Christopher Columbus

by Read Listen Learn

He discovered America but did not get paid

Christopher Columbus was an explorer. He was born around 1450 in Genoa in Italy, and died in May, 1506. His father was a businessman and sold wool and cheese but his son loved the sea. Because Genoa is a port, Columbus’ interest in the sea started at an early age and got more and more important to him.

Around the time he was born, the journey from Europe to the Far East was dangerous for travellers and businessmen. Some European kings began to look for safer ways to do business with China and Japan. Also, more and more people in Europe were starting to think that the world might be round like a ball – not flat. Columbus decided that, if the world was round, people could travel to the Far East (called the Indies) by going west.

He took his idea to the kings of Europe and, finally, the Spanish king agreed to pay for the journey. Christopher Columbus travelled under the Spanish flag and all the new lands he found became part of Spain, but there were big rewards for Columbus too. He set off with three ships in 1492 across the Atlantic and, on 12th October, he came to some islands, probably the Bahamas. Columbus then landed at Venezuela and visited parts of Central America as well as some Caribbean islands. This was the Americas, the New World.

Columbus believed that he was in the Far East (Indies) because he thought he had travelled all the way around the world. Because nobody knew that the Americas were there, he thought the land he discovered was the Far East. So he called the local people 'Indians'.

But Columbus also quickly fought with the Spanish king about his pay. However, he died in 1506, before he made any money.

In fact, he wasn't the first person to go to the Americas. The Vikings from Scandinavia were there in the 11th century and Portuguese fishermen often visited Newfoundland in Canada. However, he was the first official visitor and after him came thousands of Europeans to make their homes there. They imported African slaves. At the same time, many of the local Indians died of the new diseases that arrived with the Europeans or were killed by them.

Christopher Columbus' name lives on across the Americas, mostly in place names, such as Colombia, British Columbia in Canada or the city of Columbus, Ohio.