Columbus

             Christopher Columbus was probably one of the greatest explorers of all time. Born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451 to a weaver, Christopher Columbus first went to sea at the age of fourteen. As a young man, he settled in Portugal and married a woman of noble background. After his wife's death in 1485, Columbus and his young son Diego moved to Spain. Like everyone else in his time, Columbus knew the world was round. He theorized that since the earth was a sphere, you could eventually reach the Far East from the opposite direction, he thought to establish trade routes to Asia in this manner. The fifteenth century Europeans were not aware of the South and North American continents during this time frame. Map makers did not show an accurate picture and no one knew there was a Pacific Ocean. For a long time, Columbus approached the Portuguese king and the Spanish monarchs to get permission to explore possible trade routes to the west. After initially turning him down, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella reconsidered once the Moors had been successfully expelled from Spain in 1492. Columbus promised to bring back gold, spices, and silks form the Far East, to spread Christianity, and to lead an expedition to China. In return, Christopher Columbus wanted to have three things the title admiral of the ocean seas, have ten percent of whatever land he finds and to become governor of all discovered lands, which he was granted.
             After five centuries, Columbus remains a mysterious and controversial figure who has been variously described as one of the greatest mariners in history, a visionary genius, a mystic, a national hero, a failed administrator, a naive entrepreneur, and a ruthless and greedy imperialist. Columbus could have done a couple of things differently which I think almost anyone would agree with. First one was in 1494 the Hawks bell System. The Indians that were on the land were used as slaves.