Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus spent several years trying to get support from various European monarchs for his quest to reach Asia by traveling west across the Atlantic Ocean. Although he confidently asserted that the route must exist, no one was sure if he was right, how long the crossing would be, or whether the seas were even navigable. Columbus obtained Spain's backing and fitted out three ships—the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria—for a voyage in 1492. Once the trip was underway, the tremendous uncertainties of what lay ahead meant that Columbus had to worry especially about the loyalty of his crew.

In shipboard journal entries, existent only in a paraphrased and heavily edited manuscript by Bartolome de Las Casas, Columbus gives signs of the great highs and lows...