ABSTRACT
Christopher Columbus, son of a Genovese wool merchant, sailed for Spain in 1492 and is credited with “discovering” America. By Columbus’s own calculations, 30–40 days’ sailing from the Canary Islands, due west, would put him in India. With Spain firmly in the hands of the Catholic monarchs for the first time in 800 years, the king and queen could contemplate a more expansive role for Spain in the world, and so they contracted Columbus in 1492. One reason Spain accepted his plan and financed his voyage involved the luck of timing. The second voyage took place immediately after the first. The third voyage, in 1498, took Columbus to the mainland of South America at the Orinoco River, and from there he headed to Santo Domingo, the capital of what is today the Dominican Republic. The final voyage lasted from 1502 to 1504 and was fraught with difficulties.
