italian, obsessed with sailing, not from noble blood although he claimed he was, ambitious, enthusiastic, known but not a hero bc of his inability to follow through
believed he could sail to Asia by traveling west, people thought he was crazy, he lacked money and sponsors (why he pretended to be noble), salesman like to queens and kings
went to Spain to talk to Ferdenand and Isabella (mainly Isabella, he was a womanizer), the pope told F and I to get the moors (muslims in Spain) out of Spain, Ferdenand says if he can get the moors out of Spain he would fund Columbus's expedition, F did not believe he could get the moors out of Spain which is why he made such a promise
Columbus got 3 crappy ships bc F wanted C out of his hair (into his wife and annoying), sent C out to die basically (When not If), C fixed boats up as much as he could and headed out, crew was hard to get and C lied to sailors to get them to come with him
sailors were fed up with C/felt deceived/didn't believe in C's expedition and were planning mutiny (to kill the captain and take over ship, punishable by death), didn't think they would have enough food, in the middle of the ocean, wanted to turn around but C wouldn't allow it
C called a meeting and said that they were 3 days away from land, on the 3rd night someone found flies flying around their lantern, meaning that land is near, flies don't fly in the middle of the ocean, decided C knew what he was talking about and didn't mutiny, 5th day they saw driftwood, then saw fog and land,
landed in San Salvador, the native Caribbeans on the 30th day
C said he would make the first person who found land rich, sailor claimed he found land first, C claimed to have found it 2 hours earlier, two hours earlier he would have been killed
natives and spaniards: natives saw white skin for first time, white skinned people are dead people, thought
that they were the walking dead, the natives welcomed them instead of killing them, they had different priorities
with goods as well as different goods , spaniards take anything natives offer and then some natives back to
Spain to prove he found Asia, scholars claim he didn't find Asia still, C continues to go back to "Asia"
set up natives in slavery to bring back something to Spain
Spaniards abused NA women, NA would kill those SP
led to Columbian Exchange
new world used and exploited
new diseases: small pox, typhus, measles-> millions of natives died/ the only thing brought back to Europe was Syphallis
Treaty of Tordesillas: pope drew a line dividing the world between Portugal and Spain, prevented a war, spanish got new world/west, Portugese got Africa/Brazil/Asia/East
Europeans gain wealth
enslaved NA to produce "cash crops" for $ (sugar, pineapple, rice, and later tobacco and cotton) and old world benefit
blending of cultures: political, social, foods, planting styles, religious ideas, (New world benefit)
never hit North America, only Cuba (the headquarters of Spanish Expeditions in the West)
ships: Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria
date: August 3, 1492
scholars believed west was open water w/ a few stray islands and that the world was the size of a basketball while C thought it was the size of a tennis ball
C believed Asia was 3,000 mi west, actually 12,000 miles west
motivations for conquering
god
just pushed the moors out of Spain for a Catholic Nation, wanted to spread christianity
glory
had a desire to know more about geography and gain fame (human curiosity)- wanted to be recognized
gold
the real motive of spanish conquering; actions didn't match up with words; wanted to gain wealth as in gold, land, spice (nutmeg, mace, ginger, cinnamon, pepper) used for flavor and medicine