Hamid aghvami biography of christopher columbus

Columbus was not the first person to reach America. Previous successful voyages included a Norse expedition led by Leif Ericson. However, Columbus was the first to travel to America and establish permanent settlements. Columbus was a skilled navigator with tremendous faith in the possibilities of exploration. He claimed in his diary entries, his steely will held the crew together when they feared they would never reach land.

However, his autocratic style created friction on the boats that he guided. Columbus was deeply religious and his tendency to be sanctimonious and judgemental of personal failings was not popular with sailors who took a more earthy and realistic approach to life. Yet, whilst he was pious in some regards, he also shared the view, common at the time, that European Christians had a moral superiority due to their following the one true faith.

Although Columbus held back some of the worst excesses of his sailors, he took back human slaves and looted property from the indigenous people. As part of the deal, the Spanish monarchy appointed Columbus Viceroy and Governor of the Indies in the island of Hispaniola. Incleared of the most serious charges but stripped of his noble titles, the aging Columbus persuaded the Spanish crown to pay for one last trip across the Atlantic.

This time, Columbus made it all the way to Panama—just miles from the Pacific Ocean—where he had to abandon two of his four ships after damage from storms and hostile natives. Empty-handed, the explorer returned to Spain, where he died in However, his journey kicked off centuries of exploration and exploitation on the American continents.

The Columbian Exchange transferred people, animals, food and disease across cultures. Old World wheat became an American food staple. African coffee and Asian sugar cane became cash crops for Latin America, while American foods like corn, tomatoes and potatoes were introduced into European diets.

Hamid aghvami biography of christopher columbus: Hamid Aghvami is presently the Director

Today, Columbus has a controversial legacy —he is remembered as a daring and path-breaking explorer who transformed the New World, yet his actions also unleashed changes that would eventually devastate the native populations he and his fellow explorers encountered. Ten years after his voyage, Columbus, awaiting the gallows on criminal charges in a Caribbean prison, plotted a treacherous final voyage to restore his reputation.

You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States. Your Profile. Email Updates. The Voyages of Christopher Columbus: Timeline Columbus is born — Columbus sails to the Americas — Columbus returns to Hispaniola — Columbus seeks a strait to India — Columbus's last voyage Columbus dies. Watch now. Read more.

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The Real Story of Columbus. On February 29,a lunar eclipse alarmed the natives enough to re-establish trade with the Spaniards. A rescue party finally arrived, sent by the royal governor of Hispaniola in July, and Columbus and his men were taken back to Spain in November In the two remaining years of his life, Columbus struggled to recover his reputation.

Although he did regain some of his riches in Mayhis titles were never returned. Columbus probably died of severe arthritis following an infection on May 20,in Valladolid, Spain.

Hamid aghvami biography of christopher columbus: Hamid Aghvami, King's College London, UK.

At the time of his death, he still believed he had discovered a shorter route to Asia. There are questions about the location of his burial site. In MayColumbus made headlines as news broke that a team of archaeologists might have found the Santa Maria off the north coast of Haiti. After a thorough investigation by the U. Columbus has been credited for opening up the Americas to European colonization—as well as blamed for the destruction of the native peoples of the islands he explored.

Ultimately, he failed to find that what he set out for: a new route to Asia and the riches it promised. The horse from Europe allowed Native American tribes in the Great Plains of North America to shift from a nomadic to a hunting lifestyle. Wheat from the Old World fast became a main food source for people in the Americas. Coffee from Africa and sugar cane from Asia became major cash crops for Latin American countries.

And foods from the Americas, such as potatoes, tomatoes and corn, became staples for Europeans and helped increase their populations. The Columbian Exchange also brought new diseases to both hemispheres, though the effects were greatest in the Americas. Smallpox from the Old World killed millions, decimating the Native American populations to mere fractions of their original numbers.

This more than any other factor allowed for European domination of the Americas. The overwhelming benefits of the Columbian Exchange went to the Europeans initially and eventually to the rest of the world. The Americas were forever altered, and the once vibrant cultures of the Indigenous civilizations were changed and lost, denying the world any complete understanding of their existence.

As more Italians began to immigrate to the United States and settle in major cities during the 19 th century, they were subject to religious and ethnic discrimination. This included a mass lynching of 11 Sicilian immigrants in in New Orleans. Just one year after this horrific event, President Benjamin Harrison called for the first national observance of Columbus Day on October 12,to mark the th anniversary of his arrival in the Americas.

Hamid aghvami biography of christopher columbus: In the last two decades, a

It was here that he initially attempted to gain royal patronage for a westward voyage to the Orient - his 'enterprise of the Indies'. When this failed, and appeals to the French and English courts were also rejected, Columbus found himself in Spain, still struggling to win backing for his project. Ten weeks later, land was sighted. On 12 October, Columbus and a group of his men set foot on an island in what later became known as the Bahamas.

Believing that they had reached the Indies, the newcomers dubbed the natives 'Indians'. Initial encounters were friendly, but indigenous populations all over the New World were soon to be devastated by their contact with Europeans.