Los cuatro viajes

PresentaciónJeanine Carr

Columbus Day is celebrated in the USA on the second Monday in October. It is a day in which we celebrate Christopher Columbus' trip from Spain to Hispaniola, North America on the 12th of October, 1492. He was sent by King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain. Columbus' crew sailed on the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Columbus was looking for a faster route to the far east (Asia) in order to trade for valuable spices. Instead, he found North America, after sailing for five weeks. The ship Santa Maria sank in Hispaniola, but the Niña and the Pinta both made it back to Spain.

Columbus Day

                                                         Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was an Italian explorer who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, hoping to find a route to India (in order to trade for spices). He made a total of four trips to the Caribbean and South America during the years 1492-1504

    . The First Trip:

Columbus sailed for King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain. On his first trip, Columbus led an expedition with three ships, the Niña (captained by Vicente Yáñez Pinzon), the Pinta (owned and captained by Martin Alonzo Pinzon), and the Santa Maria (captained by Columbus), and about 90 crew members.

On his first trip, Columbus led an expedition with three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María They set sail on Aug. 3, 1492, and on October 11, 1492, spotted the Caribbean islands off southeastern North America. They landed on an island they called Guanahani, but Columbus later renamed it San Salvador. They were met by the local Taino Indians, many of whom were captured by Columbus' men and later sold into slavery. Columbus thought he had made it to Asia, and called this area the Indies, and called its inhabitants Indians.

While exploring the islands in the area and looking for gold to loot, Columbus' men traveled to the islands of Hispaniola (now divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Cuba, and many other smaller islands. On the return trip, the Santa Maria was wrecked and the captain of the Pinta sailed off on his own to try to beat Columbus back. Columbus returned to Spain in the Niña, arriving on March 15, 1493.

The Second Trip:On a second, larger expedition (Sept. 25, 1493-June 11, 1496), sailed with 17 ships and 1,200 to 1,500 men to find gold and capture Indians as slaves in the Indies. Columbus established a base in Hispaniola and sailed around Hispaniola and along the length of southern Cuba. He spotted and named the island of Dominica on November 3, 1493. The Third Trip:On a third expedition (May 30, 1498-October 1500), Columbus sailed farther south, to Trinidad and Venezuela (including the mouth of the Orinoco River). Columbus was the first European since the Viking Leif Ericsson to set foot on the mainland of America.

The Fourth Trip:On his fourth and last expedition (May 9, 1502-Nov. 7, 1504), Columbus sailed to Mexico, Honduras and Panama (in Central America) and Santiago (Jamaica). Columbus is allegedly buried in eastern Hispaniola (now called the Dominican Republic).*

*Spain contends that he is buried in the Cathedral of Sevilla

El Mausoleo de

Cristobal Colón

en la catedralde Sevilla

The caravel – la carabela

The caravel (also spelled carvel) is a light sailing ship that was developed by the Portuguese in the late 1400's, and was used for the next 300 years. The Portuguese developed this ship to help them explore the African coast. The caravel was an improvement on older ships because it could sail very fast and also sail well into the wind (windward). Caravel planking on the hull replaced thinner, less effective planking. Caravels were broad-beamed ships that had 2 or 3 masts with square sails and a triangular sail (called a lanteen). They were up to about 65 feet long and could carry roughly 130 tons of cargo. Caravels were smaller and lighter than the later Spanish galleons (developed in the 1500's). Two of Christopher Columbus' three ships were caravels (the Niña and the Pinta).

La Niña

La Pinta

La Santa María

La Santa María

The flagship Santa María was a "nao" or cargo ship. It was significantly wider and clumsier than the caravels. Columbus even mentioned later in the voyage that the Santa María was not very well suited for exploration

¿Quieres colorear una carabela?