Christopher Columbus

On his first journey to the New World, Christopher Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas, which he named San Salvador.

Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy but sailed on behalf of Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Spain.

He had been trying to reach Asia by sailing west from Europe, and believed that the islands he had discovered were off the coast of Japan or China.

This is why the islands in the Caribbean came to be known as the West Indies and the native people of the Americas, Indians.

Columbus' first voyage lasted from August 1492 to March 1493.

Columbus and his men were the first Europeans to see many of the islands in the Caribbean, including Cuba and Hispaniola, which includes the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Before he sailed back to Europe, Columbus left about 20 volunteers to stay at Navidad, a site on Hispaniola, and took six of the natives and some plants and gold ornaments to Isabella as proof that he had found a route to Asia.

Columbus made three additional voyages to the New World.

While just three ships, the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, went on the first expedition, the second expedition included 17 ships, with 1500 sailors and prospective colonists.

When Columbus reached Hispaniola for the second time, he discovered that La Navidad had been destroyed by the "Indians", who had avenged themselves for atrocities that the Spanish had committed against them.

Columbus founded another settlement, which he called Isabella, and enslaved the natives.

Columbus' rule of Hispaniola was not well received, and by the time of his third voyage, he was relieved of his duties and arrested.

During his fourth voyage, Columbus was in ill health. The voyage itself did not go well; it was beset with storms and shipwrecks.

Columbus died in 1506, two years after returning to Spain for the last time.