Essay on Christpher Columbus, an Explorer - 1166 Words

In this essay I am going to talk about one of the most important men in history. He was so important that without him the world would not be what it is now and throughout history his discoveries have inspired others to become fierce adventurers of the sea. Columbus had one of the brightest ideas of the time, he had the idea that he could reach China by sailing west from Europe. This idea meant that there would be a westward passage from Spain to west across the ocean to China in a cheap and easy way in order to return cheap goods from China into Europe. The story of Columbus’s journey across the Atlantic was one of the greatest journeys of exploration in history as in just a few months, he has changed the world map forever but this was not†¦show more content†¦Everybody knew that they were sailing literally into the unknown. The sailors that took part in the first voyage were apprehensive because nobody had sailed so far to the west. They were not afraid of falling of f the edge of the earth because they knew that the Earth was spherical. They were however afraid that they would sail so far that they might never find their way back. The biggest challenge must have been the fear of the unknown and weather their provisions like water, food would actually last in order to get them back again. There was however an extraordinary prize at stake, the most valuable prize in the world – the riches of Asia that consisted in pearls, gold and spices from China, India and Japan. These were considered the ‘oil’ of the age and Europe had a great appetite for them but had no supplies of its own so trading them could turn into a fortune. In Europe, most of the nobles have grown wealthy by trading with the east, they traded spices and gold, gemstones and silk were considered to be one of the most lucrative goods but the problem was that Europe had lost the silk roads to the Ottoman Empire and foreign trade is in serious decline and this in turn , endangered the wealth of the kings and queens of Europe. The Queen of Spain at that time was interested in finding new trade routes with India. For over 500 years Europeans dominated the