Who discovered America and when? “Columbus was the real Trump”: social networks reacted to America's Discovery Day America's Discovery Day Columbus 12.
On Thursday, October 12, many countries in South and North America, as well as in Spain, celebrate the Discovery of America, which is also called Columbus Day. Users of social networks, including a fan of Twitter - the President of the United States Donald Trump reacted to this event.
October 12, 1492 expedition Christopher Columbus reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, which was later taken as the official date for the discovery of America, although the navigator himself was sure that he had "discovered" India.
In Spain and most of the American countries, Columbus Day is celebrated on October 12, in the United States this holiday is celebrated on the second Monday of October (in 2017 it was October 9).
It must be said that the theme of the discovery of America was often played up in art, and by no means only in a positive way. The discoverers were reminded of the genocide of the Indians, and slavery, and other sins. The modern main state of America - the United States - is also by no means the world's favorites.
In a 1925 poem Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote:
“I would close America, clean it up a bit, and then open it again - a second time.”
However, the theme of the discovery of America was played up in a comic way.
The "Song about the dangers of smoking" says:
“Columbus discovered America - he was a great sailor! But at the same time he taught the whole world how to smoke tobacco.”
(The meaning of the song is smoking is harmful, and Columbus is not really to blame for its distribution).
Another super-popular old student song, which contains the following lines:
“Columbus discovered America, a country completely alien to us. Fool! He’d better open a pub on our street!”
(In the original, by the way, the end of the line sounds like this: “On the Mendeleevskaya pub!”, which indicates that the authorship belongs to St. Petersburg studiouses - it is on the Mendeleevskaya line of Vasilyevsky Island that the historical buildings of St. Petersburg University are located).
Federal News Agency collected some posts from social networks in connection with Columbus Day - 2017.
“12.10 at once several countries celebrate the discovery of America Christopher Columbus(although in fact only the island of San Salvador was discovered that day),” recalls a Twitter user Arthive.
On October 12, several countries celebrate the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (although in fact only the island of San Salvador was discovered that day)
Arthive (@artchiveru) October 12, 2017
“Columbus Day splits the US: Indians and African Americans demand cancellation, pay and repentance to whites for the discovery of America,” reports an Estonian blogger Evgeny Levik.
Columbus Day splits the USA: Indians and Africans demand cancellation, pay and repent to whites for the discovery of America, Italo and... https://t.co/zGYyRrQyXb
Jevgeni Levik (@JevgeniLevik)
Columbus Day is a holiday dedicated to the anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, which is celebrated annually on the second Monday of October.
Definition of Columbus Day, history of the Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus, historical discoveries of Columbus, traditions of celebrating Columbus Day in the USA and other countries, movement against celebrating Columbus Day
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Columbus Day is, definition
The holiday, which is dedicated to the anniversary when the expedition of the Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus reached the shores of the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, later this day, October 12, 1492, was taken as the official date of the discovery of America, and in 1937, under President Franklin Roosevelt, Columbus Day became the State holiday, despite the fact that for the indigenous people of the country this holiday is a day of sorrow, the day when Europeans brought death, disease, poverty to their lands.
Columbus Day is A federal holiday in the United States of great importance for the entire nation, which was first timed to coincide with the anniversary of a significant event - the discovery of Columbus Day - this is a holiday in honor of the discovery of the continent by a famous navigator, which occurred on October 12, 1492 according to the Julian calendar (October 21, 1492 according to the Gregorian calendar ).
Columbus Day is a national public holiday of the United States of America, which was first celebrated in 1492, and several centuries later, Americans began to celebrate it annually on the second Monday in October.
Columbus Day - fl A holiday originally celebrated annually in New York City by Italians in 1866, as Columbus was considered Italian.
Columbus Day is a revered holiday, since its discovery served as the development of land, its settlement by Europeans, and on the other hand, the resettlement of Europeans destroyed the culture and existence of the indigenous people of a hitherto unknown continent.
Columbus Day is a national and international phenomenon that reflects the myriad of myths and historical lies that have been used for centuries to dehumanize the Indians by justifying the theft of their lands, the deliberate destruction of entire nations and the genocide of our people.
Columbus Day is a public holiday for US stock exchanges
The Forex market starts at 23:00 GMT on Sunday in Tokyo (03:00 Monday Moscow time) and closes at 22:00 Friday in Chicago (02:00 Saturday Moscow time).
That is, the Forex market operates five days a week almost around the clock, but, as in everything, there are exceptions in the Forex market. These are state and, accordingly, bank holidays.
Days when American Forex exchanges are closed:
02.01 New Year's Day - New Year;
20.02 Presidents Day or Washington "s Birthday - President's Day;
06.04 Good Friday - Good Friday;
28.05 Memorial Day - Remembrance Day;
04.07 Independence Day - Independence Day;
03.09 Labor Day - Labor Day;
08.10 Columbus Day - Columbus Day;
12.11 Veterans Day - Veterans Day;
22.11 Thanksgiving Day - Thanksgiving Day;
25.12 Christmas Day - Christmas.
Although Columbus Day is a holiday in the US, banks are resting, but some Forex markets continue to work as usual. In this regard, no macro statistics are expected.
The name of a holiday or public holiday for US exchanges is as follows;
01.01 New Year's Day NYSE, NYMEX, CME;
Jan. 21 Martin Luther King Jr. Day NYSE, NYMEX, CME;
February 18 Presidents Day or Washington's Birthday NYSE, NYMEX, CME;
03.29 Good Friday NYSE, NYMEX, CME;
May 27 Memorial Day NYSE, NYMEX, CME;
04.07 Independence Day NYSE, NYMEX, CME;
02.09 Labor Day NYSE, NYMEX, CME;
14.10 Columbus Day CME;
11.11 Veterans Day CME;
11/28 Thanksgiving Day NYSE, NYMEX, CME;
December 25 NYSE, NYMEX, CME;
NYSE - New York Stock Exchange (USA).
NYMEX - New York Mercantile Exchange (USA).
CME - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (USA).
Columbus Day holiday
In most countries of the American continent, Columbus Day celebrations are held on October 12 - the day the expedition of Christopher Columbus landed on American soil on October 12, 1492. And only in the USA this holiday is celebrated annually on the second Monday of October.
Celebrating Columbus Day in the USA
Columbus Day is celebrated annually on the second Monday in October in the United States and is a public holiday in most of the United States, although it is not celebrated in some states. In particular, it is not a public holiday in California, Nevada, and Hawaii.
Official events in honor of the celebration of the anniversary of the discovery of America begin with a divine service. In some US cities, special church services, parades and solemn ceremonies are held. Most of the celebrations are centered around the Italian American community. Celebrations in New York and San Francisco deserve special attention. In Hawaii, Columbus Day is also known as Landing Day.
This day celebrates not only one of the greatest geographical discoveries in the history of mankind, but also emphasizes the role that ethnic Italians played in the development and development of the United States of America. Thus, the Columbus Citizens Foundation, an organization that unites US citizens of Italian origin, organizes celebrations who have made the most significant contribution to science, culture, business, education and the development of democratic institutions in the United States.
Most of the celebrations are centered around the Italian-American communities. And although the story with the navigator played a cruel joke, and the mainland America got its name from another navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, but three centuries later, the first ceremony in honor of Columbus the discoverer took place. A monument was erected in his honor by the Americans and from then to this day Columbus Day is celebrated.
Interestingly, the nationality of Christopher Columbus is still the subject of scientific debate. The main version says that he was born in Italy, but some scholars call Spain, Portugal and even Greece. Columbus mastered the art of navigation in Portugal, but it was Spain that sponsored his historic expedition of 1492.
During the holiday, most state institutions do not work, post offices, banks, stock exchanges are closed. Schools are usually open on this day, as are most American companies and businesses. In New York, Denver and many other cities in honor of Columbus Day, more than 500 years after the historic arrival of an expedition of three ships to the shore of a small island in the Caribbean, celebrations, parades, theatrical performances depicting the discovery of America by Columbus are held.
The holiday opens, as a rule, with the laying of flowers at the monument to Columbus in New York's Central Park.
Then the carnival begins on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, which is attended by schoolchildren, police officers, firefighters and soldiers of the National Guard.
The most crowded and noisy on this day in New York. Up to 30 thousand people gather on Fifth Avenue, the streets of Manhattan are decorated in the colors of the Italian flag, because according to one version, the discoverer of America was from the Republic of Genoa.
Along with colorful parades throughout the country, sports holidays, fairs, carnivals, fireworks are arranged in the evening.
Numerous participants in the celebrations and spectators pay tribute to the memory of Christopher Columbus and 90 sailors who set sail with him on three caravels - "Pinta", "Nina" and "Santa Maria".
Parades also take place in the Italian and Hispanic neighborhoods of the metropolis. Toward evening, the famous Empire State Building skyscraper is illuminated with red, white and green lights - in the colors of the Italian flag.
Another entertainment for Americans on this holiday is shopping. On Columbus Day, small stores and large shopping centers are not overcrowded, because discounts on goods sometimes reach up to 70%, so on the second Monday of October, some stores receive monthly revenue.
Since the United States was founded by English colonists, and not by Columbus and his followers, as the Spaniards assured, in the USA the day of "discovery of America" by Columbus was not celebrated at all for many years, although on the days of the 300th and 400th anniversaries of his first voyage memorial ceremonies were held. Despite the fact that Christopher Columbus was definitely not the first European to set foot on the land of the American continent, it is he who accounts for the bulk of the glory and honors (as well as ruthless criticism, for the mass extermination of the indigenous people that followed his travels). ) for the "discovery" of America.
For the first time this holiday was "officially" celebrated in the United States in 1792 - in honor of the tercentenary of the landing of Columbus. The celebration was organized at the initiative of Tammany Hall, a political society close to the US Democratic Party, also known as the Columbian Order. To commemorate the anniversary of this great event, a monument to the navigator was erected in Baltimore, Maryland, and the District of Columbia received its current name (though a year before the celebration of the tercentenary).
On the four hundredth anniversary of this event, in 1892, a statue of the navigator was installed in New York, on Columbus Avenue.
In many American cities, Columbus Day traditions are closely linked to American communities of Italian descent. In New York City, Italians first celebrated Columbus Day in 1866. The Italian community of San Francisco held the first Columbus Day celebration in 1869.
In 1892, the first official celebration of Columbus Day took place in the United States. President Benjamin Harrison called on the people to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America.
School programs, theatrical performances, festivals, sports events and fairs dedicated to the holiday date were organized throughout the country.
Colorado was the first US state to legalize Columbus Day celebrations in 1907. New York state proclaims Columbus Day official holiday in 1909. The popularization of the holiday in various American states is associated with the activities of the Catholic movement "Knights of Columbus", which was a Catholic society.
The status of the state holiday was assigned in 1937 at the initiative of President Roosevelt.
Initially, the holiday was celebrated on October 12, but forty years ago, Nixon decided to move the official celebration to the nearest Monday from the date. After the adoption in 1971 of the federal reform of public holidays, Columbus Day in the United States - Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October. This holiday differs from other national celebrations in the United States in its informality.
Unlike, for example, Christmas, many people work on Columbus Day, but those who have a day off can fully enjoy the festive events. One of the most important components of the celebration of Columbus Day in the United States are parades - ranging from small parades in small towns to colorful performances that gather thousands of spectators in large cities like New York and San Francisco.
This day is especially honored in places where there is a high density of former Italian immigrants - in San Francisco, as well as in New York. Italian communities use this holiday even more as a day of Italian culture and their historical homeland, and the rest of the US citizens are happy to join them in this.
Although, for example, in Nevada, California and Hawaii, it is not customary to celebrate Columbus Day, commercial organizations are allowed to work, but government agencies are usually closed. No one holds special ceremonial events, only the US flag is raised over government buildings.
Columbus is named after the State of Columbia in South America, the Columbian Plateau and the Columbia River in North America, the District of Columbia in the United States, and the province of British Columbia in Canada; There are five cities in the USA named Columbus and four named Columbia.
In many places, such as Berkeley, California, Columbus Day is replaced by Indigenous Day in honor of the inhabitants of the islands where the Columbus expedition landed.
But there are people in the United States for whom Columbus Day is not a holiday - these are the Indians. Indeed, in their opinion, it was Columbus who was guilty of the fact that the Europeans brought disease, death, poverty to the continent, and the surviving Indians were driven into reservations. A few years ago, as a result of a lawsuit by a number of American Indian organizations, the city of Denver, Colorado, required the organizers of the next celebratory procession to provide an official document certifying that during the parade they would not use the name and image of the great navigator in any way, but during during the performances, the name of Columbus will not sound. The Indians considered the mention of the name of Columbus in a positive context a manifestation of discrimination.
In addition, every year on the eve of Columbus Day in Denver, the Indians hold their alternative procession - a protest march against this holiday. Almost every year it is accompanied by riots and arrests of their instigators.
Day of Cultures in Costa Rica
October 12th is the Discovery of America Day in Costa Rica. On October 12, Christopher Columbus discovered America and the first Europeans arrived on the shores of the New World.
Although, by and large, this day is not a holiday in this country. During the years of its independence, Costa Rica has become home to many immigrants from various countries, and today it is a truly international state. This holiday, which in Costa Rica has its own special traditions, calls for integration and good neighborliness.
Christopher Columbus was lucky enough to discover the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica during the fourth voyage to the New World. Costa Rica is considered the whitest country in the region. This country is the quietest and most prosperous of all Central American countries. It is often called tropical Switzerland.
When the Spanish flotilla approached these fertile lands, it was surrounded by Indians who adorned themselves with gold plates. The sailors thought that they had finally found a shore rich in gold, which is why they called it "golden". However, no precious metals could be found, so the shore had to be renamed simply "rich". So the name "Costa Rica" or "Rich Coast" appeared.
America's Discovery Day, October 12, is celebrated mostly only in schools as "Culture Day". The schools are thematic classes on the theme "Day of Cultures". This is timed to the friendship of peoples and the combination of different civilizations in the country - Spanish, African, local native Indians and many others.
In this case, on solemn event the friendship of peoples and the unification of many cultures in Costa Rica are emphasized.
Costa Rica welcomes and gladly accepts any migrants, provided that they come with good intentions and are included in a friendly, hard-working team.
Before Christopher Columbus discovered the Bahamas in 1492, the Arawak Indian tribes settled on them, who were taken by the conquistadors to the mines South America, where they soon became completely extinct.
The first settlers who settled the Bahamas after the Indians were Europeans who found freedom of religion on the island of Eleuthera.
Pirates also used the Bahamas as a refuge, and after the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War, royalists came with slaves. Slaves, in fact, were the ancestors of the bulk of today's population of the Bahamas.
Columbus Day is celebrated in the United States annually to commemorate the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World (on the island of San Salvador, also known as Weitling Island and now part of the British Bahamas) on October 12, 1492.
This event is celebrated in a number of countries with annual holidays - in the Bahamas it is Opening Day. More recently, it has also been called the Day of National Heroes, although many locals call it the Day of the Discovery of the New World in the old fashioned way. On this day, festive processions and parades, musical and theatrical performances take place in all cities, all state institutions and banks do not work.
Hispanidad Day in Spain
Spain's National Day is celebrated on October 12 every year. It was on October 12, 1492 that the Spanish ships under the command of Christopher Columbus reached the shores of America. Thanks to this discovery, the name of the navigator and discoverer is listed among the greatest and most famous people who have made a great contribution to world history.
In 1913, Faustino Rodriguez San Pedro, a Latin American lawyer, businessman, and then an influential head of the Latin American Union, proposed that October 12 be celebrated annually as a holiday for the Hispanic community.
This holiday, since 1918, has been solemnly celebrated by all Spaniards living in Latin America.
As a sign of respect for the peoples of South America, since 1935 it has been officially accepted to consider this day as the Day of the Hispanidad.
In 1981, Hispanidad Day was proclaimed a national holiday by royal decree.
For several years it was celebrated under the old name, but in 1987 it was renamed the Spanish National Day and became one of the country's two main public holidays, along with Constitution Day.
The word Hispanidad, translated from Spanish, can be called a commonwealth or community of Hispanic peoples. In the last century, this day, which was often imperial in nature, was symbolized with the Spanish race and the Spanish spirit, which is probably why many Spaniards recall the Spanish colonial empire with a certain amount of nostalgia.
In modern Spain, October 12 is considered the birthday of the community of peoples who speak Spanish, the holiday of the Spanish people, the Spanish civilization.
The celebration of this day begins every year from the central square of Madrid, where the solemn parade of the National Guard of Spain takes place.
Indian Resistance Day in Venezuela
In the capital of Venezuela, Caracas, during the First International Gathering of Indians of All America, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the discovery of America, which is celebrated on October 12, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that, in fairness, this day should be called "Indian Resistance Day."
On October 12, 2002, the President of the Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frias, signed Decree No. 2.028 renaming the Celebrations of October 12, a date that is very important for the natives of all America. Thus, since 2002, this date has been celebrated as Indian Resistance Day.
In order to honor the struggle of the indigenous population against foreign invaders. Since last year, changes have been made to the school curriculum of the history course, now Columbus is considered not the discoverer of America, but the organizer of the extermination of the natives of America.
The program includes the laying of wreaths in the Pantheon at the sarcophagus of Libertador Simon Bolivar and the symbolic monument of the Indian leader Guaicaipuro, a festive Indian fair and festivities at Los Proceros, a gala evening at the Teresa Carreño Theater.
The Venezuelan people pay tribute to the courage and courage of the indigenous peoples of the continent and their rich and distinctive culture.
Hugo Chavez welcomed the representatives of the Indian peoples of the Americas who had gathered in Caracas. In a poignant and emotional speech, Chavez claimed that the discovery, made in 1492, set off a 150-year-old "genocide" of native Indians by foreign invaders who behaved "worse than Hitler." “Christopher Columbus was the beginning of the largest invasion and genocide that has ever been in the history of mankind,” the president said. – When the conquistadors appeared on the continent, almost 90 million indigenous peoples lived here. After 150 years, a little more than 3 million remained ... The Spanish, English and Portuguese conquerors, it turns out, during these long years, an Indian was killed every 10 minutes! Chavez paid tribute to many heroes of the Indian resistance in North and South America. He also emphasized that the great Liberators of South America were mindful of the rights of indigenous peoples, and cited the example of Simon Bolivar, who signed a decree on May 20, 1820 in Cucuta to restore the rights of the Indians and return them to their lands.
In 2004, a group of supporters of Hugo Chavez broke and took away in an unknown direction a bronze statue of the "discoverer". March 2009: According to the Associated Press, the prefect of Caracas (a district of the capital of Venezuela) ordered the demolition of a statue of Christopher Columbus. The country's President Hugo Chavez warmly endorsed this decision of the official, saying during a television speech that, having reached America more than 5 centuries ago,
Race Day in Argentina
This is a national holiday - Columbus Day, or America's Day. According to historical data, it was on this day in 1492 that Christopher Columbus entered and "discovered" a new continent. This day is also called the Day of the Race - in honor of the peoples who settled Argentina. Indeed, after the discovery of America, the Spaniards, the British, the French reached out to the country of the Incas, although there were more Spaniards.
On this day, the people of Argentina celebrate the anniversary of the discovery of America. It is declared a public holiday in the country. People attend festive church services, as well as other events. Although commercial organizations still work, they are mainly in the service sector.
Race Day is a holiday in honor of the local and inhabited peoples of Argentina. The peoples of the American continent in its different parts were formed in different ways, only the starting point was common - the discovery of Columbus. South America attracted newcomers, mostly Spaniards, primarily with the fabulous wealth of the Aztecs and Incas, their gold and silver. And the colonization of lands seemed unrealistic because of the disastrous climate of the coastal selva. Therefore, a type of conquistador-adventurers was formed, rushing here for a "fast fortune" without wives, children, brides who remained in Spain.
On this day, worship groups perform songs in their native language with translation into Spanish, as well as dance, theater and mime groups. This is a day of praise and worship in all languages.
Movement against Columbus Day celebrations
This movement against the celebration of Columbus Day originated in the 19th century, when groups opposed to migrants refused to celebrate the holiday.
For the indigenous people of the country, this holiday is a day of mourning. Indeed, Europeans brought death, disease, poverty to America discovered by Columbus, and the Indians were expelled from their lands, settling in reservations.
Therefore, in many cities, the indigenous population organizes marches on this day, which may be accompanied by arrests and riots.
From an indigenous perspective, Columbus's arrival on the shores of the Americas was a disaster from the start. Although Columbus wrote in his diaries that the Indians secretly gave him the most generous hospitality, he began by enslaving and killing the Indian peoples living in the islands of the Caribbean.
As his famous biographer Samuel Eliot Morison writes in his book Admiral of the Seas and Oceans, Columbus was personally responsible for the enslavement and extermination of the indigenous population. It was he who created the encomienda system (the right to use the land with the Indians living on it), which tied the Indians to the land stolen from them by European invaders.
In an October 1976 issue of American Heritage magazine, Columbus foresaw genocide against the Tainos living in present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Therefore, this explorer, despite his historical fame, deserves neither reverence, nor respect, nor the laurels of a hero; And besides, he doesn't deserve public holiday in his honor.
Supporters of the celebration of Columbus Day argue that the Indians are unfair to him, considering him as a contemporary, and not a person who lived according to the moral principles and laws of the 15th century. Such arguments suggest that no legal or moral principles existed for Columbus or other countries in 1492. As Roger Williams writes in his book American Indian in Western Legal Thought, at that time the principles of law and morality were not only in place, but also provided for the protection of the indigenous population from invasion and robbery. Unfortunately, the question of Columbus or the celebration of a day in his honor is not so easy to solve, just revealing the truth about Columbus as a person.
The image of Christopher Columbus as a brave hero raises a lot of doubts. In the Bahamas, Columbus and his people enslaved the local population. As governor of Haiti, Columbus allegedly subjected the local population to monstrous torture.
Columbus Day is a national and international phenomenon that reflects the myriad of myths and historical lies that have been used over the centuries to dehumanize the Indians by justifying the theft of their lands, the deliberate destruction of entire nations, and the genocide of our people.
Since the 15th century, the myth of Columbus' discovery of America has been used to create laws and policies that reek of Orwellian demagogy, theft was equated with the spread of civilization, genocide acted as a means of ridding savages of barbarism, and the destruction of entire Indian peoples implied the superiority of European values and social institutions over Indian.
Columbus Day is a perpetuation of the racist assumption that, prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Western Hemisphere was a wasteland where swarms of savages roamed in anticipation of a blessed European civilization. Across the globe, educational systems actively propagate these myths, while forgetting about the significant contribution of the Indians to world culture and implying that these savages should be grateful for colonization and microwaves.
As Alfred Crosby, Kirkpatrick Sale, and Jack Weatherford have demonstrated in their writings, the western hemisphere before the arrival of Europeans was not only a fertile region before 1492, but its population also made a significant contribution to world civilization, such as the model for US constitutional government, agricultural plants, which today make up 60% of the diet, and hundreds of medicinal herbs and techniques that are used in modern medicine
Chocolate was given to the world by the Indians. It was they who were the first to prepare from ground cocoa beans in combination with honey, hot peppers and corn, the “chocolatl” drink.
Before the arrival of Europeans, the islands were inhabited by Arawak Indian tribes. Christopher Columbus was the first European to visit the Bahamas. From that time began the Spanish expansion. Approximately 40,000 Indians were taken from the islands by the Spaniards to work in the mines or for pearling.
As a result, for almost 135 years, the Bahamas were deserted and were only a haven for pirates. In 1647, the first British colony was founded on the islands. Later, the British brought African slaves here to work on cotton plantations.
In recent decades, Native Americans and other groups have also opposed the celebration of an event that indirectly led to the colonization of the American continents and the destruction of millions of natives: Europeans became carriers of infectious diseases such as smallpox, influenza, which killed one in ten of the local population; many Aboriginal lives were claimed by military clashes between the colonizers and the indigenous population.
In many countries of Latin America, the anniversary of Columbus's entry into the Americas is traditionally celebrated as Nation Day, which honors the diversity of the roots of the people of Latin America. In Venezuela, the holiday is known as Resistance Day in recognition of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and their experiences. Some cities and states in the United States celebrate Columbus Day instead of alternative memorable days.
Discovery of America by Columbus
The most important event in the history of great geographical discoveries, and indeed world history in general, was the discovery of America by Columbus - an event as a result of which the inhabitants of Europe discovered two continents called the New World, or America.
The confusion began with the names of the continents. There is strong evidence for the version that the lands of the New World were named after the Italian patron Richard America from Bristol, who financed the trans-Atlantic expedition of John Cabot in 1497. The Florentine traveler Amerigo Vespucci, who visited the New World only in 1500 and after whom America is believed to have been named, took his nickname in honor of the already named continent.
In May 1497, Cabot reached the shores of Labrador, becoming the first officially registered European to set foot on American soil, two years ahead of Amerigo Vespucci. Cabot mapped the coast of North America from New England to Newfoundland. In the Bristol calendar for that year we read: “... on the day of St. John the Baptist found the land of America by merchants from Bristol, who arrived on a ship with the name "Matthew".
Christopher Columbus is considered the official discoverer of the continents of the New World.
History of the Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus
Among the great figures of world civilization, few can compare with Columbus in the number of publications devoted to his life, and at the same time in the abundance of "blank spots" in his biography. More or less confidently, it can be argued that he was a Genoese by origin and around 1465 he entered the Genoese fleet, after some time he was seriously wounded. Until 1485 he sailed on Portuguese ships, lived in Lisbon and on the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo, engaged in trade, mapping and self-education. It is not clear when and where he drafted the western, in his opinion, the shortest sea route from Europe to India; the project was based on the ancient doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth and on the incorrect calculations of scientists of the 15th century.
Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo, Cristobal Colon) (1451-1506) - Spanish navigator of Italian origin who discovered America. He was originally from Italy. Born in Genoa between August 26 and October 31, 1451. Became a sailor at an early age and sailed the Mediterranean. Perhaps he was a merchant and commanded a ship.
In the mid-1470s, Columbus settled in Portugal and joined a small colony of Italian merchants in Lisbon. In Portugal, Columbus married Felipe Moniz, the daughter of noble landowners, becoming a member of a mixed Italo-Portuguese family. It was the mother-in-law who gave Columbus maps and documents that were kept by her husband, who died in 1457. It is possible that Columbus drew his extensive information on geography from them.
Having become acquainted with these sciences, Columbus came to the conclusion that using the spherical shape of the Earth, one could reach India by the western route through the Atlantic Ocean, bypassing the traditional, dangerous route along Africa.
With this fantastic project Columbus in 1483 to the Portuguese king Juan III. The king had to give ships, people and provide them with food. In addition, Columbus demanded the following conditions be met: if he reaches Asia and discovers new lands, he will be appointed viceroy (deputy of the Spanish king) of these lands; a quarter of all income from trade with newly opened countries is deducted for his benefit; he should be given the rank of admiral; all his ranks and ranks are inherited by children. But the king refused to finance the expedition - the idea seemed unrealistic to him, the risk was very high, and the reward that Columbus demanded was very high.
Having been refused, Columbus left for Spain with his family, hoping that his idea would be more favorably received there.
The Spanish rulers, who were approached by Columbus, upset by the refusal of Juan II, also reacted coolly to the navigator's idea - the long war for Granada required large cash injections from the Spanish treasury. Columbus had to wait several years before he managed to convince the Spanish royal couple to approve his expedition. Obviously, he very well chose the time to turn to them again with his proposal - the ended Reconquista (a long process of recapture by the Pyrenean Christians - mainly Spaniards, Catalans and Portuguese - of the lands on the Iberian Peninsula occupied by the Moorish emirates) allowed the royal court of Spain in a new way look at the ideas of Columbus.
He was admitted to an audience with Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, who, after his report, appointed a scientific council to discuss the project.
The members of the council were mostly clerics. Columbus passionately defended his project. He referred to the evidence of ancient scientists about the sphericity of the Earth, to a copy of the map of the famous Italian astronomer Toscanelli, which depicted many islands in the Atlantic Ocean, and behind them - the eastern shores of Asia. He convinced the learned monks that the legends spoke of a land beyond the ocean, from the shores of which sea currents sometimes bring tree trunks with traces of their processing by people. Columbus was an educated person: he knew how to make maps, drive ships, knew four languages. He managed to convince the academic council of the validity of his expectations.
The rulers of Spain believed the traveler and decided to conclude an agreement with Columbus, according to which, if successful, he would receive the title of admiral and viceroy of the lands discovered by him, as well as a significant part of the profits from trade with countries where he would be able to visit. Thus began the era of geographical exploration and discovery, which began with the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.
At that time, Spain was in a difficult position. An earlier agreement with Portugal prohibited Spanish (and all other ships) from sailing in the area of the western coast of Africa, thus excluding the possibility of reaching the shores of India by circling the African continent. The state treasury was exhausted, and the possibility of establishing a profitable trade with India was most welcome to Spain.
The Spanish Church was also a supporter of the discovery of new lands in order to further spread the religion.
One can only guess what feelings drove Columbus to discover new lands - whether it was a passion for new discoveries, some kind of religious urge or a banal desire to ensure a comfortable existence, especially considering the fact that on April 17, 1492, Columbus and the Spanish king and queen signed the Treaty of Santa Fe, according to which Columbus not only received a noble rank, but also, if the expedition was successful, received the titles of admiral of the seas and viceroy and governor of new lands, as well as a very substantial part of the potential profits that could provide the Spanish court with his (Columbus) discovery.
The treasury of Spain, impoverished during the Reconquista, was unable to finance it, and Columbus was forced to turn to private investors for help. Despite their participation in the preparations for the expedition, the funds were only enough for three new ships, the condition of which was far from ideal, and the crew partly consisted of people who had broken the law, who were promised freedom in exchange for participating in the Columbus expedition.
The first expedition of Christopher Columbus (1492-1493)
Finally, on August 3, 1492, these three ships - the flagship "Santa Maria", "Pinta" and "Nina" - left the port, consisting of 91 people and set off to discover new lands.
The crews of the ships consisted mainly of convicted criminals. It has been 33 days since the expedition left the Canary Islands, and the land was still not visible. The team started murmuring. To calm her down, Columbus wrote down the distances traveled in the ship's log, deliberately underestimating them.
Finally, on October 12, “Earth!” was heard from the mast of the Pinta, and soon the ships anchored off one of the Antilles.
It was a small island with lush tropical vegetation. Tall people with dark skin lived here. The natives called their island Guanahania.
October 12, 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on this island. This date is the official date of the discovery of America.
Columbus named it San Salvador and declared it a possession of Spain. This name stuck to one of the Bahamas.
The indigenous inhabitants of the island met the newcomers in a friendly manner, introduced the sailors to tobacco, as well as various local plants, among which were tomatoes and potatoes. Since Columbus was sure that he sailed to India, he called the locals "Indians".
Continuing his journey, on October 28, Columbus reached the shores of Cuba, and soon Haiti (calling it Hispaniola). Having built Fort Navidad on Hispaniola, in which he left several people, Columbus went on. His next point was San Domingo.
Delighted by the discovery of a new route to India (as he believed), Columbus was nevertheless very disappointed when he did not find the luxurious cities and untold riches he expected. On January 4-16, 1493, he completed his survey of the northern coast of Haiti and on March 15 returned to Castile, in Palos he was greeted as a hero.
Columbus took several local Indians with him to Spain as one of the proofs of the success of his expedition.
The second expedition of Christopher Columbus (1493-1496)
Christopher Columbus led the 2nd expedition already in the rank of admiral, and in the position of viceroy of the newly discovered lands, it consisted of 17 ships with a crew of over 1.5 thousand people
In this composition, the expedition arrived in Isabella - the first Spanish settlement in Saint-Domingo.
Using the labor of local Indians, the Spaniards began work on gold mining. In pursuit of profit, Columbus constantly required the Indians to work harder and harder, which contributed to the aggravation of their already difficult relationship.
During the second expedition, Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, turning to the North-West - about 20 more Lesser Antilles, including Antigua and the Virgin Islands, and a little later - the island of Puerto Rico and approached the northern coast of Haiti.
In March 1494, in search of gold, Columbus made an aggressive campaign into Haiti, and crossed the Cordillera Central ridge. On April 29-May 3, Columbus with 3 ships passed along the southeastern coast of Cuba, turned from Cape Cruz to the South, and on May 5 discovered about. Jamaica.
Returning to Cape Cruz, Columbus walked along the southern coast of Cuba to 84 ° west longitude, discovered the Jardines de la Reina archipelago, the Zapata Peninsula and the island of Pinos.
In 1496 Columbus returns to Spain.
Third Expedition of Christopher Columbus (1498-1500)
The 3rd expedition (1498-1500) consisted of 6 ships, 3 of which Christopher Columbus himself led across the Atlantic Ocean.
On July 31, 1498, he discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria from the south, discovered the mouth of the western branch of the Orinoco Delta and the Paria Peninsula, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America.
Having then left for the Caribbean Sea, Christopher Columbus approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered the island of Margarita on August 15, and on August 31 arrived in the city of Santo Domingo.
However, during his absence, the Spaniards who remained in the colony raised an uprising against the admiral, dividing the land and the Indians among themselves and continuing to work in their own interests, regardless of the interests of the Spanish crown. The returned Columbus had to negotiate with the rebels, giving them ownership of a plot of land and Indians as slaves. Such a policy, of course, had a negative effect on relations with the Indians.
Columbus's initial plans to trade with the inhabitants of the new lands changed dramatically when he realized that from an economic point of view it was much more profitable for him to subjugate the Indians than to trade with them. The cruelty of Columbus against the local Indians, which increased their already great discontent, the too low profits brought by the colonies, as well as suspicions that Columbus was simply hiding the wealth he found in new lands, led the Spanish rulers to the idea that in order to manage new lands should appoint another person. Arriving in Hispaniola in 1500, the royal inspector Francisco de Bobadilla arrested Columbus and sent him to Spain.
But soon the rulers of Spain ordered the release of the famous navigator. Columbus managed to convince them that there is gold and other riches in the lands he discovered, and they only need to be carefully looked for.
Fourth expedition of Christopher Columbus (1502-1504)
June 15 - moving through the Lesser Antilles, discovered the island of Martinique. June 29 - Fleeing from a sea storm, he asked the governor of Hispaniola, Nicholas Ovando, for permission to take refuge in the harbor of Santo Domingo, but he was refused. Luckily, Columbus' ships weathered the storm.
July - Columbus moved west along the southern coast of Hispaniola and Jamaica. He intended to reach the mainland in the west and find the strait, following along the coast. July 30 - Columbus approached the northern shore of the land inhabited by the Mayan people (Honduras).
September 18 - Mosquito Coast (Nicaragua) and Gold Coast (later - Costa Rica, Rich Coast) are opened. October 5 - Columbus learned from the Indians of the Veragua country that the South Sea (the Gulf of Panama in the Pacific Ocean) can be reached through a narrow but mountainous strip of land (the Isthmus of Panama).
October 17 - Mosquitos Bay is opened. Local residents told about the existence in the south of the country, inhabited by warlike people who ride animals, wear shells, own swords, bows and arrows (obviously, it was about Peru, a highly developed state of the Incas, whose inhabitants used llamas as beasts of burden). November - Columbus' ships struggle along the coast of Panama.
December - The expedition welcomes the new year 1503 in the bay, which in 400 years will become the northern entrance to the Panama Canal.
Only 65 km separates Columbus from the Pacific Ocean, but he will never overcome them. January 1503 - Columbus returns to Mosquitos Bay. He wants to leave a colony here under the command of his brother Bartolome, but the local Indians are so warlike that he refuses this intention. April 16 - Columbus goes to sea and resumes the search for the strait, moving east.
June 25, 1503 wrecked off the island of Jamaica; help from Santo Domingo came only a year later. Christopher Columbus returned to Castile on November 7, 1504.
Last years the life of the great navigator spent in oblivion. On May 20, 1506, Columbus died, a poor, sick man, still believing that the land he had discovered was India.
After the death of Columbus in 1506, his ashes were first buried in Seville (Spain), but then Emperor Charles V decided to fulfill his dying wish and bury him on the land of the West Indies. The remains of Columbus in 1540 were taken to the island of Hispaniola (as Haiti was called at that time) and buried in Santo Domingo. When, at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, part of Hispaniola passed from the Spaniards to the French (and became known as Haiti), the ashes were transported to Cuba in the Havana Cathedral. After the Spaniards were expelled from this island in 1898, the ashes of the navigator were again returned to Santo Domingo, and then to Seville.
The tomb of Columbus is located in the Seville Cathedral.
However, at the end of the 19th century, during the restoration of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, the oldest in the New World, a box with bones was discovered, on which it was written that they belonged to Columbus. After that, a dispute arose between Seville and Santo Domingo for the right to be considered the place where the great navigator rests. In 2003, a group of geneticists and anthropologists, led by Jose Antonio Lorente, professor of forensic medicine at the University of Granada and the FBI Academy in Quantico, took up the study of this issue. Analysis of the alleged remains of Columbus, exhumed in Seville, showed, however, that they belong to a rather fragile 45-year-old man, while Christopher Columbus, on the contrary, was very strong, and died at the age of 55 to 60 years.
The northern region includes the entire Yucatan PeninsulaCoat of arms of Christopher Columbus
For his great discoveries, Columbus was granted a noble coat of arms by the Catholic Monarchs, on which "the castle of Castile and the lion of Leon (Spanish castillo - castle, Spanish león - lion) were adjacent to the images of the islands discovered by him, as well as anchors - symbols of the admiral's title."
His son Diego married the niece of the Duke of Alba and demanded that the Spanish crown provide the Isthmus of Panama (the country of Veragua), discovered by his father during his last trip. Disputes about the status of these lands and the rights of the descendants of Columbus to them dragged on for almost 30 years. In 1536, the grandson of Columbus announced the renunciation of claims to the lands discovered by his grandfather and to income from them, for which King Carlos I rewarded him with a substantial pension with the titles of Marquis of Jamaica and Duke of Veragua. In the future, these titles were borne by the descendants of Diego's eldest daughter - the younger Alvares, and then the Fitzjames (descendants of the Duke of Berwick). In the 19th century, the bearer of the title "Duke of Veragua", as a sign of his descent from Columbus, changed the surname "Fitzjames" to "Cristóbal Colón". From the youngest daughter Diego comes the Guadalest branch of the Catalan family of Cardona.
Objects named after Columbus
By no means questioning the great achievement of Christopher Columbus, nevertheless it is worth noting that formally he discovered only the islands off the coast of Central America. As for continental America, Columbus visited it only on his third trip, and he never visited North America at all.
The greatest merit of Columbus was that he brought to the end a journey that seemed absolutely fantastic to his contemporaries. Being convinced of the sphericity of the earth, Columbus knew that by going in the opposite direction than was accepted, one could achieve the same goal. Along the way, he made a number of discoveries:
Archipelago of the Greater Antilles;
Mouth of the Orinoco River;
Central America.
But he did not realize what he discovered. Captured by one idea to get to India, he did not compare reality with theory, was not interested in his discoveries with scientific point vision, and sought only for wealth and honors. This was the curse of his life.
Many geographical objects received the name of Columbus, of course, they should be placed at the head:
South American Republic of Colombia;
Columbia River in the northwestern United States
Mount Columbia rises on the border between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia; the second mountain of the same name is located in the state of Colorado.
The northernmost cape of Canada (on Ellesmere Island) is also called Columbia. There are several lakes in southeastern British Columbia named Columbia. The most important port of Panama on the Caribbean coast is called Colon, which corresponds to the Spanish pronunciation of the name of the great traveler.
City in the Panama Canal Zone Colón;
Colon - a city on the Atlantic coast of the Panama Canal, the administrative center of the province of Colon.
Monetary units of Costa Rica and El Salvador colon;
On all banknotes issued without exception of all years of issue and all denominations, a portrait of Columbus was placed on the reverse side.
Pedro Alonso Niño 1499-1500 visited the Pearl Coast to the west of the Gulf of Paria in the Caribbean Sea and brought home 38 kg of pearls - this was the richest overseas production of the Spaniards in the 15th century.
With Alonso Ojeda, the representative of the Florentine bankers who financed the enterprise, Amerigo Vespucci, also went on an expedition in 1499, as a pilot and cartographer Juan de la Cosa and notary Rodrigo de Bastidas. Approaching the South American mainland at a latitude of approximately 5 ° N. sh., Ojeda headed northwest, passed 1200 km along the coast of Guiana and Venezuela to the Orinoco Delta, then through the straits to the Caribbean Sea and to the Pearl Coast.
Meanwhile, Amerigo Vespucci, moving southeast, opened the mouths of the Amazon and Para rivers. Having risen in boats 100 kilometers upstream, he was never able to land on the shore because of the dense forest. Movement further to the southeast was extremely hampered by a strong oncoming current. This is how the Guiana Current was discovered. In total, Vespucci discovered about 1200 kilometers of the northeast coast of South America. Returning back to the north and northwest, Vespucci landed on Trinidad, and later connected with the ships of Ojeda. Together they explored the coast to the west of the Pearl Coast, discovered the eastern part of the Caribbean Andes, participated in armed skirmishes with unfriendly Indians, discovered the islands of Curaçao and Aruba - the westernmost of the Lesser Antilles.
In December 1499, another member of the first expedition of Columbus, Vicente Yáñez Pinson, went overseas. He was the first of the Spaniards to cross the equator, and on January 26, 1500, he went out, as it later turned out, to the easternmost tip of the South American continent - Cape San Roque. Pinson landed on the shore and issued an act of taking possession of the country, which would later be called Brazil. Moving from here to the northwest, Pinzon opened the mouth of the Para, the Amazon a second time after Vespucci, reached the Guiana and the mouth of the Orinoco.
In October 1500 Rodrigo de Bastidas sailed from Cadiz in two ships. Upon reaching the shores of South America, Bastidas explored about 1000 km of the Caribbean coast, discovered the mouth of the Magdalena River, as well as the Gulf of Darien and the Gulf of Uraba (northern coast of Colombia). The expedition members were the first to explore the interior of the continent in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region. He was forced to return to Santo Domingo, having previously been the first European to set foot on the Isthmus of Panama. During the voyage in 1502, Bastidas found a lot of gold, but on charges of illegal trade, he was arrested by the governor of Hispaniola, Francisco de Bobadilla, and sent to Spain.
At the same time, several more Spanish expeditions took place (the main purpose of which was to search for gold, pearls and capture slaves for sale in Spain), but also Portuguese expeditions (Discovery of Brazil on April 24, 1500 by Pedro Alvares Cabral, two expeditions to the Brazilian coast in 1501 -1502 and 1503-1504 by Gonzalo Coelho with the participation of Amerigo Vespucci), as a result of which the outlines of the northern and eastern coasts of the new continent began to become clearer, and it turned out that a significant part of it is located south of the equator, which means that it cannot be Asia.
Sources and links
tiwy.com - news archive, first international gathering of Indians in Venezuela
wiki.ru - articles on the history of great geographical discoveries
porti.ru - information portal, Columbus Day in America
ambitour.ru - tours and travel around the world
redigo.ru - America celebrates its Discovery Day
etravel.by - countries and hotels, Costa Rica
smtur.com - tours to Spain, holidays in Spain
intergid.ru - travel company, Argentina
argentina.forumy.eu - forum Cosmopolitan K, Argentina through the eyes of an immigrant
geographer.ru - great travelers of the world Christopher Columbus
radioner.ru - book - Schooner "Columbus"
en.wikipedia.org - Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
calend.ru - calendar of events, traveler's calendar
helena54.narod.ru - background of the Age of Discovery
piplz.ru - site about people - celebrity biographies, articles, news
country.turmir.com – tour World, guide - countries of the world
yandex.ru - yandex pictures, videos
web-eurohost.biz - Forex opening hours
forexua.com - Forex - foreign exchange market
Columbus discovered America
The year when this Spanish navigator discovered a new land is indicated in history as 1492. And by the beginning of the eighteenth century, all other regions of North America were already discovered and explored, for example, Alaska and the regions of the Pacific coast. It must be said that travelers from Russia also made an important contribution to the study of the mainland.
Development
The history of the discovery of North America is quite interesting: it can even be called accidental. At the end of the fifteenth century, a Spanish navigator with his expedition reached the shores of North America. However, he mistakenly believed that he was in India. From this moment, the countdown of that era begins, when America was discovered and its development and exploration began. But some researchers consider this date to be inaccurate, arguing that the discovery of a new continent happened much earlier.
The year of discovery of America by Columbus - 1492 - is not an exact date. It turns out that the Spanish navigator had predecessors, and moreover, not one. In the middle of the tenth century, the Normans got here after they discovered Greenland. True, they failed to colonize these new lands, because they were repelled by the harsh weather conditions of the north of this continent. In addition, the Normans were also frightened by the remoteness of the new mainland from Europe.
According to other sources, this continent was discovered by ancient navigators - the Phoenicians. Some sources call the middle of the first millennium of our era the time when America was discovered, and the Chinese are the pioneers. However, this version also does not have clear evidence.
The most reliable information is considered to be the time when the Vikings discovered America. At the end of the tenth century, the Normans Bjarni Herjulfson and Leif Ericsson found Helluland - "stone", Markland - "forest" and Vinland - "vineyard" land, which contemporaries identify with the Labrador Peninsula.
There is evidence that even before Columbus in the fifteenth century, the northern continent was reached by fishermen from Bristol and Biscay, who called it the island of Brazil. However, the time periods of these expeditions cannot be called that milestone in history when they discovered America for real, that is, identified it as a new continent.
Columbus is a real pioneer
And yet, when answering the question in what year America was discovered, experts most often name the fifteenth century, or rather its end. And Columbus is considered the first to do this. The time when America was discovered coincided in history with the period when Europeans began to spread ideas about the round shape of the Earth and the possibility of reaching India or China along the western route, that is, through the Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, it was believed that this route is much shorter than the eastern one. Therefore, taking into account the Portuguese monopoly on control over the South Atlantic, received by the Alcasovas agreement of 1479, Spain, always striving to obtain direct contacts with eastern countries, warmly supported the expedition of the Genoese navigator Columbus in the western direction.
Opening honor
Christopher Columbus with early age interested in geography, geometry and astronomy. From a young age, he participated in sea expeditions, visited almost all the then known oceans. Columbus was married to the daughter of a Portuguese sailor, from whom he inherited many geographical maps and notes from the time of Henry the Navigator. The future discoverer carefully studied them. His plans were to find a sea route to India, however, not bypassing Africa, but directly across the Atlantic. Like some scientists - his contemporaries, Columbus believed that, having gone west from Europe, it would be possible to reach the Asian eastern shores - those places where India and China are located. At the same time, he did not even suspect that on the way he would meet a whole mainland, until then not known to Europeans. But it happened. And since that time, the history of the discovery of America begins.
First expedition
For the first time, the ships of Columbus set sail from the harbor of Palos on August 3, 1492. There were three. Before the Canary Islands, the expedition proceeded quite calmly: this segment of the journey was already known to the sailors. But very soon they found themselves in a boundless ocean. Gradually, the sailors began to fall into despondency and raise a murmur. But Columbus managed to pacify the recalcitrant, keeping them hopeful. Soon signs began to come across - harbingers of the proximity of land: unknown birds flew in, tree branches sailed. Finally, after six weeks of sailing, lights appeared at night, and when dawn broke, a green picturesque island, all covered with vegetation, opened up before the sailors. Columbus, having landed on the coast, declared this land the possessions of the Spanish crown. The island was named San Salvador, that is, the Savior. It was one of the small pieces of land included in the Bahamas or Lucayan archipelago.
Land where there is gold
The natives are peaceful and good-natured savages. Noticing the greed of those who sailed to the golden ornaments that hung in the nose and ears of the natives, they told with signs that in the south there is a land literally abounding in gold. And Columbus went on. In the same year, he discovered Cuba, which, although he took it for the mainland, more precisely, for the eastern coast of Asia, he also declared a Spanish colony. From here, the expedition, turning east, landed in Haiti. At the same time, along the way, the Spaniards met savages who not only willingly exchanged their gold jewelry for simple glass beads and other trinkets, but also constantly pointed to the south direction when they were asked about it. precious metal. On which Columbus called Hispaniola, or Lesser Spain, he built a small fortress.
Return
When the ships landed in the harbor of Palos, all the inhabitants came ashore to greet them with honors. Very graciously received Columbus and Ferdinand and Isabella. The news of the discovery of the New World spread very quickly, just as quickly gathered those who wanted to go there with the discoverer. At that time, Europeans had no idea what kind of America Christopher Columbus discovered.
Second trip
The history of the discovery of North America, which began in 1492, continued. From September 1493 to June 1496, the second expedition of the Genoese navigator took place. As a result, the Virgin and Windward Islands were discovered, including Antigua, Dominica, Nevis, Montserrat, St. Christopher, as well as Puerto Rico and Jamaica. The Spaniards firmly settled on the lands of Haiti, making them their base and building the fortress of San Domingo in its southeastern part. In 1497, the British entered into rivalry with them, also trying to find northwestern routes to Asia. For example, the Genoese Cabot under the English flag discovered the island of Newfoundland and, according to some reports, came very close to the North American coast: to the Labrador and Nova Scotia peninsulas. So the British began to lay the foundation for their dominance in the region of North America.
Third and fourth expeditions
It began in May 1498 and ended in November 1500. As a result, the mouth of the Orinoco was also discovered. In August 1498, Columbus landed on the coast already on the Paria Peninsula, and in 1499 the Spaniards reached the shores of Guiana and Venezuela, after which - Brazil and the mouth of the Amazon. And during the last - fourth - trip from May 1502 to November 1504, Columbus had already discovered Central America. His ships passed along the coast of Honduras and Nicaragua, reached from Costa Rica and Panama up to the Gulf of Darien.
new mainland
In the same year, another navigator - whose expeditions took place under the Portuguese flag - also explored the Brazilian coast. Having reached Cape Cananea, he put forward a hypothesis that the lands discovered by Columbus are not China, and not even India, but a completely new mainland. This idea was confirmed after the first round-the-world trip made by F. Magellan. However, contrary to logic, the name America was assigned to the new continent - on behalf of Vespucci.
True, there is some reason to believe that the new continent was named after the Bristol philanthropist Richard America from England, who financed the second transatlantic voyage in 1497, and Amerigo Vespucci after that took the nickname in honor of the continent so named. To prove this theory, researchers cite the facts that Cabot reached the shores of Labrador two years earlier, and therefore became the officially registered first European to set foot on American soil.
In the middle of the sixteenth century, Jacques Cartier, a French navigator, reached the coast of Canada, giving the area its modern name.
Other contenders
The development of the continent of North America was continued by such navigators as John Davis, Alexander Mackenzie, Henry Hudson and William Buffin. It was thanks to their research that the continent was studied up to the Pacific coast.
However, history also knows many other names of sailors who moored to American soil even before Columbus. This is Hui Shen - a Thai monk who visited this region in the fifth century, Abubakar - the Sultan of Mali, who sailed to the American coast in the fourteenth century, the Earl of Orkney de Saint-Clair, the Chinese explorer Zhehe He, the Portuguese Juan Corterial, etc.
But, in spite of everything, it is Christopher Columbus who is the man whose discoveries had an unconditional impact on the entire history of mankind.
Fifteen years after the time when the ships of this navigator discovered America, the very first geographical map of the mainland was compiled. Its author was Martin Waldseemüller. Today it, being the property of the United States, is kept in Washington.
A traditional US state (federal) holiday dedicated to the anniversary of the discovery of the American continent by navigator Christopher Columbus. It is celebrated annually on the second Monday in October.
On October 12, 1492, the ships of the flotilla of Christopher Columbus reached the island of Guanahani (modern Watling) in the Bahamas - the first land they encountered in the Western Hemisphere. This day is considered the official date of the discovery of America.
The first Columbus Day celebration was held in New York City on October 12, 1792, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landing.
The celebration was organized at the initiative of Tammany Hall, a political society close to the US Democratic Party, also known as the Columbian Order.
In many American cities, Columbus Day traditions are closely linked to American communities of Italian descent.
In New York City, Italians first celebrated Columbus Day in 1866.
The Italian community of San Francisco held the first Columbus Day celebration in 1869.
In 1892, the first official celebration of Columbus Day took place in the United States. President Benjamin Harrison called on the people to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America. School programs, theatrical performances, festivals, sports events and fairs dedicated to the holiday date were organized throughout the country.
The first American state to legalize Columbus Day celebrations was Colorado in 1907. New York State declared Columbus Day a public holiday in 1909. The popularization of the holiday in various American states is associated with the activities of the Catholic movement "Knights of Columbus".
In 1934, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt first raised the issue of giving Columbus Day the status of a state (federal) holiday. The initiative of the head of the United States came true in 1937.
In 1937-1970, Columbus Day was celebrated on October 12, and in 1971, President Richard Nixon moved the annual celebration of Columbus Day to the second Monday in October.
This day is a public holiday in the US: banks, post offices, public schools and most government offices are closed.
Disputes about the primacy of Christopher Columbus in the discovery of the American continent and his contribution to the history of the United States also affected the holiday named after him. For many Native American Indians, Columbus Day is a day of mourning. In their opinion, it was Columbus who discovered the continent to the Europeans, who then brought disease, death, poverty here, and the surviving Indians were driven into reservations. In this regard, every year on the eve of Columbus Day in Denver (the capital of Colorado), representatives of the indigenous American population arrange a protest march, often accompanied by riots and arrests of their instigators.
Photo: Giovanni Gagliardi/Rusmediabank.ru
A district and three cities in the States, a Latin American state and the national currency of the Republic of El Salvador are named in his honor. History knows not so many big names who take on such a scale of perfect discoveries. One of them is Christopher Columbus. On October 12, the United States, a country discovered by him "by mistake", will celebrate an annual significant event in honor of its national hero - Columbus Day. What kind of holiday is this, how is it celebrated, and why do not all Americans favor it? Let's find out right now.A full-fledged acquaintance with a high-profile date is impossible without a short digression into history. On October 12, 1492, an expedition consisting of 90 people led by the navigator Columbus arrived at the Bahamas on the island of San Salvador, which was later recognized as the official day of the discovery of America.
But here's the catch: the plans of the Italian (according to some sources - Spanish) navigator to discover the lands on which the modern States are located were not included at all. Rather, he sought to descend to the land - but belonging to India, and Cuba was taken by him for Japan. The Portuguese Vasco da Gama, who six years later finally reached the real Indian shores, helped to finally sort out the confusion.
However, the geographical maps of those times continued to be full of two similar names denoting different territories - the East Indies (the discovery of da Gama) and the West Indies (the "mistake" of our today's hero). Today we could be familiar with the state, the fourth in the world in terms of area and the most economically developed, called the United States ... Colombia! But again, the navigators intervened: 6 years after the campaign of Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci opened the mouths of the Amazon and Parana, climbed 100 km upstream along them, discovering a new one. In his honor, one of the most powerful world powers was named today.
Despite the abundance of names of navigators involved in the discovery of America, Christopher Columbus turned out to be the first, the rest only “tweaked” the direction he set. He has long been honored by Americans (and not only) on a certain day.
For the first time they celebrated together and on a grand scale back in 1792, in the anniversary year for America - 300 years since its discovery. This year, a monument in honor of Columbus was erected in Baltimore, a hundred years later - a 21-meter monument is already in New York. The then President Benjamin Harrison urged every resident of the United States not to ignore this date, emphasizing its solemnity and significance.
In 1937, Roosevelt gave the holiday a specific official place on the calendar - October 12, and he himself received the status of a state holiday.
The year 1971 has come - and innovations again: Congress decided to postpone the official date of the celebration, making it "floating". From now on, it began to be celebrated on the second Monday of October.
How do the US people prefer to spend Columbus Day? On a festive date, you can attend special church services, take part in parades and mass solemn ceremonies. You can just dedicate this day to the family, having gathered for festive table, at a country picnic, because most institutions and all schools are closed on the weekend. Even household chores should be postponed “for later”: banks, post office, stock exchanges do not work ... The holiday in honor of Columbus is a great opportunity for local residents to enjoy the last long weekend of the summer season and close before the onset of warm weather next year. Quiet family celebration, in a word.
In a different way, cheerfully and loudly, representatives of the Italian diaspora in the States prefer to celebrate Columbus Day. They consider it obligatory to participate in parades under their own and American flags. The Spaniards do not lag behind the Italians, who cannot “divide” Columbus in any way. The fact is that historically it has not yet been proven in which country the famous navigator was actually born.
Be that as it may, representatives of both communities will definitely walk together along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, side by side with local residents and equally take part in a costumed carnival procession and solemnly lay flowers at the Columbus monument. New York City Hall shared official data: last year, at least 35 thousand people participated in the parade, moving to the accompaniment of more than 100 orchestras! By the way, at least 1 million spectators watched the procession.
Can it be argued that Columbus is the darling of the nation? In fact, the attitude towards his historical figure is far from unambiguous. Along with honors to the discoverer, the day will traditionally be marked by multiple protest demonstrations. In the address of Columbus, with a high degree of probability, the next "killer" and "colonizer" will be heard. Speakers in the "opposition" will recall the disappearance of the local population, it and culture under the influx of European settlers, and the very discovery of America is called the terrible word "genocide" ... It's sad, but history cannot be redrawn. Every inhabitant of America chooses how to spend this day: with his family, in a festive crowd, "on the barricades" or completely ignored, as they do in the states of Nevada, California and Hawaii.
