(1451-1506). On the morning of Oct. 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus stepped ashore on an island in what has since become known as the Americas. The arrival of his ships in the Western Hemisphere was one of the pivotal events in world history. It opened up a new world for Europeans and initiated the spread of Western civilization to a new hemisphere. But if these lands were a new world for Europeans, they were a very old world for the inhabitants Columbus and his successors encountered. Cultures dating back perhaps 20,000 years already existed on the two "new" continents and neighboring islands. These native cultures ranged from Stone Age societies of hunters and gatherers to highly developed, settled agricultural communities with central
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Stockdale, 1794.
Christopher Columbus with his sons, Diego and Ferdinand, and a woman, engraving by I. Stockdale, …
Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. LC-USZ62-106029)
In 1484 Columbus began seeking support for an Atlantic crossing from King John II of Portugal but was denied aid. (Some conspiracy theorists have alleged that Columbus made a secret pact with the monarch, but there is no evidence of this.) By 1486 Columbus was firmly in Spain, asking for patronage from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. After at least two rejections, he at last obtained royal support in January 1492. This was achieved chiefly through the interventions of the Spanish treasurer, Luis de Santángel, and of the Franciscan friars of La Rábida, near Huelva, with whom Columbus had stayed in the summer of 1491. Juan Pérez of La Rábida had been one of the queen’s confessors and perhaps procured him the crucial …show more content…
Columbus himself clearly hoped to rise from his humble beginnings in this way, to accumulate riches for his family, and to join the ranks of the nobility of Spain. In a similar manner, but at a more exalted level, the Catholic Monarchs hoped that such an enterprise would gain them greater status among the monarchies of Europe, especially against their main rival, Portugal. Then, in alliance with the papacy (in this case, with the Borgia pope Alexander VI [1492–1503]), they might hope to take the lead in the Christian war against the
Stockdale, 1794.
Christopher Columbus with his sons, Diego and Ferdinand, and a woman, engraving by I. Stockdale, …
Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. LC-USZ62-106029)
In 1484 Columbus began seeking support for an Atlantic crossing from King John II of Portugal but was denied aid. (Some conspiracy theorists have alleged that Columbus made a secret pact with the monarch, but there is no evidence of this.) By 1486 Columbus was firmly in Spain, asking for patronage from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. After at least two rejections, he at last obtained royal support in January 1492. This was achieved chiefly through the interventions of the Spanish treasurer, Luis de Santángel, and of the Franciscan friars of La Rábida, near Huelva, with whom Columbus had stayed in the summer of 1491. Juan Pérez of La Rábida had been one of the queen’s confessors and perhaps procured him the crucial …show more content…
Columbus himself clearly hoped to rise from his humble beginnings in this way, to accumulate riches for his family, and to join the ranks of the nobility of Spain. In a similar manner, but at a more exalted level, the Catholic Monarchs hoped that such an enterprise would gain them greater status among the monarchies of Europe, especially against their main rival, Portugal. Then, in alliance with the papacy (in this case, with the Borgia pope Alexander VI [1492–1503]), they might hope to take the lead in the Christian war against the