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=Christopher Columbus = By Andy Woodruff, Will Johnson, Charlie Ackley, and Justin Harmon

Explorers Questions:

Christopher Columbus was the eldest son in a family of weavers from Genoa, Italy. His hometown Genoa was a thriving seaport that was a large hub of culture and trade. He was motivated by the Renaissance in the fifteen hundreds which drove his ambition for his raise from modest home to one of the greatest explorers. Christopher studied astronomy, geography, and cosmology as a young man. All of these skills that he studied became useful later on in his voyages at sea. He grew up in lower/middle class family and had hard time making ends meet. He married Felipa Perestrello Moniz and had a son Deigo. Soon after Felipa gave birth to Deigo she died. As a young boy at 14 he worked as a ship's agent for a wealthy family. As a young man Christopher went on several voyages around the Mediterrranean coast and by the time he was 26 he had been far south as the island of Maderia (in between portugal and Morocco). He was a devoted Christian, and believed that he was an instrument of God the almighty and God had given him a specific task.

"It took perseverance and driving ambition for him to rise from modest origins and becomone onn of the greatest explores of all time" (pg 6)

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 // Nathan, Melissa. // Christoper Columbus //. Edgware, U.K: World Almanac Library, 2004. Print. page 6-9//

When did they sail?
Columbus left on his first voyage in the beginning of August, 1492. Columbus departed from Spain and arrived on San Salvador, to the west of Morocco. He later explored Cuba. Then the Santa Maria crashed and in 1493, causing Colombus delay in his return home. Colombus lived and sailed home on another ship, but his crew member were not so lucky. He sailed under the flag of Portugal for the first time but then sailed for Spain. He was Italian but he did not sail for Italy because they thought it was too risky and there was too little of a chance of success.

"Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World." (pg 11)

Collier, James Lincoln. Christopher Columbus: to the New World//. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2007. Print.// (pg 9)

Where did they go?
Columbus set sail west to find a quicker route to Asia on August 3rd, 1492 from Palo in south west Spain. He first spotted land (modern day Watlings Island, today it is one of the Bahamas) and named it San Salvador. Columbus quickly left and sailed with his fleet of ships and continued south west, sailing along the north coast of Cuba and Haiti which he named Hispaniola. Columbus finally landed the Santa Maria on the Haitian coast. Columbus named this La Navidad thinking it was India. It must of been tough for Columbus when he discovered La Navidad because it would not have looked like India. Later this are was recognized as not being India, at which point it was named the 'new world'.

"Once underway, Columbus benefited from calm seas and steady winds that pushed him steadily westward (Columbus had discovered the southern "Trades" that in the future would fuel the sailing ships carrying goods to the New World). However, the trip was long, longer than anticipated by either Columbus or his crew." (pg 1)

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">// "Christopher Columbus Discovers America, 1492." //EyeWitness to History - History through the Eyes of Those Who Lived It //. Ibis Communications, Inc, 2004. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm>.// <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Why did they go?
<span style="color: #ff002b; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">Columbus was sent to the Americas (Indies) by the Portugese to discover gold and establish power for Portugal. However, Columbus could find the gold alone; he need the native's help. The natives did not prove to be helpful, so Colombus never found any gold. What Colombus did, was a passionate love for the ocean, and a whole new world. This new world proved to be crucial for Spain's power.

<span style="color: #ff002b; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">"Columbus's main aim was to find gold. To do so, he had to rely on information supplied by the Native people. He failed to find the huge quantities he had been led to expect were mined in the region." (pg 9)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">// Columbus, Christopher, and Robert Henderson. Fuson. //The Log of Christopher Columbus//. Camden, Me.: International Marine Pub., 1987. Print. (pg 9)//

What happened as they were sailing and when they landed?
Life on the voyage was poor. There were inaccurate charts, filthy conditions, and crowded sleeping courters. The whole time on his voyage Columbus kept a daily journal to present to his patrons, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabell. The log provided valuable historical documentation of life onboard the ship, and it showed that Columbus took his task very seriously. Many tasks had to be carried out every day onboard ship. The captian was responsible for running the ship, the pilot and master were in charge of navigation and the crew. Once Colombus docked, he ran into some issues. His crew members disobeyed Colombus, and strayed from camp. Many of them killed and raped the natives.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Nathan, Melissa. //Christoper Columbus//. Edgware, U.K: Wordl Almanac Library, 2004. Print. page 14-17. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2007. Print. (pg 12)