September 24 - Second Voyage of Columbus

In 1493, one year after his landmark first voyage, Columbus set out on his second voyage to the new world.

The first voyage of Columbus was one of the most important in history. It marked the beginning of European colonization of the new world. After his first voyage, Columbus was hailed a hero.

However, his second voyage was much different. No longer an epic wandering of three ships, his expedition now sailed seventeen. Secondly, he had become increasingly concerned with gold-finding, colonization and conquest of the natives. Despite having been told otherwise, Columbus would bring back many slaves from the New World.

Columbus crossed the Atlantic in 21 days, first arriving at an island which he named Domenica. His fleet continued onward and arrived at modern day Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. On November 22, he arrived at "Hispaniola," where during his previous voyage, he had left a handful of men to colonized the area. It turned out that the settlemet was now abandoned and the Europeans had all been killed after disputing with the natives. Columbus then decided to found a new settlement toward the east, named Isabela. Afterward, he continued his quest for China and gold. But to his dissapointment, he could only find another island (Cuba), which he knew was not big enough to be mainland Asia. Nontheless, in order to save face after returning home, he had his crew swear that Cuba was large enough to Mainland Asia.

Before returning home, Columbus enslaved 1600 arawaks. 550 were shipped back to spain, many of whom died on the way. According to one account, Columbus gave a female slave to one of his men, who then raped her. In June 1496, Columbus returned. The voyage for gold was a failure. Rather than gold, he had only slaves, an act which his monarch decried. Columbus' reputation took a hit, but it would take another voyage for it to go down...


His second voyage

Other Events:

624 - Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina.


Edited by Imperator Invictus