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Christopher Columbus. 1492-1503. Trade. Under the Mongol Empire's hegemony over Asia, Europeans had long enjoyed a safe land passage called the " Silk Road", to China and India, which were sources of valuable goods such as silk, spices, and opiates.
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Christopher Columbus 1492-1503
Trade • Under the Mongol Empire's hegemony over Asia, Europeans had long enjoyed a safe land passage called the "Silk Road", to China and India, which were sources of valuable goods such as silk, spices, and opiates. • With the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the land route to Asia became much more difficult and dangerous. • Europeans needed a new passage to China and India.
Early Life • Christopher Columbus was born in Northern Italy where he found his love for the ocean • When Columbus was 25 he moved to Portugal with his brother and became a mapmaker. He also went on voyages to Africa where he came up with his ideas for a western route. • Columbus presented his ideas to the Portugal King, King John II and was rejected after King John consulted with other experts deeming the voyage impossible • Columbus then went to Spain where he impressed Queen Isabella • Eventually, the Spanish King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella agreed to fund Christopher Columbus’ voyage west to Asia.
Voyages • Between 1492 and 1503, Columbus completed four round-trip voyages between Spain and the Americas, all of them under the sponsorship of the Crown of Castile. • Christopher Colombus was origionally from Portugal, but he sailed for King Fernando and Queen Isabella • These voyages marked the beginning of the European exploration and colonization of the American continents, and are thus of enormous significance in Western history.
The Indigenous People • The indigenous people he encountered, the Lucayan, Taíno, or Arawak, were peaceful and friendly. • Noting their gold ear ornaments, Columbus took some of the Arawaks prisoner and insisted that they guide him to the source of the gold
Did Columbus Discovey America? • Did Columbus ever reach North America? • If Columbus did not discover America then who did?
Amerigo Vespucci • Amerigo Vespucci was Italian and sailed for Portugal • In 1501 on his second voyage across the Atlantic Amerigo Vespucci discovered that both South and North American were completely separate continents form Asia • He made this discovery by sailing along the coast of South American and near the North American mainland • He named the continents after himself • Christopher Columbus died believing that he discovered a westward route to Asia. • Amerigo Vespucci wrote two letters on his journey describing his encounters with the Native Americans
Leif Ericson • An explorer from Norway actually sailed to America 500 years before Columbus and Vespucci • Quote from the list of the top ten explorers : • “Leif Ericson, son of Eric the Red, was probably walking the beaches of Massachusetts, naked and five hundred years before you [Columbus]. Eric, an outlaw just like his father before him, made landings from Greenland in Canada and the States as early as 1004 or 1005 AD” • In 1964 under Lyndon Johnson’s precedency Leif Ericson was proclaimed the first European to walk on North American soil
