered by him later became infamous on account of the destructive impacts they had on the explorers who ventured out in later years as also on millions of people who were inhabitants of the Americas.

He is also held responsible for the proliferation and expansion of the slave trade in later years. Most historians agree that Columbus was born in in Genoa, a city in Italy. Since his young days he had an earnest desire in sailing and was forever on the lookout to know of the adventurous explorations of the likes of Marco Polo who had traveled to faraway places such as Asia and returned with gold, silk and spices in expanding the potential for business amongst European traders.

Evgenia antipova biography of christopher columbus

He was much fascinated with Marco Polo who had managed to travel across Europe to India in reaching the far East, and it was in this context that the idea was born in him to discover a shorter and faster route to Asia by traveling towards the west, so as to gain popularity and to be in the good books of the monarchs in Europe. It was believed during the period that the world was flat and Columbus took on himself the task of proving this belief to be wrong.

However, most sailors of that period had the experience of concluding that the world was not flat but round. During the time, makers of maps and navigators would argue about the actual size of Earth, and it was in this context that Columbus was proved to be wrong since he was always trying to portray the world as being much smaller than what other navigators believed it to be.

Because of such unreasonable logic being given by Columbus, most of his contemporaries had valid doubts about his ability to make his journey to Asia by traveling towards the west. They had the idea that such a journey would just be too long and very difficult to travel across the massive span of the ocean that is now called the Atlantic Ocean.

Moreover, most people did not incline that it was the Americas that existed between Europe and Asia if one traveled westwards. It was Ferdinand and Isabella, the King and Queen of Spain respectively, who consented to provide finance to Columbus for his travels to the faraway places. This was primarily because the trade and business in Spain had started to suffer severe setbacks and there was hope in the event of Columbus discovering new routes and new lands, which would imply that Spain would get the power to control such new trade routes to the Far East in exploiting the immense gains to be achieved from such ventures.

Columbus made his preparations and started his voyage in the year After having sailed across the sea for about ten weeks, he made his landfall in the islands of the Bahamas.