Christopher Columbus

Columbus departed Spain with three ships, the Ni

Columbus led a fleet of 17 ships carrying over 1,000 colonists to the Caribbean. He established the colony of La Isabela on Hispaniola and explored the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, intensifying Spanish colonization.

Columbus reached the South American mainland near present-day Venezuela. Due to complaints about his governance, Francisco de Bobadilla arrested Columbus in 1500 and sent him back to Spain in chains, ending his governorship of the Indies.

Columbus sailed along the coast of Central America from Honduras to Panama, seeking a passage to the Indian Ocean. He was stranded in Jamaica for a year before being rescued, returning to Spain in 1504 without finding the desired route.