Aug. 3, 1492: Columbus Sets Out to Discover … a Trade Route
1492: Christopher Columbus, sailing for the Spanish crown,
weighs anchor for the New World. From his flagship Santa Maria,
Columbus commanded a squadron that included the caravels Niña
and Pinta. 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. He would have been spurned by Spain, too, had that
nation’s centuries-long war with the Moors been going badly.
Fortunately for Columbus, the Spaniards were winning handily,
and victory was in sight. When the last Moorish stronghold fell
at Granada, Spain was feeling expansive. And Columbus, the
sailor from Genoa, was ready and waiting. He never did find that
alternate route around the Muslims, but on Oct. 12, 1492
Columbus made landfall in what is today the Ba