Spring Break
Columbus' touted too much
Emily Groff
Issue date: 10/11/04 Section: Commentary
Today is Columbus Day, a holiday in the United States and parts of Canada and Latin America commemorating Christopher Columbus's first landfall on El Salvador in the Caribbean. While Columbus's decision to sail into the unknown was brave, his "discovery" is hardly worth celebrating.
Columbus was born Cristoforo Colombo in Genoa in 1451. He initially followed his father into weaving, but he found his brother in Lisbon after being shipwrecked on the Portuguese coast. There he became a mapmaker and fostered dreams of discovery. He eventually joined the merchant marines. He decided to sail west in search of land, but the king of Portugal rebuffed his request for financing. He ultimately persuaded King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to pay for his journey in 1492 and he set sail in August of that year. After two months at sea, he sighted land and claimed it for Spain, naming it El Salvador. He continued on to Cuba and Hispaniola, setting up a colony there. He then sailed back to Spain and returned several months later with more supplies and colonists who founded La Isabela. In a series of four voyages between Spain and the Caribbean, he encountered Puerto Rico, Trinidad and other islands. In sailing back and forth he not only brought diseases from Europe, he also returned with syphilis.
Despite many adventures, Columbus did not reach what is now the United States of America in any of his journeys. He accidentally landed on Hispaniola due to his gross miscalculation of the distance between Europe and Asia. He stubbornly insisted he had found the Orient despite contradicting opinions, which first arose in his lifetime. He wasn't the first European to land on the Americas either, let alone the first person to discover the landmass. Thousands of years ago, people migrated over a land bridge between Russia and Alaska. Over time, they established a diverse collection of civilizations over both North and South America. Buddhist writings from China around 458 B.C.E. indicate voyages to the west coast of the continents. And around 1002, the Icelandic explorer Leif Ericsson wintered on what he named Vinland, most likely Newfoundland or New England, making him the first European to set down on America. Thorfinn Karlsefni followed him soon after - Columbus was almost 500 years too late.
Columbus was born Cristoforo Colombo in Genoa in 1451. He initially followed his father into weaving, but he found his brother in Lisbon after being shipwrecked on the Portuguese coast. There he became a mapmaker and fostered dreams of discovery. He eventually joined the merchant marines. He decided to sail west in search of land, but the king of Portugal rebuffed his request for financing. He ultimately persuaded King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to pay for his journey in 1492 and he set sail in August of that year. After two months at sea, he sighted land and claimed it for Spain, naming it El Salvador. He continued on to Cuba and Hispaniola, setting up a colony there. He then sailed back to Spain and returned several months later with more supplies and colonists who founded La Isabela. In a series of four voyages between Spain and the Caribbean, he encountered Puerto Rico, Trinidad and other islands. In sailing back and forth he not only brought diseases from Europe, he also returned with syphilis.
Despite many adventures, Columbus did not reach what is now the United States of America in any of his journeys. He accidentally landed on Hispaniola due to his gross miscalculation of the distance between Europe and Asia. He stubbornly insisted he had found the Orient despite contradicting opinions, which first arose in his lifetime. He wasn't the first European to land on the Americas either, let alone the first person to discover the landmass. Thousands of years ago, people migrated over a land bridge between Russia and Alaska. Over time, they established a diverse collection of civilizations over both North and South America. Buddhist writings from China around 458 B.C.E. indicate voyages to the west coast of the continents. And around 1002, the Icelandic explorer Leif Ericsson wintered on what he named Vinland, most likely Newfoundland or New England, making him the first European to set down on America. Thorfinn Karlsefni followed him soon after - Columbus was almost 500 years too late.