Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator and explorer whose voyages to the Americas led to the Spanish colonisation of the New World.

He was the first European to land on the South American mainland.

Top 10 facts

1. Columbus did not discover the Americas. An estimated 100 million people were living there already, a number roughly equal to the population of Europe at that time. The first European to reach the North American coastline was the Norseman Leif Ericson who landed in Newfoundland c1000 AD.
2. People in Europe wanted to find a new route to the Indies, which was the name they gave to the Far East. Since the fall of Constantinople in 1453 the old Silk Route, along which silk, spices and other luxury items had been traded for centuries, had become difficult and costly to use.
3. Columbus hoped to find a new route east. He believed he could do this by sailing west. When he landed in the Americas he was convinced he was actually in the East Indies and so called the native people Indians.
4. Columbus approached the monarchs of Portugal, England, France and Spain seeking support for his plan. Finally Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain agreed to back his voyage of exploration.
5. Columbus left Palos in Spain on 3 August 1492 with ninety men and three small ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Their first stop was the Canary Islands where they collected supplies before settling out across the Atlantic on 6 September of the same year.
6. Land was first sighted on 11 October 1492 and on 12 October Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas which he called San Salvador.
7. The second voyage on 24 September 1493 was made by 17 boats with 1200 men. The aim of the voyage was to colonise the new discoveries and convert the native people to Christianity.
8. Columbus made four voyages to the New World. He explored the Greater and Lesser Antilles, Venezuela and central America.
9. The native peoples of the Americas were treated very cruelly by Columbus and his men who exploited and enslaved them. Allegations of mismanagement on Hispaniola led to Columbus being returned to Spain in chains in 1500 and being stripped of his governorship.
10. It was Amerigo Vespucci who realised that a new continent had been discovered, so the Americas were named after him rather than Columbus.