USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Christopher Columbus sailed westward into the Atlantic Ocean out of Spain, testing his bold claim that a westward route would lead to a shorter sea route to East Asia.

Detailed explanation-2: -With a crew of 90 men and three ships-the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria-he left from Palos de la Frontera, Spain. Columbus reasoned that since the world is round, he could sail west to reach “the east” (the lucrative lands of India and China).

Detailed explanation-3: -In actual fact, Columbus did not discover North America. He was the first European to sight the Bahamas archipelago and then the island later named Hispaniola, now split into Haiti and the Dominican Republic. On his subsequent voyages he went farther south, to Central and South America.

Detailed explanation-4: -The original purpose of the voyage was not to discover new lands but to open up a trade route to the “Indies” or Asia, that would allow Spanish merchantmen to bypass the hostile Muslim fleets sailing out of the Middle East. Columbus tried to interest the Portuguese in his scheme, but they took a pass.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Portuguese explorers started first and had established control of the route south around Africa and then east to Asia. This left the Spanish with only the western route to Asia available to them.