This book offers a unique account of Christopher Columbus’s first voyage, the most consequential voyage in world history. It provides a detailed day-by-day account of the explorer’s travels and activities, richly illustrated with thematic maps.

This work expands our understanding of Columbus’s first voyage by mapping his sea and land experiences, offering both a historical and geographical exploration of his first voyage. Traveling chronologically through events, the reader builds a spatial insight into Columbus’s perspectives that confused and confirmed his pre-existing notions of Asia and the Indies, driving him onward in search of new geographic evidence. Drawing from a diverse range of primary and secondary historical resources, this book is beautifully adorned with illustrations that facilitate an in-depth exploration of the connections between the places Columbus encountered and his subsequent social interactions with Indigenous people. This methodology allows the reader to better understand Columbus’s actions as he analyzes new geographic realities with pre-existing notions of the “Indies.” Attention is given to Columbian primary sources which analyze how those materials have been used to create a narrative by historians. Readers will learn about the social and political structures of the Lucayan, Taíno, and Carib peoples, achieving a deeper understanding of those pre-Columbian cultures at the time of contact.

The book will appeal to students and researchers in the disciplines of history, geography, and anthropology, and the general reader interested in Colombus.

Foreword

Part I: Planning the Transatlantic Voyage and Setting the Physical Geography of the Caribbean

Chapter 1: The Transatlantic Proposal and Preparation for the Voyage

• The Santa Fe Capitulations
• Palos de la Frontera and the Acquisition of Men and Ships
• The Plan
• Political Goals
• Notes

Chapter 2: Preparing for the Voyage

• The Columbus Map
• Columbus’s Methodology for Calculating Global Distances
• Sequence of Conception: Enterprise to the Indies
• The First Voyage Maps of Columbus
• The Art of Navigation in the 15th Century
• Directional Methodology
• Nautical Mileage Methodology
• Notes

Chapter 3: The Adventure Begins

• The Journal of Christopher Columbus
• Sabotage as the Voyage Begins, August 3 to September 5
• The Lady Doña Beatriz Ines Peraza
• Notes

Part II: The Mid-Transatlantic Crossing

Chapter 4: Into the Ocean Sea: Canary Islands and Beyond, September 6-19

• The Voyage West Begins and the Deception of Recorded Mileage
• The Difficulty Measuring Latitude at Sea and Magnetic Variation
• Entering Unknown Waters (Sea of Darkness)
• Notes

Chapter 5: Searching for the Indies: September 20 to October 11

• Looking for an Island, any Island
• A Nervous Crew Puts Pressure on Columbus
• October Arrives but Still No Land
• Notes

Part III: The Columbus Landfall and Search for the Mainland

Chapter 6: The First Encounter: October 12-14

• The Day the World Changed
• The Lucayan Islanders Barter with the Europeans
• Exploring Guanahani
• Did Columbus Kidnap Several Lucayans?
• Notes

Chapter 7: A Sea of Islands: October 15-27

• Rum Cay, A Lucayan "Escapes"
• The Search for Gold Begins
• A Lucayan Village and Cemetery
• Isabella (Crooked Island) and the Search for Samoet
• Where is Cibao (Cuba)?
• Notes

Part IV: Cuba and Hispaniola

Chapter 8: Cibao (Cuba): October 28 to December 5

• Columbus Believes Cibao is Cipangu (Japan)
• Searching for a Taino King (Cacique)
• A Lucayan Initiates Friendly Relations with Cuban Taínos
• Is This Cipangu (Japan) or Cathay (China)?
• The Ambassadors Describe a Large Taíno Village and Tobacco
• The Geography of Linking Religious and Commercial Goals
• Martín Pinzón Abandons Columbus
• Notes

Chapter 9: Hispaniola: December 7-25

• Exploring Bohio
• The Taíno of Hispaniola
• I am No God
• Columbus and a Cacique Break Bread on the Santa Maria
• Shipwreck, the Santa Maria Is Destroyed
• Notes

Chapter 10: A Time for Decisions: December 26 to January 15, 1493

• Columbus and Guacanagarí
• Return to Spain or Continue Exploring?
• The Voyage Home Begins
• Along the Coast of Northeastern Hispaniola
• Notes

Part V: Return Voyage, Accolades, and a Promise of Colonization

Chapter 11: The Voyage Home: January 16 to March 15

• Columbus Knows the Route Home
• A Change of Course for the Azores
• The Ocean Fury Unleashed
• The Azores Sighted and His Men Imprisoned
• A Run for the Mainland
• Portugal Sighted and Contact with King João
• Palos and Home
• Notes

Chapter 12: Spanish Accolades and Future Plans

• Triumphant Return at the Palace of Ferdinand and Isabella
• Plans for Voyage Two
• Notes

Afterword

Appendices

• Appendix I: History and Methodology of Columbus’s Landfall
• Appendix II: Anchorage and Beach Landing Site
• Appendix III: Las Casas and Columbus on the Future of the Indigenous Peoples: A Comparison to the Portuguese Experience in São da la Mina
• Appendix IV: Columbus Vision for Spanish-Indio Relations on La Española (Hispaniola) in Comparison to the Existing Slave Conditions on the Canary Islands, circa 1492
• Appendix V: Slavery in the Pre-Columbian Americas
• Appendix VI: Latitude and Longitude Estimates for Daily Sailing Locations

Bibliography