Christopher Columbus 1451-1506 By: Brycen Brumfield and Miles Cornwell

Christopher Columbus 1451-1506 By: Brycen Brumfield and Miles Cornwell

Early Life Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451, son of a wool merchant. Worked on a merchant ship as a teenager. Went to school at Lisbon, where he studied mathematics, astronomy, cartography, and navigation.

First Voyage On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew set sail on three ships. Those ships were the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Columbus decided to sail west across the Atlantic, unlike many other explorers.

First Voyage (continued) On October 12, 1492, Columbus reached land, what he assumed was Asia, yet it was the Bahamian Islands. Columbus couldn’t find the riches he promised his crew. In March of 1493, he left 40 of his men in a settlement on Hispaniola and returned to Spain.

Later Voyages In September of 1493, Columbus returned to the Americas, where he found the Hispaniola settlement destroyed. Columbus left his two brothers behind to rebuild the settlement with his crew and many enslaved natives.

Later Voyages (continued) In May of 1498, Columbus sailed for the third time to the Americas. Colonists started a bloody revolt, and Columbus was arrested and returned to Spain. In 1502, Columbus took one last trip, where he abandoned two of his four ships from an attack of natives.

Facts About Columbus Columbus took four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain. Columbus accidentally found the Americas, but he did not discover it. Columbus’s journeys marked the beginning of centuries of trans-Atlantic conquest and colonization.

Websites Used http://www.history.com/ encyclopedia.do?articleId 206142