Many people have said and think of Christopher Columbus as the person who discovered the new world. Although he did make it more known to the rest of the world, the credit goes more to the natives living there already. These natives were soon referred to as Indians because Columbus thought he was in the Indies. He made three main voyages across the Atlantic. During the first he did not even know the continents were north and South America. It wasn't until his third trip that he knew he had reached some foreign land. He was not celebrated during his life but now today we celebrate his trip to the new world.

His family and ancestors were weavers. His father owned a weaving business and his mother’s father was one. He had three siblings. They were two more boys and a girl. They lived in Italy in a seaside town called Genoa. He was said to have red hair and freckles.

Columbus wanted to travel to the Indies to bring back precious stones and spices and to also make him look good as a navigator. Although the only way he could do this is if he found a safe passage. Everyone thought if you kept sailing west you would eventually reach the east and that was where the Indies were. Then Columbus needed a lot of cash to finance his trips, so he talked to the royal kings, queens and nobles to try to get money. Fist he talked to the king of Portugal and he said no. he was finally allowed to by queen Isabella of Spain. After three more months he was ready. He then chose his three ships. They were the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. He then hired a doctor for every ship. The ships were not equipped with cannons but did have enough weapons to protect from pirates.

They packed lots of water and wine. They had to bring animals with them if they wanted food that was fresh. Before their departure everyone went to church and took communion and confessed all their sins. It was august 3rd when they embarked on their trip. They sailed down the Tinto River in the early morning. He first went south and once he made it too the Canary Islands he sailed west. Once they reached the canaries their ship Pinta needed fixed so they had it done there. After being at sea for a while the seamen started to get angry. Thankfully there was no mutiny because everyone started seeing things that meant land was close.

Finally they found land. On October 12th they anchored their boats and went ashore. There were people waiting when they stepped onto the shore. These people were natives and were called lucayan. They then took some of the lucayan and traveled to several other islands around the Bahamas. The Santa Maria did not make the trip home. They then sailed back to Portugal for work on the boats. He then sailed to Spain and was presented before the king and queen. He showed them the Indians and the spices he brought back.

He then set sail on his second voyage in 1493. He headed south to the Canary Islands like the first time, although he went a different way after that. They had great weather but there was one storm in the end of October. They made it to shore in only twenty-two days because of the great weather. They went to explore the islands but when they never came back they started worrying. They knew there were cannibals on the island. The group finally came back with many stories. He then came to another island he named Santa Cruz. But this island had many warriors who attacked the men. He then went too Hispaniola. They went ashore and built a trading village and named it Isabella. He had a group of men go searching for gold. They found a large amount and brought it back. He sent twelve ships back with the gold and he gave a speech for them to say to the nobles. These ships were commanded by Captain Torres. They left in February and were there in twenty-five days. They told the nobles what Columbus said and they agreed with them and sent goods and supplies.

Columbus left Isabella and went too Cuba to explore. At this point he was realizing this want china and he went to Cuba to see if it was Asia. He left April 24th and got to Cuba five days later. He then sailed along its coast. The Indians fed them and traded with them. He kept going till he thought Cuba was a continent because it was so big.

They then set sail back to Isabella. They were traveling very slowly because of trade winds and the deep water. Columbus then became sick because of malnutrition and lack of sleep. He was carried onto shore by his men onto shore when they reached Isabella. When he got there three ships had been stolen. Also nothing went the way Columbus had planned it to go. There was war breaking out between the Indians and the Spaniards. They had also taken all the gold they had found. His brother who he left in charge could not control the people because he was Italian and they didn't want him ordering them around. Once Captain Torres returned there were many new supplies.

They then started rounding up slaves totaling 1,500. Torres could take only 500 of them so they left the rest to colonists. One escaped by the name Guatiguana. He tried to get an army of Indians and he did. They planned to attack the settlement but the colonists heard about it and attacked first and wiped them out.

Even though Columbus didn't get much wealth or any countries named after him he is still remembered today as a brave explorer.