A Childs View Of History - Part Five - Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was a young English navigator in the early 1800s. Ever since he was a little boy, Columbus always wanted to discover America.







Columbus wanted to prove that there was a point where you just go and fall off the world. But Columbus really wanted to know if America was flat.




Nobody with any sense would believe Columbus so Columbus went to the King and Queen. Columbus asked the queen if she would give him the money to sail to the Swiss Alps to find spices.

Queen Elizabeth finally believed Columbus so she hocked all her jewels and gave him some money to discover America.
He had trouble getting men. They thought the world was square. The King's guards told some prisoners they could stay in jail or sail with Columbus, so they did. Columbus's crew was mostly thieves, murderers, drug dealers and terrorists.



Columbus's ships were called the Ninja, the Pinto, and the Sandy Marines. Back then there was no such thing as a map so Columbus got his friend who had been all over the world to make a map. Columbus and his men set sail across the Pacific Ocean in search of Bermuda.

Three days later they had to fix the steering wheel so they did. The sailors complained about everything. After a few days the food ran out. All the crew got really mad at Columbus and decided to throw him overboard. But Columbus said, "I dare you I dare you I dare you if you throw me overboard the King will cut off all your heads" so after that the crew kept a good watch on Columbus. Then some guy in a little basket on top of the ship yelled, "Land Hoo!"

Columbus's ships ran aground in the New World. If they had gone 500 miles to the right they would have hit Miami, Florida. Columbus and his men thought it was the Swiss Alps but it was really Cape Cod. Columbus called the new land El Salvador.


He planted an American flag and set sail for Spain.




When Columbus got back to Spain he told King Arthur and Queen Ferdinand all about the New World. So the Queen built a big Armada so there would be lots of room for everybody to go. The head ship of the Armada was called the Mayflower.


Soon the Pilgrims started getting on the boats. The Pilgrims all thanked Columbus for discovering a New World because they had been needing one for awhile. When Columbus and the Pilgrims got back to America they all sat down and had the first Thanksgiving.

Columbus coming to America is important because he explored many states that wouldn't be there now, and those states are nice places to visit. Columbus might not have been the first person to discover America, but he was the first one to say anything about it. What Columbus didn't know was that Americo DeVinci had snuck over to America when Columbus wasn't there and named it after himself.

When the Queen found out about that she was so mad she threw Columbus in jail. He got very sick and died in 1942.

Columbus didn't really discover America anyway. The Vikings discovered it first but they all moved to Minnesota.


If Columbus didn't find America it would have been a long time before America was settled and it probably would have been hard for him to prove that you can get someplace by going in a straight line.

Another reason his trip was so important is that we might not ever have found out the world was round, and if we wouldn't have found that out we wouldn't have created some of the stuff we have today like nuclear bombs, TV, chairs, lights, or our freedom. Christopher Columbus was a slave.