Jankel adler biography of christopher columbus facts

While many schoolbooks present Christopher Columbus as the famous explorer who discovered America, history has painted a much more complicated picture. Was the man from Genoa a brave explorer or greedy invader? A gifted navigator or reckless adventurer? Even if you were to overlook the not-so-minor fact that millions of people were already living in the Americas in , the fact is that Columbus never set foot on the shores of North America.

The painter Jankel Adler, seeing

In fact, October 12 marks the day of his arrival to the Bahamas. While he did reach the coasts of what today are Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, as well as explore the Central and South American coasts, he never unfurled a Spanish flag in North America. Leif Eriksson is the first European believed to have sailed to North America, having reached Canada years before Columbus set sail to the west.

By , most educated Europeans already believed the earth was round. In fact, it was an idea that had been established by the ancient Greeks in the 5 th century BCE. Columbus stood to gain significant wealth and power from his voyage, terms he negotiated with King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain. His contract with the monarchs, called The Capitulations of Santa Fe, named Columbus the admiral, viceroy, and governor of any land he discovered.

Columbus might indeed have had noble intentions when he sailed west, but his agreement with Spain suggests his intentions were far from selfless. When Columbus first set foot on Hispaniola what is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic , he encountered a population of Indigenous peoples called the Taino. A friendly group, they willingly traded jewelry, animals, and supplies with the sailors.

They should be good servants.