Christopher Columbus' liv og rejser

Christopher was born in Italia, in a little town called Genoa in 1451. He was 14 years old when he went to sea. When he was 23 years his ship was destroyed by a French pirates, but he survived the attack. He decide after that, he would not to be sailor no more. He decided to be a bookseller. Some years later read he Marco Polo´s account about his journey about how he travelled east to India. Columbus was convinced if he sailed west, he could also find India. But what will he in India. Maybe to make a fortune in gold, jewels, spices and slaves. But he needed someone to finance his journey. He spoke whit the king of Portugal, England and France, but they all said no. Finally went to the king Ferdinand and queen Isabella of Spain. Queen Isabella laughed at him first. But the idea of reaching east by going to west, seemed absurd. But she gave him three ships in the end. And she also gave him crew of ninety men and some money. Niña, Penta and Santa Maria were the three ships names. The Journey began on August 2, 1492. Around this time educated people knew that the world was round but Columbus´ crew was not educated. So they thought the earth was flat and they will fall off the edge. 71 days to sea they finally saw dry land. They row ashore. They planted the spines flag on the beach. Columbus called the natives for Indians. It was a terrible mistake because he was not in India. He was on a little island southeast off Florida. He wasn´t the first European in America either. Five hundred years previous, a Viking call Lief Eircson was in America. On his journey home to Spain, had he twenty slaves whit him, but only seven made it to Spain. All the other slaves died by disease, but Queen Isabella was very impressed by them. She sent Columbus back to get more slaves, this time he had seventeen ships, and 1200 soldiers whit him. He was in America two times more, before he died in Spain. He died in 1506, and he were 55 years old. Sixty years later were all the Taino Indians dead, by hard work and diseases by the Europeans. So were Christopher Columbus really a hero or a villain.