Where did Christopher Columbus decide that he had sailed? Discovery of America by Columbus: history, facts, mysteries. Columbus discovered America
Christopher ("Bearer of Christ") Columbus discovered America, what a pity! It would be better if he swam past, such a little in fate!
History does have a subjunctive mood, and the assessment of any event is ambiguous and controversial. Here is the wonderful “Parable - Hell or Heaven” (cause-and-effect relationships and their analysis) proof of this.
American satirist Mark Twain said that “October 12 is the day of the discovery of America. It is wonderful that America was discovered, but it would be much more wonderful if Columbus sailed by.”
When I was a child, they chanted the song “Columbus discovered America, you fool, he better open a pub on our street!”
There would be no Evil Empire now - the United States of America. posing a threat to life for all humanity. The USA is ruled by madmen from London and Washington, who are ready to do anything to achieve their inhuman goals.
By the way, the Jewish people can be proud of their fellow tribesman-discoverer: Columbus was a baptized Jew, which Vladimir Vladimirovich...Mayakovsky had no doubt about. But whether Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic or an Ashkenazi, this question can be answered by our well-known Jewish scholar on the site Anton Blagin, a northern (Hyperborean) writer, a member of the Union of Writers of Russia.
The triumph of Columbus, which easily could not have happened
As the caravel crew moved out into the ocean, Columbus was overcome by fear of the unknown. The sailors began to grumble more and more.
Santa Maria, Pinta, Niña - schooners on which Columbus's expedition discovered America
It took three months to equip Columbus's squadron for the West Indies. On August 3, 1492, two caravels sailed from Palos harbor, the Pinta and the Niña, captained by Alonso Pinzón and his brother Vincente Yáñez, and a third slightly larger ship, the Santa Maria, captained by Christopher Columbus himself.
First voyage (August 3, 1492 - March 15, 1493). The flotilla team consisted of only 100 people.
Replica of Columbus's ship "Santa Maria"
The start of the voyage was successful and the wind was fair. The squadron stopped at one of the Azores islands to repair the damaged Pinta; it took a month. In order not to arouse anxiety among the sailors, Columbus hid from them the true extent of the distance traveled. In the tables that he showed to his companions, he put numbers less than the actual ones, and noted the real numbers only in his journal, which he did not show to anyone. The weather was good. The squadron sailed for 34 days, seeing nothing but sea and sky. The sailors began to worry.
The magnetic needle changed its direction and began to deviate from the pole further to the west than in the parts of the sea not far from Europe and Africa. This increased the fear of the sailors; it seemed that the voyage was leading them to places where influences unknown to them dominated. Columbus tried to calm them down, explaining that the change in the direction of the magnetic needle is created by a change in the position of the ships relative to the polar star.
A fair east wind carried the ships in the second half of September along a calm sea, in some places covered with green sea plants. The constancy in the direction of the wind increased the anxiety of the sailors: they began to think that in those places there was never any other wind, and that they would not be able to sail in the opposite direction. Christopher Columbus's squadron sailed through that part of the ocean, which later became known as the Sea of Grass; this continuous vegetative shell of water seemed to be a sign of the proximity of earth.
The ships traveled through this strange body of water for three weeks. This is how the Sargasso Sea was discovered. The grumbling of the ship's crew threatened to develop into an open riot. October 7 - at the request of the team, believing that Japan had been “slipped through”, the ships changed course to the west-southwest.
A flock of birds circling over the ships increased the hope that land was close. Seeing a cloud on the edge of the horizon in the northwest direction at sunset on September 25, the participants in Columbus’s first voyage mistook it for an island; but the next morning it turned out that they were mistaken. It is quite possible to assume that the sailors could have plotted to force Columbus to return under the threat of mutiny.
Columbus reassured his sailors with promises, threats, reminders of the power given to him by the queen, and behaved firmly and calmly; this was enough for the sailors not to disobey him. He promised a lifelong pension of 30 gold coins to the first person to see the land. Therefore, the sailors who were on the mars several times gave signals that the earth was visible, and when it turned out that the signals were erroneous, the crews of the ships were overcome by despondency.
To stop these disappointments, Columbus said that whoever gives an erroneous signal about land on the horizon loses the right to receive a pension, even after actually seeing the first land.
Discovery of America by Columbus
At the beginning of October, signs of the proximity of land intensified. Flocks of small colorful birds circled over the ships and flew to the southwest; plants floated on the water, clearly not sea, but terrestrial, but still retaining freshness, showing that they had recently been washed away from the earth by the waves; a tablet and a carved stick were caught. The sailors took a direction somewhat south; the air was fragrant, like spring in Andalusia.
On a clear night on October 11, Columbus noticed a moving light in the distance, so he ordered the sailors to look carefully and promised, in addition to the previous reward, a silk camisole to the one who would be the first to see the land. At 2 o'clock in the morning on October 12, Pinta's sailor saw the outline of the cape in the moonlight and with a joyful cry: “Land! Earth!" rushed to the cannon to fire a signal shot. But then the award for the discovery was awarded to Columbus himself, who had previously seen the light.
At dawn, the ships sailed to the shore, and Christopher Columbus, in the scarlet garb of an admiral, with the Castilian banner in his hand, entered the land he had discovered. It was an island that the natives called Guanagani, and Columbus named it San Salvador in honor of the Savior (later it was called Watling). The island was covered with beautiful meadows and forests, and its inhabitants were naked and dark copper in color; their hair was straight, not curly; their body was painted in bright colors.
They greeted the foreigners timidly, respectfully, imagining that they were children of the sun who had descended from the sky, and, not understanding anything, they watched and listened to the ceremony by which Columbus took their island into possession of the Castilian crown. They gave away expensive things for beads, bells, and foil. Thus began the discovery of America.
In the next days of his voyage, Christopher Columbus discovered several more small islands belonging to the Bahamas archipelago. He named one of them the Island of the Immaculate Conception (Santa Maria de la Concepcion), another Fernandina (this is the current island of Echuma), the third Isabella; gave others new names of this kind. He believed that the archipelago he discovered on this first voyage lies in front of the eastern coast of Asia, and that from there it is not far to Jipangu (Japan) and Cathay (China), described by Marco Polo and drawn on the map by Paolo Toscanelli.
Traveling further to the southwest, Columbus discovered the large island of Cuba on October 26, and on December 6, a beautiful island that resembled Andalusia with its forests, mountains and fertile plains. Because of this similarity, Columbus named it Hispaniola. The natives called it Haiti. The luxurious vegetation of Cuba and Haiti confirmed the Spaniards' belief that this is an archipelago neighboring India. No one then suspected the existence of the great continent of America.
But on his first voyage, Christopher Columbus did not reach the American mainland. Columbus considered it necessary to stop sailing and return from the shores of Cuba to Europe, because Alonso Pinzon, the head of one of the caravels, secretly sailed away from the admiral's ship. He was a proud and hot-tempered man, he wanted to gain the merit of discovering a land rich in gold, and to take advantage of its treasures alone. His caravel sailed away from Columbus's ship on November 20 and never returned. Columbus assumed that he sailed to Spain to take credit for the discovery.
A month later (December 24), the ship Santa Maria, through the negligence of a young helmsman, landed on a sandbank and was broken by the waves. Columbus had only one caravel left. Before Christopher Columbus sailed to Europe, Alonso Pinzon returned to him. Together they sailed along the coast of Hispaniola and in the Gulf of Samana they found the warlike Siguayo tribe, which entered into battle with them. This was the first hostile encounter between the Spaniards and the natives. From the shores of Hispaniola, Columbus and Pinson sailed to Europe on January 16, 1493. After this, there were three more voyages of Columbus to the West Indies.
The return journey was less favorable for the discoverers. In mid-February they were subjected to a strong storm, which their ships, already quite badly damaged, could hardly withstand. The Pint was blown north by the storm. Columbus and other travelers sailing on the Niña lost sight of her. Columbus felt great anxiety at the thought that the Pinta had sunk; his ship could also easily have perished, and in that case, information about his discoveries would not have reached Europe.
The storm still continued, and Columbus came up with a means for information about his discovery to reach Europe in the event of the loss of the Niña. He wrote on parchment a short story about his voyage and the lands he found, rolled up the parchment, covered it with a wax coating to protect it from water, put the package in a barrel, and wrote on the barrel that whoever finds it and delivers it to the Queen of Castile will receive 1000 ducats reward, and threw him into the sea.
Finally, with a dangerous adventure in the Azores with the Portuguese on March 4, 1493, Christopher Columbus's ship reached Cape Sintra and entered the mouth of the Tagus River. The sailors of the Belem harbor, where Columbus landed, said that his salvation was a miracle, that in the memory of people there had never been such a strong storm that it sank 25 large merchant ships sailing from Flanders.
Columbus was in mortal danger in Portugal itself. Its king, John II, was jealous of the amazing discovery, which eclipsed all the discoveries of the Portuguese and, as it seemed then, took away from them the benefits of trade with India, which they wanted to achieve thanks to Vasco da Gama's discovery of the route around Africa. The king's nobles were looking for a reason to kill the brave navigator, but the king defended him.
On March 15, Christopher Columbus sailed to Palos; the residents of the city greeted him with delight. His first voyage lasted seven and a half months.
Together with Columbus, the natives who the navigator brought with him arrived in Europe - they began to be called Indians. Caravels brought potatoes, corn, tobacco to Spain - unprecedented products from another continent. Only during the second expedition was America discovered - in 1493, when the shores of a new land were reached - Colombia, which bears the name of the navigator. Thus, the country of Colombia was named after Columbus, but not the new continent. The thing is. that Amerigo Vespucci, a merchant and participant in a maritime expedition to the shores of South America, was the first to suggest that the new continent was not Asia, but an unknown land.
The enterprising businessman did not hesitate to inform cartographers and the “powers of this world” about his guess in letters. In 1506, an atlas was published in France, where the new land was indicated, and it bore the name Amerigo. A little later, a division into the Central and Northern parts appeared. And when everyone already realized that the new lands that had been discovered were not Asia at all. that is, the East Indies, Admiral of the Sea-Ocean Columbus was the only person who, until his death, was convinced that it was the West Indies and nothing else.
And before Christopher Columbus, ships moored to the shores of America. This is not fiction, but a long-proven fact. We can assume that America was discovered by the Norwegian Vikings, and this happened several centuries before the first expedition of the great navigator. The sites of brave warriors were found on the territory of modern Canada.
Another version, not without foundation, says that America was discovered by the Templars. The Knights of the Order, founded back in 1118, constantly made pilgrimages around the world on their ships. During one of their wanderings they landed on the shores of a new continent.
Interesting fact. It was the Templar fleet that served as the basis of the world pirate flotilla. The flag that is familiar to everyone is a black cloth with a skull and crossbones - the battle banner of the knights of the ancient Order. If we do not take into account the fact that it was after several trips to the shores of an unknown continent that the Order’s treasury was significantly replenished, then we can turn to more significant evidence. In the small town of Roslyn (near Edinburgh) there is an ancient chapel.
Among the images that decorate its walls are drawings of maize and aloe - typical representatives of the flora of the American continent. The construction of the chapel was completed long before Columbus discovered America. http://umniku.ru/strany/otkryt...
In major historical events, the role of His Majesty Chance is simply enormous. There are dozens and even hundreds of different options for the occurrence of this or that historical event and even more unaccounted factors influencing them. And so Fortune, having fun, throws the dice and by chance the known option falls out of many possible ones. So, Columbus could simply simply not reach the shores of America because of storms and shipwrecks, because of a mutinous crew that could kill their captain. Some of the sailors could have been killed by the natives, and their ships could have been burned. The remainder would remain on American soil forever.
And the way back was not at all easy or safe. Columbus and his crew were almost exterminated in the Azores by the Portuguese, as their competitors, where they ended up fleeing a storm. This is how the subjunctive factor for History could work. But that would be a completely different story.
From school, I remember huge posters and teacher stories about how and by whom America was discovered. But Columbus sailed there more than once, but somehow no attention was focused on this. In general, I had to find out everything on my own.
Who is Christopher Columbus
I don’t think there are those who don’t know this, but I’ll still briefly tell you about this man. So, he was born in 1451 in the territory of modern Corsica. Almost nothing is known about his childhood and early years, as well as the origins of his family. Since Columbus did not ignore the works of the philosophers of Ancient Greece, in which the Earth appeared as a sphere, he was inspired by a new idea: in order to reach the shores of India, one must head not to the east, but, on the contrary, to the west. It must be said that by this time Christopher was already an experienced sailor and an admirer of geography. In general, he shared the idea with the merchants, but they were not ready to pay for the crazy idea. He turned to the King of Portugal, but the scientific council laughed at the Genoese, and he decided to go to Spain. There, although it was not easy, he found the support of the royal couple, and already in 1492 he set off.
Columbus's voyages to the shores of America
So, the first lasted 4 years, and, as you know, culminated in the discovery of new lands. Further expeditions were undertaken:
- 1493-1496 - 20 ships and 2 thousand people accompanied him this time. Not surprising, because the goods that were delivered after the first time more than covered the costs. Jamaica and the Lesser Antilles were discovered.
- 1498-1500 - this time there were 5 ships, and the main goal of the expedition was to search for the “yellow metal”. Trinidad was discovered.
- 1502-1504 - the coast of Central America was reached. An extremely unsuccessful voyage; moreover, Columbus and the rest of the crew were evacuated by ship, which they had to pay for out of their own pocket.
As you can see, 4 voyages were made, but the study of the mainland lasted for centuries. The surprising thing is that until his death the Genoese firmly believed that he had paved a new path to Asia.
Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) was the famous navigator who made the official discovery of America. Made the first voyage from Europe across the Atlantic Ocean to the Southern Hemisphere to the shores of Central America. He discovered the Sargasso and Caribbean Seas, the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles, and part of the coast of South and Central America. Founded the first colony in the New World in Haiti and Saint-Domingue.
The key figure of the era of great geographical discoveries is, of course, Christopher Columbus, and it is quite natural that it was he who primarily attracted the attention of historical geographers literally from the first days that followed his discoveries. It would seem that everything connected with the life and activities of this person should have long been known and appreciated. Nevertheless, almost all the facts relating to his youth and stay in Portugal are controversial. His contribution to the cause of geographical discoveries is also assessed differently. There are polar opposite opinions, and some researchers even argue that most of the traditional stories about him are simply fiction and cannot be taken into account.
Christopher Columbus (the Spaniards called him Cristobal Colon) was born around 1451 in Genoa into the family of a wool weaver. Although the prosaic occupation of his father and relatives had nothing to do with long voyages, Columbus was powerfully attracted by the sea from childhood. Genoa was a great maritime republic, its port quarters crowded with sailors and traders from all over the world. The threads of governance of the wealthy city converged in the hands of large merchant and banking houses, which owned hundreds of merchant ships sailing from Genoa to all corners of the world.
Even in his youth, Columbus refused to follow in his father's footsteps. He became a cartographer. At approximately the age of 25, the Genoese came to Portugal. Fascinated by the bold undertakings of the Portuguese, who sought to find a new route to India bypassing Africa, he thought a lot about this, studying Italian and Portuguese maps. Columbus was familiar with the ancient theories of the sphericity of the Earth and thought about the possibility of getting to India, moving not to the east, but to the west. Several happy accidents strengthened him in this idea.
He got married in Portugal, and he received maps, sailing directions and notes from his father-in-law, an experienced sailor from the time of Enrique the Navigator, governor of the island of Porto Santo. During his stay on Porto Santo, Columbus heard stories from local residents that fragments of boats unknown to Europeans and utensils with unknown ornaments were sometimes washed up on the western shore of their island. This information confirmed the idea that in the west beyond the ocean there was a land inhabited by people. Columbus believed that this was India and neighboring China.
A number of historians believe that Columbus's idea received the support of the famous Italian geographer Paolo Toscanelli. Adhering to the opinion that the Earth was spherical, Toscanelli compiled a map of the world, providing it with reasoning about the possibility of reaching India by sailing to the west. When he received a letter from the humble Italian cartographer Columbus, Toscanelli kindly sent him a copy of his map. It depicted China and India approximately where America actually is located. Toscanelli miscalculated the Earth's circumference, underestimating it, and his inaccuracy made India appear tantalizingly close to the western coast of Europe. If there are great mistakes in history, then Toscanelli’s mistake was exactly that in its consequences. She strengthened Columbus's intention to be the first to reach India, sailing the western route.
Columbus proposed his bold plan to the king of Portugal, but he rejected it. Then Columbus tried to interest the English king, but Henry VII did not want to spend money on a dubious enterprise. Finally, Columbus turned his attention to Spain.
In 1485, Columbus and his young son Diego went to Spain. And here, too, his project did not immediately find understanding. He long and unsuccessfully sought a meeting with King Ferdinand of Aragon, who at that time was besieging the last stronghold of the Moors - Granada. Desperate, Columbus had already decided to leave Spain and go to France, but at the last moment luck smiled on the Italian: Queen Isabella of Castile agreed to accept him.
Isabella, a powerful and decisive woman, listened to the foreigner favorably. His plan promised new glory for Spain and untold riches for its kings if they managed to get to India and China before other Christian sovereigns. In 1492, the royal couple, Ferdinand and Isabella, signed a treaty with Columbus, according to which he received the titles of admiral, viceroy and governor, salaries for all positions, a tenth share of the income from new lands and the right to examine criminal and civil cases.
First expedition
For the first expedition, two ships were allocated, and another ship was equipped by the seafarers and shipowners, the Pinson brothers. The flotilla crew consisted of 90 people. The names of the ships - "Santa Maria", "Nina" ("Baby") and "Pinta" - are now known throughout the world, and they were commanded by: "Pinta" - Martin Alonso Pinzon, and "Nina" - Vincente Yañez Pinzon. Santa Maria became the flagship. Columbus himself sailed on it.
The purpose of the expedition is now disputed by many experts, citing various arguments in favor of the fact that Columbus was not going to look for India at all. Instead, they name various legendary islands like Brazil, Antilia, etc. However, most of these considerations seem insufficiently substantiated.
On August 3, 1492, three small caravels set sail from the port of Paloe on the Atlantic coast of Spain. At the head of this expedition was an extraordinary man, obsessed with a bold dream - to cross the Atlantic Ocean from east to west and reach the fabulously rich kingdoms of India and China. His sailors set out reluctantly - they were afraid of unknown seas, where no one had been before. The crew was hostile to the foreign admiral from the very beginning.
Leaving the last stop of the ships before entering the open ocean - the Canary Islands, many feared that they would never return back. Despite the favorable weather, all subsequent days of sailing in the vast expanses of the ocean became a real test for the sailors. Several times the team tried to mutiny and turn back. To reassure the sailors, Columbus hid from them how many miles had been traveled. He kept two ship logs: in the official one he entered false data, from which it followed that the ships had not gone that far from the European coast, while in the other, secret one, he noted how much had actually been traveled.
When passing the magnetic meridian on the caravels, all the compasses suddenly broke down - their arrows danced, pointing in different directions. Panic began on the ships, but the compass needles calmed down just as suddenly. Columbus's expedition was beset by other surprises: one day at dawn, the sailors discovered that the ships were surrounded by a lot of algae and seemed to be floating not on the sea, but on a green meadow. At first the caravels walked briskly forward among the greenery, but then calm came and they stopped. Rumors spread that it was algae that entwined the keel and did not allow the ships to go further. This is how Europeans became acquainted with the Sargasso Sea.
The team was worried about the unusual situation, and in early October demands began to be made for a change of course. Columbus, who was heading west, was forced to give in. The ships turned west-southwest. But the situation continued to heat up, and the commander, with great difficulty, persuasion and promises, managed to keep the flotilla from returning.
Two months of difficult sailing across the ocean expanses... It seemed that there would be no end to the sea desert. Supplies of food and fresh water were running out. People are tired. The admiral, who did not leave the deck for hours, increasingly heard cries of discontent and threats from the sailors.
However, everyone on board the ships noticed signs of nearby land: birds flying in from the west and landing on the masts. One day the watchman saw the land, and everyone indulged in fun, but the next morning it disappeared. It was a mirage, and the team again plunged into despondency. Meanwhile, all the signs spoke of the proximity of the desired land: birds, floating green tree branches and sticks, clearly planed by a human hand.
“It was midnight on October 11, 1492. Just two more hours - and an event will take place that is destined to change the entire course of world history. No one on the ships was fully aware of this, but literally everyone, from the admiral to the youngest cabin boy, was in tense anticipation. The one who was the first to see the land was promised a reward of ten thousand maravedi, and now it was clear to everyone that the long voyage was nearing an end... The day was drawing to a close, and in the bright starry night three ships, driven by a fair wind, were rapidly gliding forward ..."
This is how the American historian J. Bakeless describes the exciting moment that preceded the discovery of America by Columbus...
That night, Captain Martin Pinzón, on the Pinta, walked ahead of the small flotilla, and the watchman at the bow of the ship was the sailor Rodrigo de Triana. It was he who was the first to see the earth, or rather, the reflections of ghostly moonlight on the white sandy hills. "Earth! Earth!" - Rodrigo shouted. And a minute later the thunder of a gun shot announced that America was open.
All the ships removed the sails and began to impatiently wait for dawn. Finally it came, the clear and cool dawn of Friday, October 12, 1492. The first rays of the sun illuminated the mysteriously darkening earth ahead. “This island,” Columbus would later write in his diary, “is very sick and very flat, there are a lot of green trees and water, and in the middle there is a large lake. There are no mountains."
The discovery of the "Western Indies" has begun. And although on that momentous morning of October 12, 1492, the life of the vast American continent was outwardly undisturbed, the appearance of three caravels in the warm waters off the coast of Guanahani meant that the history of America had entered a new era full of dramatic events.
Boats were lowered from the ships. Stepping ashore, the admiral planted the royal banner there and declared the open land the possession of Spain. It was a small island that Columbus christened San Salvador - “Savior” (now Guanahani, one of the islands of the Bahamas archipelago). The island turned out to be inhabited: it was inhabited by cheerful and good-natured people with dark, reddish skin. “All of them,” writes Columbus, “walk naked, in what their mother gave birth, and women too... And the people I saw were still young, all of them were no more than 30 years old, and they were well built, and their bodies and their faces were very beautiful, and their hair was coarse, just like horse hair, and short... Their facial features were regular, their expression was friendly... These people were not black in color, but like the inhabitants of the Canary Islands.”
The first meeting of Europeans with American aborigines. The first, most vivid impressions of the New World. Everything here seemed unusual and new: nature, plants, birds, animals and even people...
None of the members of Columbus's expedition had any doubt that if the island he discovered was not yet fabulous India, at least it was somewhere close. The ships headed south. Soon the large island of Cuba was discovered, which was considered part of the mainland. Here Columbus hoped to meet large cities belonging to the great Chinese Khan, which Marco Polo spoke about.
The locals were friendly and greeted the white newcomers with amazement. An exchange ensued between them and the sailors, and the natives paid for European trinkets with gold records. Columbus rejoiced: this was yet another proof that the fabulous gold mines of India were somewhere nearby. However, neither the residence of the Great Khan nor gold mines were found in Cuba - only villages and cotton fields. Columbus moved east and, having discovered another large island - Haiti, named it Hispaniola (Spanish Island).
While the admiral was exploring the open archipelago, Captain Pinzón left him, deciding to return to Spain. Soon after, the Santa Maria perished after running aground. Columbus only had the Niña, which could not accommodate the entire crew. The admiral decided to return home to immediately equip a new expedition. Forty sailors remained to wait for Columbus at the fort “La Navedad” (Christmas) built for them.
Neither Columbus nor his companions yet realized the full importance of what had happened. And many years later, his contemporaries still did not realize the significance of this discovery, which for a long time did not produce the coveted spices and gold. Only subsequent generations could appreciate it. It was still a long way from America itself. On the horizon, the sailors saw only one of the islands of the continent - Guanahani, and on this journey none of the Spaniards set foot on the mainland. Nevertheless, today it is October 12, 1492 that is considered the official date of the discovery of America, although it has been proven that even before Columbus, Europeans visited the lands of the Western Hemisphere.
On open lands, Columbus did not find anything that resembled India or other Asian countries. There were no cities here. The people, plants, and animals were very different from what one could read or hear from travelers about Asia. But Columbus believed so sacredly in his theory that he was absolutely confident in the discovery, if not of India, but of some poor country, but precisely in Asia. However, one could not expect anything else from him: after all, even on the best maps of that time there was no mention of the continent on the opposite side of the globe, and the dimensions of the Earth, although calculated in the ancient period, were not known to medieval Europe.
Columbus's return to Spain on March 15, 1493 on two surviving but badly battered ships turned into a true triumph for the great navigator. The admiral was immediately demanded to court. The finest hour had come for Christopher Columbus, who had no doubt that he had opened the way to India for Spain. The Genoese told his astonished listeners about the heavenly lands he had visited, showed the imported stuffed wild animals and birds, collections of plants and, most importantly, six natives taken from Hispaniola, who, naturally, were considered Indians. Columbus was showered with numerous honors and awards from the royal couple and received a firm promise of assistance in future expeditions to the “Indies.”
Of course, the real gains from the first voyage were small: a handful of pathetic trinkets made of low-grade gold, several half-naked natives, bright feathers of strange birds. But the main thing was done: this Genoese found new lands in the west, far beyond the ocean.
Columbus's report made an impression. The gold found opened up tempting prospects. Therefore, the next expedition was not long in coming. Already on September 25, with the rank of “chief admiral of the ocean,” Columbus, at the head of a flotilla of 17 ships, sailed to the west.
Second expedition
Columbus's second expedition, which set off across the Atlantic in September 1493, already involved 17 ships and more than 1,500 people. The ships were full of provisions: the Spaniards brought with them small livestock and poultry to breed them in new places. This time they took a course further south than on the first voyage, and discovered the islands of Dominica, Maria Talante, Guadeloupe, Antigua, which are part of the Lesser Antilles group, and Puerto Rico, and on September 22, landing again in Cuba, it turned out that all the colonists, those responsible for robbery and violence were destroyed by the islanders. To the east of the burned fort, Columbus built a city, named it Isabella, explored the island and reported to Spain about the discovery of a gold deposit, greatly exaggerating its reserves.
In April 1494, Columbus left Hispaniola to finally discover the “mainland of India,” but found only Fr. Jamaica. He soon returned to Cuba. A lot of trouble awaited him in the colony. The most significant thing for him was the violation of the royal treaty. Ferdinand and Isabella, considering that the income from Hispaniola was small, allowed all Castilian subjects to move to new lands if they contributed two-thirds of the gold mined to the treasury. In addition, now everyone had the right to equip ships for new discoveries. To top it all off, yielding to the dissatisfaction of the colonists with the governor, which was largely justified, the kings removed him from office and sent a new governor to Hispaniola.
On June 11, 1496, Columbus went to Spain to defend his rights. At a meeting with Their Majesties, he achieved his goal and received a promise of a monopoly for himself and his sons on discoveries, and in order to “cheap” the maintenance of the colony, he proposed to populate Hispaniola with criminals, reducing their sentences, which was done.
Third expedition
Despite the favorable outcome of the audience, Columbus managed to equip the third expedition with great difficulty in 1498. “Indian riches” were not yet in sight, therefore there were no hunters to finance the enterprise, as well as those willing to set off. And yet, on May 30, 1498, six small ships with a crew of 300 people sailed to the west, and at about. The Hierro flotilla split up. Three ships headed to Hispaniola, and Columbus led the rest to the Cape Verde Islands with the intention of reaching the equator and then heading west.
On this voyage, the sailors encountered unprecedented heat. The supplies on the ships had deteriorated, and the fresh water had gone rotten. The torment experienced by the sailors resurrected terrible stories about the Sea of Darkness and latitudes where it was impossible to live. Columbus himself, no longer a young man, suffered from gout and eye disease, and sometimes had attacks of nervous breakdown. And yet they reached distant lands overseas.
On this voyage, Columbus discovered the island of Trinidad (Trinity), located near the mouth of the Orinoco River, and came closest to the coast of the continent. The flow of fresh water that the sailors noticed in the ocean made Columbus think about a powerful river flowing from somewhere in the south. Apparently there was a mainland there. Columbus decided that the lands lying south of India were nothing more than Eden itself - paradise, the top of the world. From there, from this hill, all the great rivers originate. Illuminated by this insight, Columbus considered himself the first European destined to find his way to the earthly paradise, from where, according to the Bible, the ancestors of mankind, Adam and Eve, were expelled. Columbus believed that he had been chosen to once again show people the path to their lost bliss.
However, when the admiral returned to Hispaniola, he was met with reproaches and complaints from the settlers. They were dissatisfied with the conditions in which they found themselves, with the fact that their hopes for fantastic enrichment did not come true, and sent denunciations to Spain against Columbus, claiming that he had turned the colony into a “cemetery for Castilian nobles.” Ferdinand and Isabella had their own reasons for dissatisfaction with Columbus. Gold, spices, precious stones - everything that the participants of the expeditions and those who financed them so greedily sought - could not be obtained. Meanwhile, the Portuguese made the final push on their way to India: in 1498, Vasco da Gama circumnavigated Africa and reached his desired goal, returning with a rich cargo of spices. This was a painful blow for Spain.
On Hispaniola, Columbus was again in trouble. In 1499, the king and queen again abolished his monopoly and sent Francisco Boazillo to the colony to deal with the flow of complaints against the governor on the spot. Boazilla came to the conclusion that Columbus could not rule the country because he was a “hard-hearted” man, ordered him and his brothers to be shackled and sent to Spain. The deeply wounded admiral did not want to remove the shackles until he was heard by his sovereigns. In the metropolis, Columbus's supporters began a campaign in defense of the "admiral of all seas." Ferdinand and Isabella ordered his release and expressed sympathy, but did not restore his rights. The title of viceroy was not returned to Columbus, and by that time his financial affairs were in disarray.
Fourth expedition
Yet the humiliated admiral managed to make one last voyage to find a route to South Asia south of Cuba. This time, for the first time, he came close to the coast of Central America in the area of the Isthmus of Panama (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama), where (mainly among the Panamanian Indians) he exchanged a significant amount of gold.
The journey began on April 3, 1502. Having at his disposal 4 ships with a crew of 150 people, Columbus discovered about. Martinique, then the island of Benaca off northern Honduras and explored part of the mainland coast from Mosquitos Bay to Cape Tiburon, a length of about 2 thousand km. When it became clear that there was no strait ahead, as the Indians reported, two caravels (the rest were abandoned) turned towards Jamaica. The ships were in such a state that on June 23, 1503, on the northern coast of the island, they had to be grounded to prevent them from sinking, and a pirogue with three sailors had to be sent to Hispaniola asking for help. Help arrived in June 1504.
Luck completely turned away from the admiral. It took him a full month and a half to travel from Jamaica to Hispaniola. Storms battered his ship on the way to Spain. Only on November 7, seriously ill Columbus saw the mouth of the Guadalquivir. Having recovered slightly, in May 1505 he arrived at court to renew his claims to the crown. Meanwhile, it turned out that his patron, Queen Isabella, had died. The consideration of the case regarding the admiral's property claims was delayed due to the fact that the royal court and the Spanish nobility did not receive the main thing - the coveted treasures of the Chinese and Indian rulers. On May 20, 1506, the “admiral of the ocean” died in Valladolid, without having obtained from the king a determination of the amount of income, rights and privileges due to him.
The great navigator died in complete oblivion and poverty. The traveler's ashes did not soon find peace. He was first moved to Seville and then transported across the ocean to Hispaniola and buried in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo. Many years later he was reburied in Cuba, in Havana, but then returned again to Seville. Now it is not known exactly where the true grave of the great navigator is located - Havana and Seville equally lay claim to this honor.
A lot can be said about the role of Columbus in history in general and in the history of the development of geographical ideas in particular. Many scientific treatises and popular publications are devoted to this, but the main essence, apparently, is clearly stated by the historian-geographer J. Baker: “... he died, probably not fully imagining what he had discovered. His name is immortalized in a number of geographical names in the New World, and his achievements have become commonplace in history textbooks. And even if we take seriously the criticism that Columbus himself and his biographers were subjected to, he will still forever remain the central figure of the great era of European “overseas expansion” (“History of Geographical Discovery and Exploration”).
Columbus's diaries are lost. All that remains is the so-called “Diary of the First Voyage” as retold by Bartolomé Las Casas. He and other documents of that time related to the discoveries of the great traveler were published in Russian translation in the collection “The Travels of Christopher Columbus (Diaries, Letters, Documents),” which was published in several editions.
Contemporaries, as often happens in history, failed to appreciate the true significance of the discoveries made by Columbus. And he himself did not understand that he had discovered a new continent, until the end of his life he considered the lands he discovered to be India, and their inhabitants to be Indians. Only after the expeditions of Balboa, Magellan and Vespucci it became obvious that beyond the blue expanses of the ocean lay a completely new, unknown land. But they will call it America (after Amerigo Vespucci), and not Colombia, as justice demanded. Subsequent generations of compatriots turned out to be more grateful to the memory of Columbus.
The significance of his discoveries was confirmed already in the 20-30s. XVI century, when, after the conquest of the rich kingdoms of the Aztecs and Incas, a wide stream of American gold and silver poured into Europe. What the great navigator strived for all his life, and what he so persistently sought in the “Western Indies” turned out to be not a utopia, not the delirium of a madman, but the very real reality. Columbus is still revered in Spain today. His name is no less famous in Latin America, where one of the northernmost countries of the South American continent is named Colombia in his honor.
However, only in the United States is October 12 celebrated as a national holiday - Columbus Day. Many cities, a district, a mountain, a river, a university and countless streets are named after the great Genoese. Although with some delay, justice triumphed. Columbus received his share of glory and gratitude from a grateful humanity.
Columbus discovered America
The year when this Spanish navigator discovered a new land is indicated in history as 1492. And by the beginning of the eighteenth century, all other areas of North America, for example, Alaska and the regions of the Pacific coast, had already been discovered and explored. It must be said that travelers from Russia also made an important contribution to the exploration of the mainland.
Development
The history of the discovery of North America is quite interesting: it can even be called accidental. At the end of the fifteenth century, a Spanish navigator and his expedition reached the shores of North America. At the same time, he mistakenly believed that he was in India. From this moment begins the countdown of the era when America was discovered and its exploration and exploration began. But some researchers consider this date inaccurate, arguing that the discovery of a new continent occurred much earlier.
The year Columbus discovered America - 1492 - is not an exact date. It turns out that the Spanish navigator had predecessors, and more than one. In the middle of the tenth century, the Normans arrived here after they discovered Greenland. True, they failed to colonize these new lands, since they were repelled by the harsh weather conditions of the north of this continent. In addition, the Normans were also frightened by the remoteness of the new continent from Europe.
According to other sources, this continent was discovered by ancient sailors - the Phoenicians. Some sources call the middle of the first millennium AD the time when America was discovered, and the Chinese as the pioneers. However, this version also does not have clear evidence.
The most reliable information is considered to be about the time when the Vikings discovered America. At the end of the tenth century, the Normans Bjarni Herjulfson and Leif Eriksson found Helluland - “stone”, Markland - “forest” and Vinland - “vineyards” of land, which contemporaries identify with the Labrador Peninsula.
There is evidence that even before Columbus, in the fifteenth century, the northern continent was reached by Bristol and Biscay fishermen, who called it the island of Brazil. However, the time periods of these expeditions cannot be called the milestone in history when America was truly discovered, that is, it was identified as a new continent.
Columbus - a true discoverer
And yet, when answering the question of what year America was discovered, experts most often name the fifteenth century, or rather its end. And Columbus is considered the first to do this. The time when America was discovered coincided in history with the period when Europeans began to spread ideas about the round shape of the Earth and the possibility of reaching India or China along the western route, that is, through the Atlantic Ocean. It was believed that this path was much shorter than the eastern one. Therefore, given the Portuguese monopoly on control of the South Atlantic, obtained by the Treaty of Alcázovaz in 1479, Spain, always striving to gain direct contacts with eastern countries, warmly supported the westward expedition of the Genoese navigator Columbus.
Honor of opening
Christopher Columbus was interested in geography, geometry and astronomy from an early age. From a young age, he took part in sea expeditions and visited almost all the then known oceans. Columbus was married to the daughter of a Portuguese sailor, from whom he received many geographical maps and notes from the time of Henry the Navigator. The future discoverer carefully studied them. His plans were to find a sea route to India, but not bypassing Africa, but directly across the Atlantic. Like some scientists - his contemporaries, Columbus believed that, having gone west from Europe, it would be possible to reach the Asian eastern shores - those places where India and China are located. At the same time, he did not even suspect that on the way he would meet an entire continent, hitherto unknown to Europeans. But it happened. And from this time the history of the discovery of America began.
First expedition
For the first time, Columbus's ships sailed from Palos harbor on August 3, 1492. There were three of them. The expedition proceeded quite calmly to the Canary Islands: this section of the journey was already known to the sailors. But very soon they found themselves in a vast ocean. Gradually the sailors began to become despondent and begin to grumble. But Columbus managed to pacify the rebellious, maintaining hope in them. Soon signs began to appear - harbingers of the proximity of land: unknown birds flew in, tree branches floated up. Finally, after six weeks of sailing, lights appeared at night, and when dawn broke, a green, picturesque island, all covered with vegetation, opened before the sailors. Columbus, having landed on shore, declared this land to be the possession of the Spanish crown. The island was named San Salvador, that is, the Savior. It was one of the small pieces of land included in the Bahamas or Lucayan archipelago.
The land where there is gold
The natives are peaceful and good-natured savages. Noticing the greed of those who sailed for the gold jewelry that hung in the noses and ears of the aborigines, they told with signs that in the south there was a land literally abounding in gold. And Columbus moved on. In the same year, he discovered Cuba, which, although he mistook it for the mainland, or rather, the eastern coast of Asia, he also declared it a Spanish colony. From here the expedition, turning east, landed in Haiti. Moreover, along the entire route the Spaniards met savages who not only willingly exchanged their gold jewelry for simple glass beads and other trinkets, but also constantly pointed to the southern direction when asked about this precious metal. Which Columbus named Hispaniola, or Little Spain, he built a small fortress.
Return
When the ships landed in Palos harbor, all the inhabitants came ashore to greet them with honors. Columbus and Ferdinand and Isabella received him very graciously. The news of the discovery of the New World spread very quickly, and those who wanted to go there with the discoverer gathered just as quickly. At that time, Europeans had no idea what kind of America Christopher Columbus discovered.
Second trip
The history of the discovery of North America, which began in 1492, continued. From September 1493 to June 1496, the second expedition of the Genoese navigator took place. As a result, the Virgin and Windward Islands were discovered, including Antigua, Dominica, Nevis, Montserrat, St. Christopher, as well as Puerto Rico and Jamaica. The Spaniards firmly settled in the lands of Haiti, making them their base and building the fortress of San Domingo in its southeastern part. In 1497, the British entered into competition with them, also trying to find northwestern routes to Asia. For example, the Genoese Cabot, under the English flag, discovered the island of Newfoundland and, according to some reports, came very close to the North American coast: the peninsulas of Labrador and Nova Scotia. Thus, the British began to lay the foundation for their dominance in the North American region.
Third and fourth expeditions
It began in May 1498 and ended in November 1500. As a result, the mouth of the Orinoco was also opened. In August 1498, Columbus landed on the coast already on the Paria Peninsula, and in 1499 the Spaniards reached the shores of Guiana and Venezuela, after which - Brazil and the mouth of the Amazon. And during the last - fourth - journey from May 1502 to November 1504, Columbus discovered Central America. His ships sailed along the coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua, reaching from Costa Rica and Panama all the way to the Gulf of Darien.
New continent
In the same year, another navigator, whose expeditions took place under the Portuguese flag, also explored the Brazilian coast. Having reached Cape Cananea, he put forward the hypothesis that the lands that Columbus discovered were not China, or even India, but a completely new continent. This idea was confirmed after the first trip around the world by F. Magellan. However, contrary to logic, the name America was assigned to the new continent - on behalf of Vespucci.
True, there is some reason to believe that the new continent was named in honor of the Bristol philanthropist Richard America from England, who financed the second transatlantic voyage in 1497, and Amerigo Vespucci after that took a nickname in honor of the continent named so. To prove this theory, researchers cite the facts that Cabot reached the shores of Labrador two years earlier, and therefore became the officially registered first European to set foot on American soil.
In the mid-sixteenth century, Jacques Cartier, a French navigator, reached the shores of Canada, giving the territory its modern name.
Other contenders
The exploration of the continent of North America was continued by such navigators as John Davis, Alexander Mackenzie, Henry Hudson and William Baffin. It was thanks to their research that the continent was studied right up to the Pacific coast.
However, history knows many other names of sailors who landed on American soil even before Columbus. These are Hui Shen, a Thai monk who visited this region in the fifth century, Abubakar, the Sultan of Mali, who sailed to the American coast in the fourteenth century, the Earl of Orkney de Saint-Clair, the Chinese explorer Zhee He, the Portuguese Juan Corterial, etc.
But, in spite of everything, Christopher Columbus is the person whose discoveries had an unconditional impact on the entire history of mankind.
Fifteen years after the time when America was discovered by the ships of this navigator, the very first geographical map of the continent was compiled. Its author was Martin Waldseemüller. Today it, being the property of the United States, is stored in Washington.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
Mystery of origin
The world-famous navigator Christopher Columbus was born into a poor Genoese family in Italy on October 29, 1451 on the island of Corsica - then the possession of the Genoese Republic. According to another version, the discoverer was born on May 20, 1506 in the Spanish town of Valladolid. In fairness, it should be noted that today 6 cities of both countries dispute the honor of being the birthplace of Columbus.
In his youth, Christopher studied at the University of Pavia, and in 1470. 
marries the daughter of the famous navigator Dona Felipe Moniz de Palestrello. Bartolome de Las Casas, a contemporary of Christopher Columbus, described his portrait as follows: “He was tall, above average, his face was long and impressive, his nose was aquiline, his eyes were bluish-gray, his skin was white, with redness, his beard and mustache were reddish in his youth. , but they turned gray in their labors.”
But let us return once again to the question of the origin of Columbus. One Spanish legend says that the navigator was the illegitimate son of the Spanish prince De Vian, and pretended to be a commoner so as not to discredit his father’s honor. According to the same or another version, Columbus was born in Mallorca and hid the secret of his origin, because... in his youth, in the person of the captain of a corsair ship, he fought against the king of Aragon, the father of the creator of the Spanish state, Ferdinand.
The Italian Encyclopedia states the Jewish origin of Christopher Columbus as a well-known fact. This version can be challenged by suggesting that medieval Mallorca was inhabited by so-called “crypto-Jews” (Jews who outwardly observed Christianity), and this explains the presence of “Jewish motifs” in Columbus’s notes. By the way, an analysis of Columbus’s notes established: the navigator never used the Italian language in his letters, and his stylistic character and handwriting indicate that he was a widely educated and cultured person, and not a self-taught commoner who accidentally discovered the New World.
And finally, confirmation in favor of the “Jewish” version is the data of Spanish and Portuguese historians, who report that Columbus was a baptized Jew and had nothing to do with Italy, and therefore was engaged in cartography and calligraphy - Jewish professions characteristic of that era.
The development of the world and the youth of Columbus
In the second half of the 15th century, large cities were built throughout Western Europe, trade developed, money became a universal means of exchange, which sharply increased the demand for gold. The latter, the Spaniards believed, could be found in large quantities in India. The development of trade forced many countries to think about new sales routes - for example, Portugal was looking for southern sea and western routes. At the same time, during the European Renaissance, theories about the sphericity of the Earth began to appear.
In 1474, the astronomer and geographer Paolo Toscanelli wrote in a letter to Columbus about his assumptions that India could be reached through the West. Christopher Columbus, who moved to Savona in 1472, already began to make plans for his sea expeditions, in particular, he was interested in traveling to India. Taking into account Toscanelli’s opinion, Christopher decided to sail to India through the Canary Islands, from which, according to his calculations, Japan was about 5 thousand km away.
In 1476, Columbus settled in Portugal to be closer to sources of information about planned sea routes. During the 10 years of his residence in Portugal, the discoverer managed to visit England, Guinea, Ireland and Iceland - also in order to collect more data about the lands in the West.
Illuminated by a thirst for new discoveries, Columbus hastened to inform his decision to sail to India to the government of his native Genoa, but they ignored his initiative. In 1483, Columbus tried to get approval for his project through João II, but the Portuguese king also refused the young navigator. Then Columbus and his son Diego moved to Spain, where in the winter of 1485-1486. settled in the monastery of Santa Maria da Rabida as a beggar.
Many historians believe that Columbus was hiding from his pursuers, and in Spain received, so to speak, political asylum. The abbot of the monastery, Juan Perez de Marchena, not only saved Columbus from starvation, but also, having become familiar with Christopher’s bright ideas about transforming the world, wrote a letter to his friend Fernando de Talavera, the confessor of the Queen of Spain. At that time, the King of Spain was extremely busy - he was preparing for war with Granada in Cordoba. Columbus spent the entire next year in vain attempts to establish connections with royal financial advisers, merchants and bankers. Finally, in the winter of 1486, the navigator was presented to the Archbishop of Toledo and the great Cardinal of Spain, Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza. The cardinal facilitated an audience with the Spanish king, after which the project was studied for about a year by theologians, lawyers, cosmographers, monks and even courtiers, who ultimately rejected Columbus’s ideas, considering his requests to be overly arrogant and his ideas unrealistic.
In 1488, Columbus received a letter from the Portuguese king, in which he invited him to return to the country and formally promised to stop all persecution of his person. In the same year, Columbus received another good letter from King Henry VII of England, who approved of Christopher's ideas regarding a trip to India, but did not promise or offer anything specific.
All of Western Europe was busy preparing for the coming war, and no government dared to sponsor an experimental project. The latest confirmation of this was the comments of the kings of Castile, Isabella and Ferdinand: “In view of the enormous costs and efforts required to wage war, starting a new enterprise is not possible.”
In January 1492, a joyful event took place - the capture of the Alhambra fortress. Granada fell and the war ended successfully in victory for Spain. Columbus was waiting for this moment; inspired, he came to the King of Spain and offered to appoint himself Viceroy of the new lands, award him the title of Chief Admiral of the Sea-Ocean, and all this under the banner of the discovery and ownership of new lands. His Majesty opposed such impudence, calling Christopher’s demands “excessive and unacceptable,” and broke down the negotiations on an unfriendly note.
In 1492, Columbus made a statement about migrating to France - apparently for reasons 
try to negotiate with the French king. And then Queen Isabella of Castile unexpectedly takes a step forward: impressed by the idea of liberating the Holy Sepulcher, she offers to pawn her jewelry to give money to Columbus for his journey. On April 30, 1492, the royal couple appointed Columbus as their nobleman and announced that if his expedition was successful, Christopher would officially become Admiral of the Sea-Ocean and Viceroy of all the lands he discovered. He also has the right to pass on his titles by inheritance. However, the royal jewels were not enough for full-fledged overseas equipment. The queen did not receive enough taxes from her people, and 13% of the expenses for the expedition had to be paid by Columbus himself, who did not have a penny at all.
Columbus was helped to scrape together the amount to pay off his part by his acquaintance Martin Alonso Pinzon, who gave him his own fully equipped ship, the Pinta, as well as money for the second and third ships. As is known, the funds for the 3rd ship were issued under Martin's guarantee by the local Marranos - against their budget payments.
The beginning of discoveries
Over the next 12 years, Christopher Columbus undertook as many as 4 expeditions by order of the King of Spain. Columbus recorded his impressions and new information about the world obtained from his travels in a logbook, part of which Bartolomé de Las Casas managed to copy. Thanks to these surviving copies, many details of the expeditions have survived to this day.
So, on the first expedition, traveling with his three ships - Pinta, Santa Maria and Niña, 
and a team of 90 people, Columbus discovered America. Christopher initially considered the new lands, the islands of the Caribbean Sea (Bahamas, Haiti and Cuba), to be East Asia. For a long time, Europeans seriously called them “Western India”, because to the islands it was necessary to sail to the West, as opposed to India and Indonesia proper, which in Europe were called “East India”. Despite the confusion, after Columbus's first remarkable voyage, Spain's expansion into the New World began.
Christopher's second flotilla consisted of 17 ships and a crew of about 2,000 people - sailors, priests, officials, serving nobles, and courtiers. Several ships carried animals - cattle, donkeys, horses, pigs. People also brought with them seeds of agricultural crops to populate future lands. Haiti this time was completely conquered: as soon as they landed on the shore, the Europeans began to mercilessly exterminate the local population. During the second expedition, almost the entire coast of Cuba was explored - the Lesser Antilles, the Virgin Islands, the islands of Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. At the same time, Columbus continued to believe that he was in Western India.
Little money was found for the third voyage, so Columbus’s flotilla consisted only 
of 6 ships and 300 crew, which also included Spanish criminals. Believing that gold could be found closer to the equator, on May 30, 1498, Columbus set out with his flotilla from the mouth of the Guadalquivir River and decided to stay closer to the South. Three ships sailed from the Canary Islands towards Haiti, and Columbus took three more to the South-West, to the Cape Verde Islands. Two months after the start of the third expedition, Columbus discovered the island of Trinidad and, without stopping there, circled it from the South, ending up in the Orinoco River delta and the Gulf of Paria. Before he could complete his exploration of the nearby lands, the navigator fell seriously ill and was forced to turn north, to Santo Domingo.
Having sailed to Haiti, Christopher Columbus discovered that the colonists, during his absence, had launched an armed rebellion against Bartholomew. As a result, Columbus had to introduce a system of enslavement of the Indians to the rebellious colonists, each of whom was allocated a good piece of land.
While Columbus was dealing with the colonists, the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to the real India. Returning from India with a cargo of spices, Vasco began to denounce Columbus that he was a deceiver, and that the lands he discovered were not India at all. The Spanish royal treasury did not receive income from its new colony for a long time and in 1499 canceled Columbus’s monopoly on the discovery of lands. A year later, the royal couple, suspecting Columbus of a conspiracy against the country and an exclusive desire to take possession of new lands himself, sent their representative Francisco Bovadilla to Haiti. He took into his own hands all the power on the island, arrested Christopher Columbus along with his brothers, shackled them and took them to Spain. However, quite quickly local financiers managed to convince the king to drop the charges against the navigator.
Columbus did not tend to give up even in a very difficult situation. He obtained permission from the king for a new expedition, justifying this with the desire to find a way from the lands he discovered to South Asia. Once, observing a strong sea current off the coast of Cuba going west through the Caribbean Sea, Columbus realized that such a path existed.
On the fourth expedition, he took with him his 13-year-old son Hernando and his brother Bartolome. During the last expedition, Christopher discovered Central America - the mainland south of Cuba, proving that the Atlantic Ocean was separated from the South Sea by what the Indians called an “insurmountable barrier.” Columbus was also the first to talk about the Indian peoples who inhabited the shores of the South Sea.
Death and eternal memory
Upon returning to Seville, Columbus was very seriously ill. He no longer had the strength and former energy to seek from the kings the restoration of his rights and privileges, and he spent all the money on his travel companions. On May 20, 1506, the last words of the great navigator were: “Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my spirit,” and in the same year he was buried in Seville. It is interesting that after the death of Columbus, Emperor Charles V took the initiative to fulfill the navigator’s dying wish and bury him in Western India. The ashes of Columbus in 1540 were first delivered to Haiti in Santo Domingo, then, at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, part of the islands passed from the Spaniards to the French, and the ashes were transported to Cuba to the Cathedral of Havana. After the expulsion of the Spaniards from Havana in 1889, the ashes of the navigator were returned to Santo Domingo, and then to Seville.
Like most geniuses, Columbus was recognized only after his death, when in the middle of the 16th century, after the conquest of Mexico, Peru and the states in the northern Andes, ships with huge amounts of silver and gold went to Europe.
The currency of El Salvador was named after Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon in Spanish). 
- Salvadoran Colon. On all issued banknotes of all years and all denominations, a portrait of a young or elderly Columbus was placed on the reverse side. Also named in honor of the navigator: the state in South America of Colombia, Mount Cristobal Colon in Colombia, the Federal District of Columbia in the USA, the province of British Columbia in Canada, the Columbia River in the USA and Canada, the film studio Columbia Pictures, the cities in the USA Columbus and Columbia, the shuttle Columbia , ISS module Columbus, city in the Panama Canal zone Colon, province in Panama Colon, Department in Honduras Colon, Argentine football club from Santa Fe Colon, the main opera house of Argentina, Teatro Colon, Columbus Theater in the book “12 Chairs” by Ilf and Petrov.
