Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean for Spain in 1492. His voyages opened the way for Europeans to settle in the Americas. He lived from 1451 to 1506. His trips changed the world, but they also brought great harm to the Native peoples already living in the Americas.

Columbus was born in the city of Genoa, in what is now Italy. He started sailing as a teenager and learned how to read sea charts and use the stars to find his way. He had a big idea. Most educated people of his time knew the Earth was round, but they thought the only way to reach Asia from Europe by sea was to sail south around Africa. Columbus believed he could reach Asia faster by sailing west across the Atlantic.

He spent years asking kings and queens to pay for the trip. Portugal said no. Finally, in 1492, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain agreed. They gave him three ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María.

Columbus and about 90 sailors left Spain in August 1492. They sailed for more than two months without seeing land. The crew almost gave up. On October 12, 1492, a lookout finally spotted an island in what is now the Bahamas. Columbus thought he had reached islands near Asia. He called the people he met "Indians" because of this mistake. They were actually the Taíno people.

Columbus made four voyages across the Atlantic in all. He explored islands in the Caribbean and parts of the coasts of Central and South America. He never set foot on the mainland of what is now the United States.

His arrival started a long and painful chapter for Native Americans. Columbus and the Spaniards forced the Taíno to give them gold and to work as slaves. Diseases brought from Europe, like smallpox, killed huge numbers of Native people who had no protection against them. Within about 50 years, most of the Taíno were gone.

For centuries, schools taught Columbus as a brave hero who "discovered" America. Today, historians and many countries see him very differently. Native peoples had lived in the Americas for at least 15,000 years before he arrived. Some U.S. states and cities now celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day, to honor the people who were there first. Columbus is still one of the most famous people in history, but the story told about him has changed a great deal.