Christopher Columbus was one of the greatest explorers known to man. Columbus had many different reasons for his explorations. Later, the main reason for his explorations was selfishness. Just like many other explorers before Columbus, he wanted land, he wanted power, and he also wanted gold. The reason for his very first voyage to what he thought was India, but later was found out to be Central America, was to get land for Spain. Eventually Columbus got all of the ships and money that he needed for his first voyage from Spain’s Queen Isabella. Later on, he had reached the opportunity to achieve his main goal that was caused by selfishness, he wanted to become rich. Queen Isabella was also just as selfish as Columbus was. The only reason that
1. Christopher Columbus and monarchs, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were interested in the wealth that his expedition would secure. “Columbus was promised a large share of any economic benefits that might accrue from is voyage and extensive authority over any lands he might discover. The monarchs also stood to benefit.” Their anticipation was for the potential of discovery of riches such as “pearls, precious stones, gold silver, [and] spices”, as well as any other wealth that could be “bought, bartered, discovered, acquired or obtained.”
Christopher Columbus: The 15th Century Gold Digger Christopher Columbus was a famous Italian explorer who unintentionally discovered the Americas in 1492. On Friday, August 3 of that year, he began his voyage shortly before sunrise from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean to his destination of what he believed to be the “East Indies”. All three of Columbus’s ships were stocked with supplies, food, and sea men who were prepared for the long journey ahead of them. Although Columbus had not realized it at the time, he and his men discovered what would become Europe’s foothold in the advancing world.
Columbus was hungry for gold, as he wanted to bring it back to Spain. Columbus sailed back to Spain after one of his three ships crashed in Hispaniola. He brought back many things to show the Spanish king and queen including natives he had kidnapped. He did not bring back enough gold so he went back to the land had “discovered”. When he arrived, he heard that a local chief had tons of gold on his land.
Columbus knew he needed the support of royals to make the voyage to cross the Atlantic, but he was denied from the year 1484 until he finally gained support in 1492. He quickly began the trip across the Atlantic. The “New World '' was founded by Christopher Columbus and his crew upon the Santa Maria. He founded what is now known as South America. He never got close to the modern day United
A heavily debated topic in this day and age is if Christopher Columbus was really a hero or a mass murderer. On one hand, he opened up access to the New World and created trade routes, on the other, he primarily unintentionally almost wiped out a population and abused Native Americans. I believe that Columbus was more of a hero than he was a villain because he had a normal mindset and goal for Spaniards during the time period, many things he is blamed for happened completely unintentionally or by accident, and Columbus wasn’t the only one who had servants and took Natives captive. Often when looking back into history, we unintentionally judge events, people, and actions based off of our current mindset, and Christopher Columbus was no exception.
His motivations were like those of most men in that time: God, Gold, and Glory. Columbus wanted to become rich by finding the spices that were in Asia and he also wanted to prove that Asia wasn’t really that far from Europe. He also wanted to spread Christianity through his journey. As well as his theory being proven correct, he also had many things to gain. In his journal it states, “[Your Highness] ordered me to proceed with a sufficient armament to the said regions of India, and for that purpose granted me great favors, and ennobled me that thenceforth I might call myself Don, and be High Admiral of the Sea, and perpetual Viceroy and Governor in all the islands and continents which I might discover and acquire, or which may hereafter he discovered and acquired in the ocean; and that this dignity should be inherited by my eldest son, and thus descend from degree to degree forever.”
Christopher Columbus as we know is the historical person credited for the discovery of the New World. Zheng He was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa. Each men and their fleets had two completely different reason for their travel. Christopher Columbus purpose was to find a new trade way to the Asian countries. Zheng He's purpose was to enlarge empires control of seaway trade.
Columbus had to ask for money for his voyage, he asked lots of people who had extra cash and finally someone agreed. Queen Isabella, she gave him three ships which were the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria as well as ninety sailors. He later wrote a letter to the King of Spain on his voyage back from America about his “discoveries” surprisingly, not asking for money. “I discovered many islands inhabited by numerous people. I took possession of all of them for our most fortunate King by making public proclamation and unfurling his standard, no one making any resistance.”
Along with the West Indies he explored North America. There were two reasons he traveled to North America. The first was for riches such as gold which was believed to be there. His big goal was to conquer Florida for the Spanish Crown and for his country of Spain. He was also the first European to discover the Mississippi River.
Columbus wanted gold, gems, land, and titles for himself and the nation of Spain, which was some of the same interests of the king. Because of this Columbus got the chance to sail to Asia. The idea of being able to trade with the West Indies by sailing westward was very intriguing. This new passage would be a lot safer and less treacherous than the old.
Instead of finding the Indies he finds the “New World” and creates a settlement of his own and starts to do terrible things. This can be taken as Christopher Columbus being greedy and self righteous than being an explorer for Spain. Christopher Columbus should be considered as a pirate instead of an explorer. Christopher is more of a pirate than explorer is that he became the ruler of the new land he found and was very unfair to the natives and his people.
Many European explorers wanted to become wealthier in their travels. This is shown in Letter of Christopher Columbus to Luis de Sant Angel, where the text states, “I can give them as much gold, spices, cotton, and as many Indian slaves as they choose to send for.” Christopher Columbus is requesting that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella fund his journey. He promises to make them rich in return. This demonstrates how explorers, like Columbus, were seeking gold and other treasures when they began exploring.
Christopher Columbus was an explorer who was known to discover the new world. There was another side to Christopher Columbus that they don’t talk about. Columbus first set foot in Hispaniola where he encountered a group of native that was called the Taino. The Taino was a friendly group of people who traded jewelry, animals, and supplies with sailors. In the article Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain?
The day Christopher Columbus step foot in the Americas, he began to manipulate the natives he saw. While they saw him as a potential friend, Columbus saw them as fine slaves that could lead him to what he really wanted - gold. When he found out how naive and friendly they were being with him, he started to take advantage of that fact. He forced them to show him where the treasure was, for his own selfish reasons.
The contract signed with the monarchs made Columbus the governor of any land that he would discover giving him the power he desired. Along with the power of being governor of the new land, he was also given the rights to ten percent of all that he brought back with him to Spain giving him the wealth. This included all gold, pearls, spices, and other objects which he intended to retrieve in the largest quantity possible. After more than a two month voyage, he finally landed on the islands of what is now the present day Bahamas. This seemingly innocent discovery soon would turn into a more than devastating