By John H.
Yellow
Group, D2B2
2/8/19
Instead of deciding to just go straight from Spain to "Asia", Columbus traveled along the border of Africa first. He then went to some islands off the coast, restocked, then went on his way.
THE VOYAGE BEGINS
This makes me feel bad for the crew, as they were manipulated and lied to throughout the whole journey.
Did Columbus ever even CONSIDER the fact that there may be another continent?
And then, they were on their way. Nothing very interesting happened until the 24th of September. A watchman said he saw land, but it actually turned out to just be the Sargasso Sea, a huge patch of seaweed. Soon after, course was changed to follow some birds, and they soon arrived at what would soon be San Salvador.
Once Columbus reached the Bahamas, he then traveled from island to island, searching for the mainland of Asia and its riches. Soon, he arrived at Cuba. He believed this to be the mainland, which is funny considering the fact that it's just a small island. He then traveled to Hispanola, and was off.
LOGBOOK
This makes me feel dumbfounded at Christopher’s stupidity. Why would people WANT to become slaves? It beats me as to why Columbus thought they wanted to live a life of unpaid servitude.
Did Columbus actually think that everybody actually spoke their language when he arrived, proclaiming the ownership of that island for the royalty? It’s obvious they didn’t and had no idea what they were saying.
MORNING GIRL
I feel bad for Morning Girl and her fellow natives as they may be on route to being enslaved by Columbus.
What did the natives as a whole think of Columbus? It's obvious Morning Girl thought of them as impolite, obese and strange.
A NEW ERA
It feels as if Columbus was given every single chance to see that there was a different continent, but he was ignorant to the fact that he may not be in Asia.
If Columbus could not find the Great Khan or any of Asia's riches, how did he know that he was in Asia?
This is a blob map of the caribbean region.
This makes me feel adventurous because Columbus was exploring land nobody else had explored at that time.
What happened to the 39 people left behind on Hispaniola?
Just before they were on their way back, something horrible happened. The Santa Maria, the biggest of Columbus' ships, sank. This caused a great disorder, and Columbus made the executive decision to leave many people behind on the island, and they were off, with only the Niña and Pinta. There was virtually no wind for a very long time, but soon enough the wind picked up. But then, there was a terrible storm. This caused the two ships to split up. With this, Columbus and his crew were stuck on the Niña with no other ships. Columbus knew that there weren't enough supplies to make it back to Spain, so he made another executive decision and decided to head for the Azores, some islands owned by Portugal, Spain's rival. Columbus decided to plead for help, as there was no other way to survive. Sure enough, the Portuguese people let him have safe passage, as long as he got permission to go back to Spain from the king of Portugal. Good for Columbus, he did get permission, so he was free to go back to Spain.
All works in this site are copyright.
©2019
Citations
Camusso, Lorenzo. The Voyages of Columbus. New York, New York. Dorset Press, 1991.
Fuson, Robert (translator). The Log of Christopher Columbus. Camden, Maine. International Marine Publishing, 1992.
Dorris, Michael. Morning Girl. New York, New York, Hyperion, 1991.
Further Online Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Navidad
Wikipedia contributors. "La Navidad." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 16 Jan. 2019. Web. 18 Feb. 2019.
gsp.yale.edu/case-studies/colonial-genocides-project/hispaniola
Schimmer, Russel. "Hispaniola | Genocide Studies Program." Yale University, 2019, gsp.yale.edu/case-studies/colonial-genocides-project/hispaniola. Accessed 14 Feb. 2019.
files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED316463.pdf
Backler, Alan, et al. "Teaching about the Voyages of Columbus: A Turning Point in World History." Files - Eric.ed.gov, Social Studies Development Center, Date Unknown, files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED316463.pdf. Accessed 18 Feb. 2019.
vanderkrogt.net/columbus/texts/some_background_information_on_Columbus.html
Krogt, Peter Van Der. "Some Background Information on Columbus." Vanderkrogt, Unknown, Unknown, vanderkrogt.net/columbus/texts/some_background_information_on_Columbus.html. Accessed 18 Feb. 2019.
www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-lost-fort-of-columbus-8026921/
Maclean, Frances. "The Lost Fort of Columbus." Smithsonian, Smithsonian Institution, Jan. 2008, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-lost-fort-of-columbus-8026921/.