Essay on Christopher Columbus Major Accomplishments

The Atlantic trade route was one of the newest trade routes that shaped the development of World History to 1500 by giving the Old World an entrance to the New World through the travel of the Atlantic Ocean. Although the New World was not new as it had existed just as long as the Old World, but to Europe it was a discovery of a newer world to find riches and expand their religious beliefs. With the help of the Italian mariner Christopher Columbus and the aid of King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, the Atlantic Trade route would change the history of the world. Columbus wanted to reach Asia since that was where all the money was, it contained riches like spices and silk, but Columbus did not want to travel through the Silk Road. Instead Columbus wanted to find a new route to Asia by travelling through “but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that anyone has gone.” Columbus wanted to travel across the Atlantic Ocean and was determined to find a new ocean route to Asia. After failed attempts to have his exploration aided, in 1492 Isabella and Ferdinand authorized Columbus to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to reach India before the Portuguese. Rather than arriving in Asia, to Columbus’ mistake, he landed on one of the Bahamas Islands believing it was an Indian subcontinent. Columbus then “discovered” a New World that benefitted the old one and developed World History to 1500. The effects the Atlantic trade route caused on the expansion of world civilization were the encounter of a new race, which were the Native Americans, slavery, religion, and the new ocean trade route. [0: ]

The Spanish Overseas exploration began with Christopher Columbus. The reason for the exploration was to spread the Catholic faith and trading. On October 11, 1492, Columbus made it to land and met a new set of people he had never seen before, but he was certain he had arrived in India. He described the humans as “very well made, with very handsome bodies, and very good countenances. Their hair is short and coarse, almost like the hairs of a horse’s tail. They wear the hairs brought down to the eyebrows, except for a few locks behind, which they wear long and never cut. They paint themselves black, and they are the color of the Canarians, neither black nor white.”1 They astonished Columbus by their appearance, they were characterized as well made, but also “appeared to me to be a race of people very poor in everything. They go as naked as when their mothers bore them..”1 one of Columbus’ requirements from Ferdinand and Isabella was to convert anyone they encountered into a Christian to help spread the religion throughout the world. The natives were an easy target for Columbus to convert to Christianity as “they should be good servants and intelligent, for I observed that they quickly took in what was said to them, and I believe that they would easily be made Christians, as it appeared to me that they had no religion, our Lord being pleased..”1 Columbus took advantage of the natives as they were friendly from the moment Columbus arrived to their home. He took natives as prisoners on his exploration of the new world as they were valuable resources to him and helpful to his aid. On his way back to Spain, Columbus captured some natives to travel along his journey back to Spain. From the very beginning, Columbus saw the natives as an easy target to enslave, “with fifty men they can all be subjugated and made to do what is required of them.”1 The enslavement of the natives developed world civilization as it opened a new chapter in world history, a chapter that began the demand for slavery.

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After he voyaged to the new world, Columbus arrived back to Spain mainly empty-handed from the riches that he had promised Isabella and Ferdinand. Although some of the natives he encountered back in the Americas had bits of gold, “I was attentive and took the trouble to ascertain if there was gold. I saw that some of them had a small piece fastened in a hole they have in the nose, and by signs I was able to make out that to the south, or going from the island to the south, there was a king who had great cups full, and who possessed a great quantity,”1 Columbus was certain that they had leaders who possessed amounts of quantity of gold, but was severely disappointed to finding no sources of gold other than the bits of accessories the natives wore that were made of the rich material. Even though Columbus failed to bring any riches, to Ferdinand and Isabella’s surprise, they were pleased to have acquired new islands from the Caribbean. Throughout Columbus’ voyage to the new world, Columbus was convinced that he was in Asia, rather than South America, but he still renamed the Caribbean Island to Hispaniola, which became a part of the Spanish colonization. Although Columbus was not successful in finding riches, during another Spanish overseas exploration, silver was discovered back in South America. The silver was taken back to Europe to be used as money and allowed the Europeans to buy all the resources they wanted to buy from Asia. As silver was rare in the Old World, the Europeans took advantage of its value until Asia caught on to their scheme and began to tax silver. The Spanish wanted to do more maritime explorations, but they needed money for the voyages which was solved by opening stock markets to fund the expenses.

Christopher Columbus has voyaged across the Atlantic four different times. From the beginning of the Spanish Overseas exploration in 1492 to his last voyage in 1502. After his third voyage, Columbus was convinced that the end of the world was coming and the second coming of Jesus was going to occur. He wrote The Book of Prophecies and explained that for the end of the world to occur, certain things must happen first. In his letter to King and Queen Ferdinand and Isabella, he explains how they need to take place in God’s mystical plan. For God’s plan to be fulfilled, Columbus must travel to Jerusalem and take it over from the Muslims, as it is the holy land where Jesus had lived and died, “our lord wished to make something miraculous of this voyage to the Indies to encourage me and others about the holy temple.” To Columbus’ belief, “I have already said that for the voyage to the Indies, neither intelligence nor mathematics nor world maps were any use to me; it was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy,”2 he needed no map to travel to the Indies as it’s his prophecy to arrive there. If the King and Queen were to accept to fulfill the position of being the last emperor, Columbus would be able to conquer Jerusalem and victory would be given. Thus in 1502, Columbus sailed on his fourth voyage from Cadiz, but instead of arriving at Jerusalem, Columbus was back in South America. As Columbus had traveled across the Atlantic three times before, he was certain of his prophecy as he spread Christianity during his voyages. [1: ]

The Old World was given an entrance to the New World with the Atlantic Ocean Trade route and helped shape the development of World History to 1500. Although the New World wasn’t actually “new,” to the Old World it allowed it to find a new source of riches, land to conquer, and to spread religious beliefs. With the help of the Italian mariner Christopher Columbus and the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, the New World was given a popularity it had never seen before. After mistakenly travelling through the Atlantic Ocean wanting to reach Asia, Columbus arrived in the Bahaman Islands and from there traveled through the Carribeans looking for riches. The Old World benefited from the New World as it developed World History to 1500 with the help of the Atlantic trade route. Its effects caused the expansion of world civilization where the encounter of a new race the Old World had never seen, which were the Native Americans, slavery, that will soon led to the beginning of the Atlantic Slave Trade, the spread of religion to the Americas, and most importantly, a new Trade Route and the beginning of the Modern World.