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Christopher Columbus
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In what direction did Columbus want to go while looking for India?
The earth is round. The Europeans know this at the end of the 15th century. And that India is to the east. At this time fabrics and spices are carried from India and China by land and are really expensive. So the Europeans are looking for a way to India by sea.
But... something is missing from this map. North and South America! They haven't been discovered yet. Or, actually they have, by Vikings, but no-one is aware of that at this time.
Christopher Columbus has an idea. Since the Earth is round, we can go this way. West! Columbus is from Genoa in Italy but Portugal and Spain are the two main seafaring nations at this time. So he visits the Portuguese King John the second.
It's closer to go east. We are going that way. Columbus moves on to the Spanish royals Ferdinand and Isabella. Ah, so King John is going east. Veeeeery interesting.
You must call me Admiral of the Ocean and I want to be governor over all new areas... And you must give me ten percent of everything. - Forget it! - Luckily, Columbus gets an offer from the French court and is on his way there when... All right Admiral of the Ocean. Let's do it! So in the year 1492 it's time.
Columbus sets sail with three ships. Santa Maria is the grandest. The journey only takes 33 days. But the crew isn't completely convinced that the earth really is round. These are completely unknown waters.
No-one knows what lies ahead. Land ahoy! - Yes! Land! - Hurrays. But I saw that a couple of hours ago. The Spanish royals had promised a lifetime pension to the one who first saw land.
They go ashore on an island. Columbus still believes that they have reached Asia. - He calls it... - The West Indies. - And the people living here he calls: - Indians! The people living here of course already have a name: Taino. The Taino live in villages run by chiefs. Both men and women can become chiefs.
Tainos have particular rules regarding social and religious life and are skilled crafts-folk. They are very generous and friendly towards their guests. This first voyage makes Columbus a hero in Spain. But this will change. He makes three more voyages...
The goal of the second voyage is to find gold. Against the Spanish royals' wishes Columbus now takes slaves. He captures one thousand, six hundred of the Arawake tribe - who are just as friendly as the Tainos. Most of them are enslaved by colonists. A couple of hundred of them he brings to Spain - most of these die on the voyage.
Columbus writes that he himself uses slaves sexually. On his third voyage he encounters angry colonists. Columbus has promised them riches that don't exist so they rebel. Columbus is so violent towards the colonists that the Spanish royal couple arrest him for tyranny. He is brought to Spain in chains and his title of Governor is revoked.
But still he is allowed to make a fourth voyage. His goal is to find the Strait of Malacca - that leads to the Indian Ocean. But he fails since he is in the wrong continent. When Columbus returns home he want's his ten percent. The court refuses since he has misbehaved and lost his governor title.
Columbus dies without understanding that he has visited a new continent. He has no clue that his voyages become the start of the colonisation of North and South America, as well as the slave trade between Africa and America. He is also ignorant of the fact that most of his "indians" die from diseases brought by Europeans since they have no immune system against them - and that the whole Taino population dies out.