My name is Christopher Columbus Essay. I was born in the Italian city of Genoa in the year 1451. My father was a wool weaver and merchant who sold cloth.
Genoa was famous for its traders, map-makers, and explorers and many men became sailers. I went to sea at the age of fourteen. In 1476, the ship on which I was aboard was attacked off the coast of Portugal. I managed to swim six miles to Lisbon. There I joined my brother Bartholomew, who was a chart maker. I also became a chart maker for a short period of time.
I worked as a sugar buyer in the Portuguese islands off of Africa. From 1477-1482, I made merchant voyages as far as Iceland and Guinea. During this time I met pilots and navigators who believed in the existence of islands farther west. I settled in Lisbon and married the daughter of a Portuguese nobleman. By the time I was 32, I had become a master mariner in the Portuguese merchant service. Influenced by my brother and Alonso Pinzon, I believed that I could reach land by sailing farther west.
I began seeking support for a voyage to the west. After being turned down several times, I finally gained thesupport of Ferdinand and Isabella after they conquered Granada. On August 3, 1492, I left Palos, Spain for my trip to the new world. I left with three ships, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, which I commanded. I first stopped in the Canary Islands and then sailed west until October 7th, when I change my course to Southwest. On October 12, I landed on a small island in the Bahamas.
I found Cuba on October 27 and reached Hispaniola on December 5. Leaving some men to found a colony, I returned to Spain on the Nina. In October 1493, I set out on a second expedition and discovered Puerto Rico before arriving at Hispaniola to find the colony destroyed by Native Americans. I left in 1494 to explore the southern coast of Cuba. I left my brother in charge of the colony and returned to Spain in 1496.
I set out on a third expedition in 1498 and found South America. I then returned to Hispaniola. In 1500, an independent governor arrived who had been sent by Ferdinand & Isabella and I was forced to leave due to some colonists who had returned to Spain and complained about me. In 1502, I made my last voyage in an attempt to find lands farther west. My expedition failed.
I had to be rescued from Jamaica and then I returned to Spain in 1504. I died in 1506. .
