What Happened In Christopher Columbus's Early Years

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa around the year 1451. He was the son of a merchant and as he got older, in his teenage years, he got a job on a merchant ship. Columbus remained at sea until 1470, while Columbus was at sea doing his job French privateers attacked his ship when he was sailing north along the Portuguese coast. This event is a major reason why Columbus turned out the way he did in his adult years. When the French privateers attacked his ship, his ship sank and Columbus found a floating piece of scrap wood to hang onto. As the young Columbus was floating at sea, he eventually floated onto the shore of Lisbon. While Columbus was in Lisbon, he studied mathematics, astronomy, cartography and navigation that he would later use in his many voyages at

With Columbus thinking this he met with King John II of Portugal and attempted to persuade him to back up his plan called “Enterprise of the Indies”. Columbus went to Spain after being rebuffed and was also rejected by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The Spanish monarchs agreed to support his voyage after their victory of their conquest of the Moorish kingdom of Granada in January 1492. On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina and on October 12 he reached land that probably was Watling Island, which is in the Bahamas and later on that month Columbus seen Cuba and thought it was mainland China. Columbus established a small colony in Hispaniola, which he thought was Japan with 39 of his men in December. In March 1493, Columbus returned to Spain with gold, spices, and “Indian” captives and was received with the highest honors by the Spanish court. During his lifetime Columbus would lead four expeditions to the New World discovering many Caribbean islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and the South and Central American