Today in History—August 3: Columbus Sets Sail

On this day in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. After that, things get considerably more complicated.

Columbus’s first transatlantic voyage departed from Spain with three ships, searching for a route west to Asia. The Niña and the Pinta were caravels—small, streamlined, fast, and maneuverable—while the Santa María was a larger cargo ship.

Columbus never came close to Asia, but he helped usher in the age of European colonialism in the Americas.

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Columbus got a lot wrong—like, a lot—but he was an accomplished mariner. At the time, we really didn’t understand the true breadth of the world. Columbus, like many before him, underestimated the size of the Earth. He believed that China and Japan lay just beyond the Atlantic. Instead, he ended up in the islands of the Caribbean—luckily for Asia, disastrously for the Caribbean, and pretty fortunately for his own fleet, which almost certainly was not carrying adequate provisions to actually get to Asia.

In October the fleet reached Cuba, which Columbus believed was Japan. They continued on, searching for China—without realizing an entire hemisphere separated them from their destination.

They landed next on Hispaniola, where Columbus found tantalizing hints of the gold he sought, and the Santa María—the cumbersome cargo ship captained by Columbus himself—ran aground.

Columbus kept a journal where he recorded both diplomacy—occasional offers of goodwill, in hopes of encouraging Spain’s reputation—and the first flares of exploitation of the local Taino people. He repeatedly described Indigenous peoples the expedition encountered as eminently conquerable and easily converted. The deeply religious admiral believed that his voyages—and the wealth they produced, human beings included—were divinely ordained.

The two surviving ships headed home early in 1493. They returned in March with enough gold, spices, parrots, and captives to justify the expense, declare the expedition a success, propel Columbus to the height of his popularity…and secure funding from the Spanish crown for a second voyage.

Spain celebrated the voyage. Indigenous peoples endured its consequences for centuries.