Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. By the age of 14, he had
already decided to live the life of a seaman. He wasn't an original thinker because
others had the idea of something to the west, other than the end of the earth. He spent ten
years figuring out his plan and trying to make it presentable to the royalty of some
nations. The Portuguese king just thought that Columbus was a big talker. He then tried
to convince the royalty of France and England also but he had no luck with them. The
first time he asked the queen and king of Spain, they were in a war so the time was not
right. Spain finally gave Columbus support. Some people think Isabella had to pawn her
Columbus was given the title Admiral of the Ocean by Isabella. Contrary to
popular belief he did not have trouble getting sailors for his journey. Most of the sailors
in that area were ready for the adventure. He acquired three ships : the Santa Maria, the
Pinta, and the Nina. The Santa Maria was known as "Dirty Mary".
Columbus first headed south towards the Canary Islands. Then headed westward.
He kept two journals , one was what he really thought and the other he wrote what the
sailors wanted to hear ( that they were closer to land, etc.). Strangely enough the second
one was more accurate. On October 7th , they spotted birds and they followed them.
Columbus agreed to turn around if land was not spotted in 3 or 4 days. On October 12th,
they spotted a cliff which was an island. There are 13 different sites that have been
He Originally thought they were either Indian or Chinese, but they had no written
language. At first Columbus was touched by the native Americans generosity. They
Communicated to him through sign language that there were more islands around. They
found maize and other foods and animals but they found no gold. Columb
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