history

People in History – a named explorer in the Age of Discovery
Christopher Columbus was born in G_______ in I_______ in the year 14___.  Coming from a port town he developed a love of sailing from an early age. He was particularly inspired by the adventures of another Italian sailor M______ P_____.  He believed that the world was r_______ and was convinced that by sailing w_____ across the A________ Ocean you would reach A_____.
He sought sponsorship for his voyage. He turned first to King John II of Portugal_. However the Portuguese turned Columbus down as they were more interested in finding a sea route to Asia_by going around the bottom of Africa__.  He was also rejected by the King of England_ before finally getting sponsorship from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.
He was given three ships, the Nina the Pinta and the flagship (main ship) the Santa Maria. Columbus was the captain of the Santa Maria while two brothers, Martin and Vincent Pinzon captained the N______ and the P_________. His crew of 90 men included 4 prisoners  released in exchange for going on the voyage.
The crew left Palos  in the south of Spain on the 3rd of August 1492__. After a brief stop in the Canary Islands they headed west across the Atlantic into unchartered territory.
With favourable winds (trade winds) the ship made good speed. Columbus’s crew were nervous. Columbus showed his skills as a captain by telling them of the great riches they would find and by using two different logbooks. One logbook_recorded the actual distance they had travelled, the other a shorter distance to ease their anxieties. To raise morale he also offered a reward to the first person who spotted l_______. Finally with no land in sight and with the crew threatening mutiny he promised to turn back if they didn’t sight land in three days.
On the 11th of October, almost 70 days after leaving Spain, land was sighted and the next day, Columbus went ashore on an island he called San Salvadore. They had reached the islands in the Caribbean but Columbus thought he was in India so he called the natives, Indians.
He spent the following few months exploring the area, discovering Japan, Hispaniola and Cuba. After the Santa Maria was destroyed he left 40 behind on H___________ and headed back to S________ in the Nina. He brought back some parrots, pineapples, maize, a number of natives and some gold. He was greeted as a hero by King F__________ and Queen I__________, they believed he discovered a sea route to the E______.
Columbus made three more voyages to “the Indies.” For his second voyage he had 1,000 men and 17 ships. On his later voyages he discovered, Puerto R_____, Trinidad and the coast of South A________.  He never found the spices and silks that he was hoping for. He was a cruel ruler of the lands he discovered, mistreating and torturing the natives. He was removed from his position as Governor General and brought back to Spain in chains. His discovery brought great riches to European powers but it was a catastrophe for the Native American peoples who would be virtually wiped out by their contacts with European conquerors.  Columbus died in 1506 a bitterly disappointed man.