Columbus, Christopher
1451
Genoa, Italy
May 20, 1506
Valladolid, Spain
Italian explorer
"Thirty-three days after my departure from Cadiz I reached the Indian sea, where I discovered many islands, thickly peopled, of which I took possession without resistance in the name of our most illustrious Monarch, . . . "
Christopher Columbus.
Christopher Columbus was the Italian explorer credited with "discovering" the New World (a European term for the continents of North America and South America). Columbus made four voyages to the Caribbean and South America between 1492 and 1504. As governor of Hispaniola (an island in the Caribbean), he oversaw the establishment of the first European settlements in the Americas. Columbus later brought over other Europeans, an act that resulted in devastating consequences to the people he called "Indians." The mistreatment of Native Americans by the Spanish colonists was so cruel that it became known in Europe as "the black legend"—a terrible story of tyranny (the abuse of power) and exploitation. Beginning with Columbus's brutal rule, the Native Americans of Hispaniola were soon virtually exterminated. Although he made great strides in Spain's effort to colonize the New World, Columbus was taken from Hispaniola in chains and under arrest, his career and reputation permanently damaged.
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