Essay Example. Christopher Columbus and His Discovery of America

Christopher Columbus is such a prominent figure & personality in American History; thus, the essence of lots of research works on the so-known as famous explorer, navigator, and colonizer, who is remembered for all those titles (Masters, 2020). Therefore, the studies should go beyond the few facts mentioned and include more about his navigation journey into Italy as well as facts beyond what he accomplished (Masters, 2020). Going back to the year 1492, this famous character voyaged across America (Aresearchguide.com, 2020). His long journey from Spain to America was through the Atlantic Ocean. Columbus made several trips, that is in 1492, 1493, 1498, & then 1502 (Aresearchguide.com, 2020). The main objective of Columbus for making all these trips was to discover a one-way route that would connect Europe and Asia through the ocean. However, his efforts did not pay as he did not discover such a route. Moreover, his trip to America brought about the discovery of America's existence. Christopher Columbus's initial thoughts and objective were to discover a direct waterway that could Asia & Europe, but this changed to a completely different thing when he discovered America as a new continent (Aresearchguide.com, 2020).

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Although it also fair to note that Columbus did not discover America since he encountered a group of people who had already settled there, this was during his journey into America (Aresearchguide.com, 2020). Despite the fact that Columbus’ objective was to discover a direct route via the ocean, this goal changed once he arrived in America ("Essay on Christopher Columbus? Or Not Christopher Columbus? | Bartleby", 2020). Upon arrival in America, Columbus discovered the new American continent. Columbus was impressed and overwhelmed by the beautiful islands of America, which were a hoe provision for many people. Thus, he realized that the new continent was full of beautiful islands as well as people (Aresearchguide.com, 2020).

Christopher Columbus was among a group of transatlantic maritime voyages as their leader (Aresearchguide.com, 2020). The group was the first of the European explorers first to encounter America's existence as a continent. In the 15th century, no one had an idea of the existence of America, or rather not much was known about the continent despite some people having already settled there, in this case, during Columbus’ journey back in 1492 (Aresearchguide.com, 2020). After this Spanish based group arrived and discovered America, they encountered people who had already settled there but did not have the knowledge of using weapons.

Due to the above fact, the group was vulnerable such that, as led by Columbus, they were the first Spanish to colonize Native America (Aresearchguide.com, 2020). Many people believed that Columbus and his Spanish based group were the first individuals to discover the existence of the continent of America, but the fact is that also back in the 11th century, the Viking voyage did explore the continent. However, it was through the efforts of Columbus and his group that led to the first interaction of Europeans and Americans, and thus resulting in colonization of Native Americans & so giving birth to the term “colonization” (Aresearchguide.com, 2020).

On the European and Asian perspective at the time, the main challenge was mobility as the journey from Europe to Asia by use of land was almost impossible ("Essay on Christopher Columbus? Or Not Christopher Columbus? | Bartleby", 2020). The challenge was based on the fact that the route was too long as well as dangerous as it was raided & had armies along with it. For this reason, Columbus thought of a lasting solution to solve the long-distance journey, which was also dangerous by trying to use a waterway instead ("Essay on Christopher Columbus? Or Not Christopher Columbus? | Bartleby", 2020). The waterway was expected to be a safer sailing route cutting across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to Asia and so vice versa. Initially, the sailing route was around Africa as a continent, via West Africa along the Cape of Good Hope. Columbus’ idea was a good one but logically incorrect as he did underestimate the earth’s circumference and so the idea ending up unmaterialized (Aresearchguide.com, 2020).

The primary end result that Christopher Columbus wanted was popularity as well as riches in Spain (Aresearchguide.com, 2020). Columbus went ahead to make a contract with the authorities of Spain towards the discovery of riches, such that 10 percent of the total discoveries were to be his. Also, Columbus went ahead to claim that the governorship of the land to be encountered to be his (Aresearchguide.com, 2020). All these were prior to his journey of discovery; however, in contrast to his initial expectations, Columbus & his group did first land on an island in the Bahamas when he had anticipated to be landing in Asia as the next destination (Aresearchguide.com, 2020).

Conclusion

Christopher Columbus left a legacy that still exists in people’s minds as a hero, brave, revolutionist, and courageous individual to have ever lived. Whether Christopher Columbus deserves all the credit and accolades, is a question that researchers live to revisit over and over again. Moreover, if he deserves all the credit, whether a day should be accorded to his name is also another dilemma that needs to be given attention. Finally, the main question and most researched one is whether Columbus really discovered the new continent of American as his name is known for or not. All the above concerns have been addressed in the paper either fully or partly, leaving room for more research work to be conducted in the future.

However, much credit should be given to Christopher Columbus having been a remarkable sailor who helped in the exploration of the earth’s shape, from which it was concluded that the earth must be round. For a significant number of people, Christopher Columbus was regarded as a hero and explorer, and some still believe so. Therefore, this paper was based on the justification of the so-called "discovery" of America as related to Christopher Columbus. It can be concluded that Columbus did not discover America based on the fact that some people were already living in the continent at the time he arrived there and also that some other voyages had also already visited America before him. However, much credit was accorded to Christopher Columbus as he brought about European Colonization, thus the first encounter of Americans and Europeans.

References

Aresearchguide.com. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.aresearchguide.com/christopher-columbus-voyage-americas.html.

Essay on Christopher Columbus? Or Not Christopher Columbus? | Bartleby. Bartleby.com. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Christopher-Columbus-Or-Not-Christopher-Columbus-F3CZVK6ATJ.

History, W. (2020). Research Paper: Christopher Columbus -- a Hero? | 5 pages, MLA. EssayTown.com. Retrieved from https://www.essaytown.com/subjects/paper/christopher-columbus-hero/6721205.

Masters, P. (2020). Christopher Columbus Research Papers on the Famous Explorer of the New World. Papermasters.com. Retrieved from https://www.papermasters.com/christopher-columbus.html.

Shin, J. (2016). The Voyage of Christopher Columbus and The Invention of the Americas. Latin American And Caribbean Studies, 35(3), 113. https://doi.org/10.17855/jlas.2016.08.35.3.113