The famous Spanish seafarer Christopher Columbus made four big trips during the life. Seeking to pass by sea to India, moving in the western direction, Columbus involuntarily had a huge impact on the course of world history what did not even guess. Made Columbus forever entered his name in the history of great opening. Columbus peddled old stuff.
Instruction
1. The first well-known travel through the Atlantic Ocean began on August 3, 1492. This day 3 ships – "Santa Maria", Ninya and "Pint" - financed by the Spanish crown, under leadership of the captain Christopher Columbus left Palos port. But in seven and a half months the seafarers with triumph came back to Spain, having discovered the Bahamas, Haiti and Cuba. In this first expedition Columbus lost the vessel "Santa Maria", 43 crew members were left on the island of La-Esponiola.
2. The second expedition on the West under Columbus's leadership started on September 25, 1493 from the port of Cadiz. The flotilla from 17 vessels went to swimming. According to different data from 1500 to 2500 thousand people were involved in it. It were not only sailors and adventurers who are almost inevitably present at any big enterprise – across the ocean went future colonists, strongly intended to cast in the lot with new lands. The second expedition discovered the Small Antilles and Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, visited the southern coast of Cuba, completely subdued Hispaniola and founded the city of Santo Domingo. Sailors returned home only in June, 1496.
3. The third campaign took place in 2 years. The Spanish crown practically did not gain income from new lands and Columbus could not collect for new swimming of the sufficient sum of money. On May 30, 1498 the expedition started, having only 6 ships and about 300 people of team which considerable part consisted of criminals – a common practice of that time. Columbus decided to keep closer to the equator, believing that here it is possible to find gold. As a result he opened the island of Trinidad and visited Orinoco. The third campaign ended for it disgracefully. In 1498 Portuguese Vasco da Gama for the first time passed to India by sea, having rounded Africa. Its ships returned loaded with spices, and it did Columbus by the deceiver – the lands opened for them not India at all. Besides, being an excellent seafarer, Columbus was absolutely useless politician and the administrator. Spain sent the new governor who arrested Columbus to Hispaniola. The expedition ended in 1499, and in 1500 Columbus returned home in shackles. Only intervention of influential financiers helped to remove disgrace.
4. The last, two-year travel of Columbus through Atlantic began on May 9, 1502. Its ships passed along coast of Central America. But the main objective – opening of pass to the Indian Ocean – was not reached. The expedition came to the end in October, 1504.
5. Columbus died in May, 1506, without having learned that the new continent opened. Until the end of life he considered these lands India or China. In several centuries Stefan Zweig called discovery of America "The Comedy of Errors", and the Encyclopaedist A. Humboldt "a monument to human injustice". Columbus "went to open one, found another, but to what he found, gave the name of the third" - a statement quite corresponding to the truth.
6. Made Columbus, Spaniards estimated only later half a century. In only 300 years of colonial rule Spain took out from the New World of precious metals and other values for the sum equal to the price of 3 million kg of gold. However it had no positive impact on national economy. On the contrary, parasitizing on robbery of colonies, Spain lagged behind the leading powers literally in all branches of economy more and more.
7. Of course, if not Columbus, old stuff would be all the same peddled. Today it is known that, for example, Viking Lejf Eriksson reached the New World five centuries earlier. But Eriksson for Europe was not a figure considerable, and his opening remained almost unnoticed. And the message about opening of new lands by Columbus extended very quickly and opened for Europeans new opportunities for expansion of trade and resettlement of quickly increasing population.
8. Besides to reach coast of India moving in the western direction, Columbus tried, being the convinced supporter of the theory of Aristotle about spherical shape of Earth, and was sure that the objective is achieved. A paradox – being mistaken, Columbus made great discovery.