Columbus Diary Essay Research Paper ColumbusBrief HistoryChristopher

Columbus Diary Essay, Research Paper

Columbus

Brief History:

Christopher Columbus was an Italian-Spanish navigator who

sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a route to Asia

but achieved fame by making landfall, instead, in the Caribbean Sea.

Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. His father was a weaver, and it

is believed that Christopher entered this trade as a young man. In the

mid-1470s he made his first trading voyage to the island of Kh os in

the Aegean Sea. In 1476 he sailed with a convoy bound for England.

Legend has it that the fleet was attacked by pirates off the coast of

Portugal, where Columbus s ship was sunk, but he swam to shore

and took refuge in Lisbon. Settling there, where his brother

Bartholomew Columbus was working as a cartographer, he was

married in 1479 to the daughter of the governor of the island of Porto

Santo. Diego Columbus, the only child of this marriage, was born in

1480. Based on information acquired during his travels, and by

reading and studying charts and maps, Christopher concluded that the

earth was 25 percent smaller than was previously thought, and

composed mostly of land. On the basis of these faulty beliefs, he

decided that Asia could be reached quickly by sailing west. In 1484

he submitted his theories to John II, king of Portugal, petitioning

him to finance a westward crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. His

proposal was rejected by a royal maritime commission because of his

miscalculations. Soon after, Columbus moved to Spain, where his

plans won the support of several influential persons, and he secured an

introduction, in 1486, to Isabella I, queen of Castile. About this

time, Columbus, then a widower, met Beatriz Enriquez, who became

his mistress and the mother of his second son, Ferdinand Columbus.

In Spain, as in Portugal, a royal commission rejected his plan.

Columbus continued to seek support, however, and in April 1492 his

persistence was rewarded: Ferdinand V, king of Castile, and Queen

Isabella agreed to sponsor the expedition. The signed contract

stipulated that Columbus was to become viceroy of all territories he

located; other rewards included a hereditary peerage and one-tenth of

all precious metals found within his jurisdiction.

3August 1492:

I set sail today with high hopes and lofty

expectations. We left shore at 8 o clock and set

our course for the Canary Islands. My three

ships are the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

I am going to make new maps and pay close

attention to the navigation of the voyage. I also

plan to correctly map all that I pass in correct

locations by latitude and longitude. The purpose

of my venture into the seas is to reach the Indies.

24 August 1492:

On the third day of our voyage there were

already signs of sabotage. I believe Gomez

Rascon deliberately caused damage to the Pinta s

rudder. Repairs were made and I am hopeful

that no more trouble will arise. Our course to

the Grand Canary is looking good and we are

making steady progress. I plan to leave the

Pinta there, for she is leaking and needs repairs.

I hope to obtain another ship there. On the 9th

day of August we reached Grand Canary and I

left the Pinta there while the rest of my ships

continued to Gomera where we will wait for the

other ship s arrival. After no word from Grand

Canary we set sail to there to check on the rest of

the crew. On the way we saw a volcano erupt on

a nearby island, many of the men had never seen

anything like it before. I calmed them by telling

them of the many eruptions I had witnessed.

15 September 1492:

It took quite a while to repair the Pinta but

we finally got on the water. We have used up

many supplies during our stay on land. We

obtained more on our way past Gomera. The

waters were calm and halted our progress a

couple of days. I have begun to record less

miles to keep the crew at ease. After we lost

sight of land many men wept because they did not

know when they would next see land. Today we

saw a meteorite fall into the water approximately

12 miles from our location which was taken by

some men to be a bad omen. I quieted their fears

by recounting all the meteorites I have seen with

my own eyes.

19 October 1492:

Crew moral is up and our progress is steady.

Our course was off by a little so we had to

correctly alter our path. I have become aware of

Martin Pinson s independence and I am a little

troubled by it. Due to alleged sightings of land

the crew has grown more irritable than ever.

Some fearing they will not ever get home again.

My feelings of Pinzon are correct for it is he

who wants all the glory and consistently races

aged of

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