Great Turning Points In History: The Discovery Of America By Christopher Columbus

Jarek 1

Nick Jarek

Miss Richardson

World History 9 Honors

December 1st 2014

Great Turning Points in History: The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, 1492

Part 1 (10 Points) Important Place(s)/Date(s) of Event:

• 1000 BCE: The year that the Phoenicians reached South America.

• .1415: In this year, Henry took part in the storming of Ceuta.

• 1419: It was this year that Prince Henry returned from an expedition in Morocco, and settled in Sagres. Here he called together all the captains, pilots, maritime scientists, and cartographers. He make a school and trained these people.

• Circa 1451: This was the year that Christopher Columbus was born.

• February 15, 1493: On this date Christopher Columbus wrote a letter to the monarchs of Spain

He wanted to sail since age 14. He married one of Henry’s captains and served under Portugal for a little while. He later wanted to sail to Asia in 3 months by crossing the Atlantic. He searched all over Europe for sponsors, but nobody wanted to sponsor him. He was finally able to go to Spain where Ferdinand and Isabella sponsored him to go and spread Christianity. He found the New World and treated the ‘Indians’ horribly.

‘Indians’ (AKA Native Americans): These people lived in the Caribbean. When the Spanish arrived, they were treated poorly. Said to have been bare naked, these peaceful, timid people were mistaken for the natives of India by Columbus and got their nickname as ‘Indians’. They would give up everything they had for something very valueless from Spain such as a coin, or a basket. They thought that Columbus and his men came from Heaven, so they gave him almost anything he wanted.

Amerigo Vespucci: Vespucci was a pickle dealer at Seville. He went out on an expedition to South America and wrote a letter to Lorenzo de Medici. This caused him to get the credit. A geographer and cartographer named it “America” because “Americus discovered

Both of these trading empires would come to an end with the discovery of the New World. When knowledge of geography greatened, so did the need for expansion and exploration. Before this, people were scared to explore due to supposed ‘Sea Monsters’ that lived far out in the depths of the oceans. The Muslims had a head start, as they inherited the knowledge of Greece and Rome. They also found out much themselves. Explorers now used the sextant, magnetic compass, and astrolabe to leave the sights of land, which, until this point, was unheard of. There were also new ships that were ready for such adventures. The caravel was one of them. It was a large, three masted cargo ship, with the newly invented triangular Lateen Sails. These new ships were more prepared for hazardous or dangerous weather and conditions. Using this technology, the Portuguese started where the Arabs left off. They ventured into the Atlantic Ocean. They created the first colonial empire in modern times. This empire spanned from Brazil to the East Indies. The reason Portugal was ahead was because of Prince Henry the Navigator. Born in 1394, he was the son of King John the First. John had successfully unified his country at the expense of Castillians and Moroccan