Geography of Spain and Christopher Columbus

• Sequence of Maps
• 1400: http://www.euratlas.net/history/europe/1400/entity_1122.html; http://www.euratlas.net/history/europe/1400/1400_Southwest.html
• The only part of Spain is the region Castille
• 1500: http://www.euratlas.net/history/europe/1500/entity_1122.html; http://www.euratlas.net/history/europe/1500/1500_Southwest.html
• Castille + Aragon + Granada + Arborea + Sicily = Spain
• 1600: http://www.euratlas.net/history/europe/1600/entity_1122.html; http://www.euratlas.net/history/europe/1600/1600_Southwest.html
• Spain (all above mentioned) + Portugal + Navame + Naples +Various Small States = New Spain
• Christopher Columbus
• "I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that any one has gone," (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.html)
• Columbus's mission
• "I left the city of Granada, on Saturday, the twelfth day of May, 1492, and proceeded to Palos, a seaport, where I armed three vessels, very fit for such an enterprise, and having provided myself with abundance of stores and seamen, I set sail from the port, on Friday, the third of August, half an hour before sunrise," (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.html)
• Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria
• Setting sail
• {Sunday, October 7} "At sunrise the caravel Nina, who kept ahead on account of her swiftness in sailing, while all the vessels were striving to outsail one another, and gain the reward promised by the King and Queen by first discovering land--hoisted a flag at her mast head, and fired a lombarda, as a signal that she had discovered land," (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.html)
• Spotting land for the first time
• {Thursday, October 11}"Numbers of the people of the island straightway collected together," (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.html)
• The Indian people: handsome, dark, large foreheads, naked, short and coarse hair, friendly
• Columbus gave them gifts
• {Sunday, October 14} "'Come and see the men who have come from heavens!'" "I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men, and govern them as I pleased," "I returned to the ship, and setting sail, discovered such a number of islands that I knew not which first to visit," (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.html)
• Indians thought they were gods
• Columbus was arrogant about conquering them
• Left the New World and found the Galapagos Islands