Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbuswas an Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola, initiated the European colonization of the New World...
NationalityItalian
ProfessionExplorer
Date of Birth31 October 1451
CityGenoa, Italy
CountryItaly
"Thanks be to God," says the Admiral, "the air is soft as in April in Seville, and it is a pleasure to be in it, so fragrant it is."
It is true that after they have been reassured and have lost this fear, they are so artless and so free with all they possess, that no one would believe it without having seen it. Of anything they have, if you ask them for it, they never say no; rather they invite the person to share it, and show as much love as if they were giving their hearts. This letter, the first and rarest of all printed Americana, describes the scenery and the natives of Hispaniola.
These people are very unskilled in arms... with 50 men they could all be subjected and made to do all that one wished.
A hundred castellanoes are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand.