Columbus' Voyages
The
expedition had the intention of opening a new route to the East after
the fall of Constantinople, the city that connected Europe with Asia,
to the Ottoman Empire in 1453.
Columbus read the accounts of Asia by Marco Polo and wanted to bring the riches of Asia to Europe. Also Columbus read some of the new translations of Ptolemy and other ancient Greek geographers. Ptolemy believed that the earth was round and had ocean that surrounded all land.
Columbus was a very good sailor and also knew how to use many of the sophisticated Arab navigation devices. He felt that the technology of his time would allowed him to travel East to Asia by going West.
He did not know that he was going to encounter an entire new continent: America.
Columbus read the accounts of Asia by Marco Polo and wanted to bring the riches of Asia to Europe. Also Columbus read some of the new translations of Ptolemy and other ancient Greek geographers. Ptolemy believed that the earth was round and had ocean that surrounded all land.
Columbus was a very good sailor and also knew how to use many of the sophisticated Arab navigation devices. He felt that the technology of his time would allowed him to travel East to Asia by going West.
He did not know that he was going to encounter an entire new continent: America.
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