Columbus finds the New World

Columbus

　　Christopher, Columbus (145l-1506), a famous navigator from Spain, and a pioneer of the geographical discovery. Columbus was a person who believed in the theory of “The world is round and spherical” when he was young. He especially esteemed Marco Polo who was once put into the prison in Genoa and Columbus was determined to be a navigator.Columbus found the Mainland America when he had been sailing across the Atlantic Ocean for four times from 1492 to 1502 and he became famous for it in the history. Columbus was an Italian and fond of taking risk of seafaring since his childhood. He read Macro Polo’s Travel Notes and yearned towards India and China. The theory of “The earth is round” was in vogue and Columbus undoubtedly believed in it as others. For realizing his project of sailing from the west to eastern countries, he had asked for financial aid from the queens of Portugal, Spain, as well as England and France. However, he never succeeded in it. On one hand, the theory of “The world is round and” was still incomplete and many people didn’t trust it. They just regarded Columbus as a mountebank. There was a commissioner at a special investigation committee about his plan asked him,” Even though the earth is round, and you can successfully arrive in the east sailing from the west and get back to the departure port. Therefore, one section sailing that must be the upward climbing from the earth. How could the sailing boat climb up?” Facing with this question, eloquent Columbus was tongue-tied too. On the other hand, the western countries demanded the eastern wealth & materials then, the most important things are spices & gold apart from those traditional silk, porcelain, tea, etc. Among them spice is the indispensable material for European’s daily life and diet. It was in very high demand but was unavailable in their localities. At that time, those goods were mainly transported by the trade routes of traditional sea and land transportation. The Vested Interests Group who dealing with those products was strongly against his plan for pioneering a new sea-lane. Columbus had persuaded for over a decade everywhere in order to realize his plan. Until in 1492, the Spanish queen, her discerning eyes can tell greatness from mediocrity, she persuaded the king and even would like to take out her own private savings and subsidize Columbus for him to implement his project.

Columbus' fleet

Columbus' fleet
　　On August 3rd, 1492, Columbus was sent by the Spanish king to take the credentials to the Indian monarch and Chinese emperor. He was leading on three sailing boats of about 3 hundred tons each and sailed out to the Atlantic Ocean from Barrows harbor of Spain, navigating directly towards the west. He went through the arduous navigation for 70 days and nights and finally found the mainland on the early morning of October 12th, 1492. Columbus thought that he had reached India. But he knew it later that the land he mounted on, which belonged to the contemporary Bahamas Islands in the Barre Sea of Central America. He named it as “San Salvador” at that time. 　　Columbus got back to Spain on March 15th, 1493. He re-sailed his western navigation for three times after that and disembarked many other American harbors. However, he had opined the place where he arrived was India until his death in 1506. Later, an Italian scholar, who was called Amerigo got to know that the places where Columbus had arrived were not India through his further investigations, but a new continent that was originally unknown before. Columbus did find the new landmass. However, it was named after the person who proved it to be new continent. That is America.

Columbus throws the wooden barrel which is equipped with the parchment letter away the sea

Columbus throws the wooden barrel which is equipped with the parchment letter away the sea
Subsequently, it constantly came forth various kinds of veiled words for who found America the earliest. Columbus’ conclusion of finding the New World is indubitable, anyhow. It’s because that people in Europe, Asia, Africa and even the whole old continent didn’t know this mainland in the other shore of the Atlantic at that time. As for the person who first reached America should be another question, because American aborigines themselves migrated from Asia in the past ancient period. It’s extremely possible for the early dwellers of China and Oceania to sail for America, but all these can't change the fact that Columbus found the New World.

　　Columbus' oceangoing voyage was the beginning of the great navigation era. The inauguration of the new sea-lane has changed the process of the world history. It changed the route of overseas trade from Mediterranean to the Atlantic seacoasts. The west finally went out of the darkness of the Middle Ages hereafter, and began to grow up in the world with the irresistible tendency, and get the great achievement of seafaring in several centuries after that. A brand-new industrial civilization becomes the mainstream of economic development of the world.