The discovery of America is one of the greatest events in human history. The history of the discovery of a huge continent is fraught with many interesting and surprising facts. To this day, there is debate about who actually discovered America. Everyone knows that the name of the discoverer is Christopher Columbus, why is the land named in honor of Amerigo Vespucci, and who else visited the continent before Columbus ... More about this and many other things - later in the article.
At the end of the fifteenth century, the Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus with his expedition reached the shores of North America, mistakenly believing that he had arrived in India. It was from this moment that the era of the discovery of America began and the beginning of its development and research. However, there are researchers who consider this date inaccurate, insisting that the new continent was discovered much earlier.
The first information about the existence of a new continent, later called America, appeared in the prehistoric period. These events happened by chance. The motives for discoveries were, as a rule, the search for habitable lands (the desire to survive), the search for gold and large trading cities.
The first were the Paleo-Indians
The first to settle in America about 15 thousand years ago were people from Asia. In the Pleistocene epoch, as a result of the melting of ice sheets (Laurentian and Cordillera), a narrow corridor was formed between Russia and Alaska. The so-called land bridge between the western coast of Alaska and Siberia, or the Bering Isthmus, connected the continents of Asia and North America as a result of falling ocean levels.
The Paleo-Indians, the ancient settlers of America, arrived from Asia to America across the Bering Isthmus following the movement of prey - large animals. Migrations took place before the closure of the corridor, that is, the closure of the Laurentian and Cordillera glaciers. In the future, the settlement of America already took place by sea or on ice. When the ice age ended and the ice plates melted, the settlers who arrived in America were isolated from other continents.
It turns out that for the first time the American continents were discovered by nomadic Asian tribes, who initially settled in North America, then occupied Central and South America. It was they who later became the Native American peoples.
The legend of the Irish monks
According to popular Irish legend, in the 6th century, a group of Irish monks led by Saint Brendan traveled west by boat in search of new lands. Seven years later, the monks returned home and reported that they had discovered the lush land of what is now Newfoundland.
However, there is no precise evidence to support the fact that Irish monks not only saw, but also visited the coast of North America. In 1976, British traveler Tim Severin decided to prove that such a trip was possible. He made a replica of the monastic ship and sailed from Ireland to North America, following a route once described by traveling monks. As a result, the researcher reached Canada.
Vikings and "Vinland"
In 984, the Scandinavian navigator Eric Krasus discovered Greenland as a result of exploring ancient sea routes. In 999, his son, Leif Eriksson, having gathered a crew of 35 people, set off on one ship from Greenland to Norway. In about 1000, Leif Erikson reached North America on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. There, on the territory of the modern Canadian island of Newfoundland, he founded a Norwegian settlement.
Because of the abundance of vineyards on this land, the Vikings named the settlement "Vinland", which means "Grape land" in English. But Erickson and his team did not stay there for a long time. Due to hostile relations with the native North Americans, they only stayed a few years before returning to Greenland.
In the sagas, the Vikings who settled in America are referred to as Native Americans - "Skreling". Most of the sagas come from Scandinavian folklore, but in 1960, Helge Ingstad, a Norwegian archaeologist, found at the northern tip of Newfoundland, Canada, the first European Viking settlement of the late 11th century, which is identical to the settlements in the Scandinavian countries. This historical and archaeological site, called "L" Anse aux Meadows ", scientists recognize as evidence of transoceanic contacts that took place prior to the discovery made by Columbus.
Sailors from China
In disputes "who discovered America" \u200b\u200beven facts about Chinese visits to America emerge. Gavin Menzies, a British naval officer, advanced the theory of Chinese colonization of South America. According to him, a Chinese explorer named Zheng He, who commanded an armada of wooden sailing ships in the early 15th century, discovered the continent in 1421. According to the officer, Zheng He used advanced navigation techniques to explore areas such as Southeast Asia, India and the east coast of Africa.
In his book, 1421 - The Year China Discovered the World, Gavin Menzies wrote that Zheng He was heading for the east coast of the United States and, presumably, established settlements in South America. Menzies's theory is based on evidence from ancient shipwrecks, data from Chinese and European maps, and reports that were compiled by navigators of the time. However, the theory is in doubt.
Columbus's accidental discovery
1942 is considered the year of the discovery of America, although some historians consider these figures to be rather rough. Columbus discovered America by accident. While discovering new lands and islands over the course of four expeditions, Columbus did not even imagine that this was a completely different continent, which would later be called the "New World". Each time, arriving on new and new lands, the traveler believed that these are the lands of "Western India".
All of Europe thought so for a long time, until another navigator Vasco da Gama declared Columbus a deceiver, since it was Gamma who found the direct path to India, visited there and brought local gifts and spices. There are suggestions that Columbus died convinced that he had opened a new path to India, and not at all a new, previously unknown side of the world.
The mysterious name of the continent
Why was the new continent named not after Columbus, who discovered it, but in honor of the navigator Amerigo Vespucci? The traveler Vespucci's visit to this part of the "New World" is the first widely known and recorded fact. In 1503, he sent a letter to his Medici friend with the following text “These countries should be called the New World ... Most of the ancient authors say that there is no continent south of the equator, but only the sea, and if some of them recognized the existence of a continent there, then they did not consider it inhabited. But my last trip proved that their opinion was erroneous and completely contrary to the facts, since in the southern regions I found a continent more densely populated by people and animals than our Europe, Asia or Africa, and, in addition, the climate is more moderate and pleasant than in any of the countries known to us ... "
It was he who first put forward the assumption that the discovered land is not India or China, but a new unknown continent. And the quote from his letter that has flown around the world became a good reason for the decision to name the new continent in honor of the then unknown sales representative, and not in honor of the famous discoverer. The name America first appeared in 1507 in Martin Waldseemüller's Introduction to Cosmography. Under the same name, a new continent is also represented on the first globe of Johann Schener (1511).
An interesting fact is that not a single mention of Vespucci's initiative was found to assign his name to open overseas lands.
For the curious
There is good reason to believe that the continent was named after the English philanthropist from Bristol, Richard America, who financed the second transatlantic expedition of John Cabot in 1497. Vespucci also took the nickname in honor of the already named continent. Cabot became the first officially registered European to set foot on the North American continent, reaching the shores of Labrador in May 1497. It was he who mapped the coast of North America - from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. Bristol entered the following entries into its calendar that year: “… on the day of St. John the Baptist found the land of America by merchants from Bristol, who arrived by ship from Bristol with the name "Matthew" ".
The history of the discovery of America is quite amazing. These events took place at the end of the 15th century due to the rapid development of navigation and shipping in Europe. In many ways, we can say that the discovery of the American continent happened quite by accident and the motives were very commonplace - the search for gold, wealth, large trading cities.
In the 15th century, ancient tribes lived on the territory of modern America, who were very good-natured and hospitable. In Europe, in those days, the states were already quite developed and modern. Each country tried to expand its sphere of influence, find new sources of replenishment of the state treasury. At the end of the 15th century, trade flourished, the development of new colonies.
Who discovered America?
In the 15th century, ancient tribes lived on the territory of modern America, who were very good-natured and hospitable. In Europe, even then, the states were quite developed and modern. Each country tried to expand its sphere of influence, to find new sources of replenishment of the state treasury.
When you ask any adult and child who discovered America, we will hear about Columbus. It was Christopher Columbus who gave impetus to the active search and development of new lands.
Christopher Columbus is the great Spanish navigator. There is little information about where he was born and spent his childhood and they are contradictory. It is known that being young, Christopher was fond of cartography. He was married to the daughter of a navigator. In 1470, the geographer and astronomer Toscanelli informed Columbus of his suggestions that the journey to India was shorter by sailing west. Apparently then Columbus began to nurture his idea of \u200b\u200ba short way to India, while according to his calculations, it was necessary to sail through the Canary Islands, and there already Japan would be close.
Since 1475, Columbus has been making attempts to implement the idea and make an expedition. The goal of the expedition is to find a new trade route to India across the Atlantic Ocean. To do this, he turned to the government and merchants of Genoa, but he was not supported. The second attempt to find funding for the expedition was the Portuguese king João II, but even here, after a long study of the project, he was refused.
The last time with his project, he came to the Spanish king. At the beginning, his project was considered for a long time, even several meetings and commissions were held, this lasted several years. His idea was supported by bishops and Catholic kings. But Columbus received the final support for his project after the victory of Spain in the city of Granada, which was freed from the Arab presence.
The expedition was organized on the condition that Columbus, if successful, will receive not only the gifts and riches of the new lands, but will also receive, in addition to the status of a nobleman, the title: Admiral of the Sea-Ocean and Viceroy of all lands, which he will discover. For Spain, a successful expedition promised not only the development of new lands, but also the opportunity to trade with India directly, since according to the agreement concluded with Portugal, Spanish ships were forbidden to enter the waters of the west coast of Africa.
When and how did Columbus discover America?
Historians consider the year 1942 to be the year of America's discovery, although this is a rather rough estimate. While discovering new lands and islands, Columbus did not even imagine that this was another continent, which would later be called the "New World". The traveler undertook 4 expeditions. He came to new and new lands, believing that these are the lands of "Western India". For a long time, everyone in Europe thought so. However, another traveler Vasco da Gama declared Columbus a deceiver, since it was Gamma who found the direct route to India and brought gifts and spices from there.
What kind of America did Christopher Columbus discover? We can say that thanks to his expeditions since 1492, Columbus discovered both North and South America. To be more precise, the islands were discovered, which are now considered either South or North America.
Who Discovered America First?
Although historically it is believed that it was Columbus who discovered America, in fact this is not entirely true.
There is evidence that the "New World" was previously visited by the Scandinavians (Leif Eriksson in 1000, Thorfinn Karlsefni in 1008), this journey became known from the manuscripts "The Saga of Eric the Red" and "The Saga of the Greenlanders". There are other "discoverers of America", but the scientific community does not take them seriously, as there is no reliable data. For example, the African traveler from Mali - Abu Bakr II, the Scottish nobleman Henry Sinclair, the Chinese traveler Zheng He previously visited America.
Why was America called America?
The first widely known and recorded fact is the visit to this part of the "New World" by the traveler and navigator Amerigo Vespucci. It is noteworthy that it was he who put forward the assumption that this is not India or China, but a completely new, previously unknown continent. It is believed that this is why the name of America was assigned to the new land, and not its discoverer, Columbus.
October 12, 1492 is a significant date in world history, since it was on this day that the expedition of Christopher Columbus reached the island of San Salvador and thereby discovered a new continent - America. Let us deal with the main prerequisites for such an "incident", isolating some facts, analyze the course of the expedition itself and briefly summarize its results for the states of that time.
Basic prerequisites
It is not entirely correct to speak about the prerequisites for the discovery of America in isolation from the context of other great geographical discoveries: in addition to the Columbus expedition, many attempts were made to reach new lands by sea. There are three main factors that are crucial for the formation of such aspirations in many states and travelers:
- Not so long ago, under the onslaught of the Ottoman Turks, Byzantium fell, which served as the birth of the Ottoman Empire. Since the latter was located in the east of the Mediterranean and in Asia Minor, all trade relations ("Silk Road") with the countries of the east were terminated.
- Spices that were purchased in India and Indochina, as well as many other goods, were extremely important for European states.
- In the 14th century, geographers misunderstood the size of the Earth. It was believed that all land is limited to the continents of Eurasia and Africa; it was also thought that the distance between the western point of Europe and the eastern point of Asia is no more than a few thousand kilometers.
Expedition progress
The beginning of the expedition is considered to be August 3, 1492, when: on that very day, three ships ("Santa Maria", "Pinta", "Niña") began their journey from the Spanish city of Palos de La Frontera. The first documented event was the appearance of algae on the path on September 16. We mention this fact for a reason: during the passage through a body of water with algae, the Sargasso Sea was discovered. The next event took place on October 7, 1492, when the course was seriously changed: it seemed to the crew that the ships passed Japan. That is why the expedition headed southwest.
Soon after, on October 12, ships saw one of the still famous Bahamas, which was named San Salvador - a kind of symbolic tribute to the image of Jesus Christ. According to the available information, the land was noticed by the sailor of the "Pinta" caravel Rodrigo de Triana, who did not manage to receive the reward promised by the King of Spain afterwards.
It is worth noting that the duration of the Bahamas archipelago is more than a thousand kilometers: it "stretches" from Florida to Haiti and has about three thousand islands of different sizes. On October 13, Columbus decided to land, during which he raised the Castilian banner; in fact, it was an official "takeover": an appropriate document was even drawn up.
For two weeks, the expedition moved southward, during which islands such as Cuba and Haiti were discovered. Since the geographical representations of the 15th century were seriously different from modern ones, Columbus considered these lands to be East Asia. Subsequently, the open areas received the appropriate name - "West Indies".
The next important incident happened already in December - on the 26th the ship "Santa Maria" was unlucky enough to get to the reefs. Thanks to the help of the natives - the indigenous inhabitants - the navigators managed to cope with the misfortune: guns, supplies, valuable cargo were removed. The wreckage of the ship became the basis for the creation of the fort, which became the first settlement of Europeans on the new continent. Its name is known to many - "Navidad".
The next major date is March 15, 1493, when the expedition returned to its homeland. It is worth noting that Columbus took with him the natives ("Indians"), some gold and plants outlandish for Europeans, among which were potatoes, tobacco and corn. Subsequently, three more expeditions were carried out, which we will not describe in detail; we only note that their result was the discovery of the islands of Jamaica, Dominica, Puerto Rico, as well as the territories of Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
A moment of awareness
Note that at the time of the return of the expedition, many did not realize the significance of the discovery. Columbus himself was deeply disappointed: the natives did not make much of an impression on him, and no wealth was found during the expedition. Already soon - in 1494 - the so-called. Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided open territories between Portugal and Spain. At that time, it was not known that the entire western part of the American continent passed into the possession of the latter. Soon after the return of Columbus, many travelers headed towards the open lands, but the realization of what had happened did not come immediately.
The name "America" \u200b\u200bitself appeared only in 1507: this is how cartographers named the continent in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. The latter is also a famous discoverer: it was he who first suggested that the open lands were not India at all, but the so-called. "New World". He sent reports in 1502 and 1504.
Outcome
It is obvious that the results of the discovery of a new continent were stunning: the situation in the world has changed fundamentally. The active development of new lands began, the development of shipbuilding was spurred on. It is natural that for some time international ties were significantly strengthened, but soon the new territories became the cause of numerous conflicts.
Another important point is the dramatic changes in the economy. The so-called. "Revolution" of prices caused by the flow of various metals (gold, silver and some others). World trade has significantly strengthened, and a huge number of new products have appeared.
Naturally, certain areas of science and technology began to develop more rapidly. Moreover, the discovery of America was reflected even in culture: Europeans learned about a fundamentally different structure of society, which was reflected in the works of Thomas More.
When and who discovered America? The issue remains controversial to this day. Because before that it is necessary to decide: what is considered the discovery of America? The first proven European visit to the New World? This happened half a millennium before Christopher Columbus (remember the Normans). The first settlement of Europeans on the new mainland appeared at the same time. Although, the Vikings did not appreciate their discovery ...
But Columbus too! The discovery of America at the end of the Middle Ages is of particular importance: it was from this time that the colonization of the new continent by the Europeans began, and then its study. However, uncertainty remains. Consider: in the first two expeditions, Columbus surveyed only the islands adjacent to the New World. Only in the summer of 1498 did he set foot on the land of South America.
A year earlier, members of an English expedition headed by John Cabot, an Italian by origin, reached North America. And in this case, it was assumed that the “Kingdom of the Great Khan” (China) was opened. The next spring the voyage was repeated. But the lack of economic benefits, income from this kind of enterprises cooled the interest of the British in the development of new territories. Scientific advances must be recognized and associated with the expansion of the horizons of knowledge. And here - a complete lack of understanding of the essence of the achieved. It is more logical to determine the moment when the truth was first revealed. And then the name of Amerigo Vespucci comes to the fore.
But we must pay tribute to the feat of Columbus and his contribution to the knowledge of the Earth. It was he who obtained the evidence (although later substantially refined), received the facts confirming the idea of \u200b\u200bthe spherical shape of the Earth. It is no coincidence that he conceived a trip around the world and tried to implement it. Let Columbus imagine the Earth much less than it really is. It is more important that he not only speculatively, in his imagination, but also really, thanks to travel, was convinced of the spherical, closed nature of earthly space.
And yet, the oceans from a great barrier have turned into great connecting links connecting all continents and all peoples of the planet. The conditions have been created for the creation of a single all-terrestrial civilization (“oceanic”, according to LI Mechnikov's idea). In the following centuries, all that remained was to develop vehicles and establish contacts.
A significant fact: almost at the same time with the accession of Columbus to the land of South America, and Cabota - North, the Portuguese flotilla under the command of Vasco da Gama first reached India by sea. Dozens of years later, the Spanish conquistador Vasco Balboa with a military detachment, having overcome mountain slopes and dense thickets, crossed the Isthmus of Panama and was the first of the Europeans to visit the coast of the unknown "South Sea".
The World Ocean somehow immediately, almost overnight, submitted to people. Why did it happen? First of all, as a result of the emergence of navigation devices that make it possible to navigate in the open sea, as well as geographical maps of lands and oceans. Although the instruments and maps were imperfect, they made it possible to navigate in space, to outline specific goals and pave the way to them.
Christopher Columbus
Amerigo Vespucci was a fairly experienced helmsman and cartographer, knew navigation; the last years of his life he was the chief pilot of Castile (he tested the knowledge of the ship's pilots, supervised the drawing up of maps, was engaged in drawing up secret reports to the government about new geographical discoveries). He took part in one of the first expeditions to reach the "Southern Continent" (as South America was originally called) and, perhaps, was the first to realize the essence of the achievement. In other words, he made a scientific theoretical discovery, while Columbus practically discovered new lands.
At the time of Amerigo, allegedly his letter was printed, which reported on his visit to the southern continent as early as 1497, that is, before Columbus. But this is not documented. It is very likely that nothing of the kind simply happened. But there is no doubt that Amerigo was not involved in this kind of misunderstanding. He did not claim the laurels of the discoverer and did not try to assert his priority. This was influenced by the popularization of knowledge and the spread of printing.
In Europe, messages about new lands and peoples were snapped up. People understood all the greatness of the deeds performed, their enormous significance for the future. Printing houses promptly printed messages about travels to the west. One of them appeared in 1503 in Italy and France: a small pamphlet entitled "New World". The preface says that it has been translated from Italian into Latin, "so that all educated people know how many wonderful discoveries have been made these days, how many unknown worlds have been discovered and what they are rich in."
The book was a great success with readers. It is written lively, interestingly, truthfully. It informs (in the form of a letter to Vespucci) about the sailing in the summer of 1501 on behalf of the king of Portugal across the stormy Atlantic to the shores of the Unknown Land. It is called not Asia, but the New World.
A little later published another message about the voyages of Amerigo Vespucci. And in the end, a collection appeared, including stories by different authors about the voyages of Columbus, Vasco da Gama and some other travelers. The compiler of the collection came up with a catchy title that intrigues readers: "New World and New Countries Discovered by Alberico Vespucci from Florence."
Thousands of readers of the book could decide that both the New World and the new countries were discovered by Amerigo (Alberico), although this does not follow from the text at all. But the title is usually more memorable and more impressive than any paragraphs or chapters in a book. In addition, the descriptions belonging to the pen of Amerigo were executed vividly and convincingly, which, no doubt, strengthened his authority as a discoverer.
A little later, Vespucci's "New World" was published in Germany under the title "On the Antarctic Belt." And then the same work, already under the guise of a letter to the ruler of a small German kingdom, appeared as an addition to the famous and now classic "Cosmography" by Ptolemy. They called the whole work like this: “Introduction to cosmography with the necessary foundations of geometry and astronomy.
Amerigo Vespucci
To this 4 voyages of Amerigo Vespucci and, in addition, the description (map) of the Universe both on the plane and on the globe of those parts of the world that Ptolemy did not know about and which have been discovered in modern times. " About the discovery of America it is said: "Amerigo Vespucci, truly speaking, informed mankind about this more widely." The authors of the supplement were sure that Amerigo was the first to set foot on a new continent back in 1497. Therefore, it was proposed to name the open land "after the name of the wise man who discovered it."
Quite fantastic contours of the New World were drawn on the world map with the inscription: "America". The sound of the word turned out to be attractive to many people. It was readily put on maps. The opinion of Amerigo as the discoverer of the New World spread - spontaneously. And among specialists, the image of a clever rogue, an ambitious swindler who appropriated his name to an entire continent was more and more definitely formed.
Thus, a sincere fighter for justice Las Casas in his writings angrily denounced Amerigo. But not a single document was found to support such charges. Vespucci himself never proposed to call the open lands by his own name. He quite definitely wrote: "These countries should be called the New World" and referred to the facts obtained in travel and research.
Austrian writer Stefan Zweig said well about Vespucci: “And if, in spite of everything, a sparkling ray of glory fell on him, then it happened not because of his special merits or special guilt, but because of a peculiar combination of circumstances, mistakes, accidents, misunderstandings ... A person who talks about a heroic deed and explains it can become more significant for posterity than the one who accomplished it. And in the uncalculable play of historical forces, the slightest impulse can often lead to dramatic consequences ...
America shouldn't be ashamed of its name. This is the name of an honest and courageous man who, already at the age of fifty, set sail three times on a small boat across the unknown ocean, as one of those "unknown sailors", hundreds of whom at that time risked their lives in dangerous adventures ... This mortal name was transferred to immortality not by the will of one person - it was the will of fate, which is always right, even if it may seem that she is acting unfairly ... And today we use this word, which was invented by the will of blind chance, in a fun game, as a matter of course, the only conceivable and the only correct - sonorous, light-winged word America ”.
True, there is reason to believe that the New World was named after the Bristol philanthropist Richard of America (England), who financed the second transatlantic voyage of John Cabot in 1497, and Amerigo Vespucci after that took the nickname in honor of the continent named so. To prove this version, the researchers cite the facts that Cabot reached the coast of Labrador two years earlier, and therefore became the officially registered first European to set foot on a new land.
Navigators such as John Davis, Alexander Mackenzie, Henry Hudson and William Baffin continued to explore the continent of North America. And thanks to their research, a new continent was explored all the way to the Pacific coast. But history knows many other names of seafarers who visited the new land even before Amerigo Vespucci and Columbus. These are Hui Shen - a Thai monk who visited there in the 5th century, Abubakar - the Sultan of Mali, who sailed to the American coast in the 14th century, Count of Orkney de Saint-Clair, Chinese explorer Zhee He, Portuguese Juan Corterial, etc.
Christopher Columbus is the discoverer of South and Central America. Columbus expeditions.
Christopher Columbus biography
1 expedition. Discovery of America by Columbus in 1492
- The first expedition Christopher Columbus assembled from three ships - "Santa Maria" (three-masted flagship 25 m long, with a displacement of 120 tons, the captain of the Columbus ship), the "Pinta" caravel (captain - Martin Alonso Pinson) and "Niña" (captain - Vicente Yanes Pinson) with a displacement of 55 tons and 87 people of the expedition.
The flotilla left Palos on August 3, 1492, turned west from the Canary Islands, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, opening the Sargasso Sea and reached an island in the Bahamas archipelago (the sailor of the "Pinta" Rodrigo de Triana was the first to see American land October 12, 1492). Columbus landed on the shore, which the locals call Guanahani, hoisted a banner on it, declared the open land the property of the Spanish king and formally took possession of the island. The island was named by him San Salvador.
For a long time (1940 -1982), Watling Island was considered San Salvador. However, our contemporary American geographer George Judge in 1986 processed all the collected materials on a computer and came to the conclusion: the first American land seen by Columbus was the island of Samana (120 km southeast of Watling).
On October 14-24, Columbus approached several more Bahamas, and on October 28 - December 5, he opened part of the northeastern coast of Cuba. December 6 reached the island of Haiti and moved along the northern coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on the reef, but the crew escaped. For the first time in the history of navigation, on the orders of Columbus, Indian hammocks were adapted for sailor's bunks.
Columbus on the "Niña" on March 15, 1493 returned to Castile. From America, Columbus brought seven captive American natives, who were nicknamed Indians in Europe, as well as a little gold and plants and fruits unseen in the Old World, including an annual plant corn (in Haiti it is called maize), tomatoes, peppers, tobacco (“ dry leaves, which were especially appreciated by the locals "), pineapples, cocoa and potatoes (because of their beautiful pink and white flowers). The political resonance of Columbus's voyage was the "papal meridian": the head of the Catholic Church established a demarcation line in the Atlantic that indicated different directions for the rivals of Spain and Portugal for discovering new lands.First landing of Christopher Columbus on the shores of the New World: in San Salvador, Wisconsin, October 12, 1492.
Author of the painting: Spanish artist Tolin Puebla, Theophilus Dioscoro Dioscoro Teofilo Puebla Tolin (1831-1901)
Publisher: American firm Currier and Ives (prints, lithographs, popular prints), published 1892.
2 expedition of Christopher Columbus (1493 - 1496)
- The second expedition (1493-96), led by Admiral Columbus, in the position of Viceroy of the newly discovered lands, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of 1.5-2.5 thousand people. On November 3-15, 1493, Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe and about 20 Lesser Antilles, on November 19 the island of Puerto Rico. In March 1494, in search of gold, he made a military campaign deep into the island of Haiti, in the summer he discovered the southeastern and southern coasts of Cuba, the islands of Juventud and Jamaica. For 40 days Columbus explored the southern coast of Haiti, the conquest of which he continued in 1495. But in the spring of 1496 he sailed home, completing his second voyage on June 11 in Castile. Columbus announced the opening of a new route to Asia. The colonization of new lands by free settlers, which began soon, cost the Spanish crown very dearly, and Columbus suggested that the islands be populated by criminals, halving their sentence. With fire and sword, plundering and destroying the country of ancient culture, the military units of Cortes marched through the land of the Aztecs - Mexico, the troops of Pizarro - across the land of the Incas - Peru.
3 expedition of Christopher Columbus (1498 - 1499)
- The third expedition (1498-99) consisted of six ships, three of which Columbus himself led across the Atlantic. July 31, 1498 discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria, discovered the mouth of the western branch of the Orinoco Delta and the Paria Peninsula, initiating the discovery of South America. Out into the Caribbean, he approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered Margarita Island on August 15, and arrived in Haiti on August 31. In 1500, on a denunciation, Christopher Columbus was arrested and, shackled (which he then kept all his life), was sent to Castile, where he was awaited by his release.
4 expedition of Christopher Columbus (1502 - 1504)
