Technologys Impact on the Voyage of Christopher Columbus

Nathan Pudlo
CWNC
1617 Rt.228
Cranberry Twp., PA 16066
11th Grade

Christopher Columbus (given name was Cristoforo Columbo) was born 1451 in Genoa,
Italy. Columbus was the oldest of 5 children. Genoa, Italy is a port city, therefore he completed
most of his training in map making in his home city. As a result of his knowledge, at an early age
he took many trading trips on the sea. In 1476, Christopher traveled to Portugal with his brother,
Bartholomew, and set up a mapmaking business. In 1479, Christopher married Felipa Perestrello
Moniz. Columbus believed he could find a route to India by sailing west. At first he was rejected
when he proposed to take three ships on his journey. After trying Portugal, Genoa, and Venice,
finally the Spanish Queen showed trust in Columbus. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand agreed
to finance his trip. In 1492, Columbus left for sea on the Santa Maria followed by the Nina and
the Pinta, in search of a way to India (about.com). On his way West, he didnt find India, he
found the Americas, this discovery brought him fame and fortune. There are many inventions of
the modern day would benefit Columbus the most in his journey to the New World.
The motor for the Santa Maria in which Columbus was traveling on, would benefit him
the most, because it would have been hard to get the ship off-track. The ship could have gone
much faster if it had a motor. The travel time of the whole journey could have been cut in half,
because of the quickness of a motor. The boat that Columbus sailed was a boat that depended on
the wind, so if there was no wind for a couple days you wouldnt go anywhere. If you had a

motor, you could travel a couple more 100 miles on a day with no wind. Therefore, would have
resulted in Columbus finding the Americas earlier than he originally have. Secondly it would
help for the ship to have radar so it could tell if there was any bad weather, enemy ships, rocks or
reefs not visible to the naked eye. The captain and crew would then know of any dangers ahead
on the open sea. According to the History.com, Columbus had to constantly dodge enemy ships
or privateers. Privateers were people who were constantly raiding ships to look for gold and
other valuable goods. Pirates were also known as Privateers. Radar would let them know that
ships were near and they may be able to evade potential attacks. I think these are some of the
most useful inventions that would have made Columbus journey better.
One other key invention of the modern day that would have benefitted Columbus and his
Crew would be a Wi-Fi hotspot. They would need a Wi-Fi hotspot in order to be able to stay in
touch with the King and Queen back in Spain, informing them of any discoveries or dangers on
their voyage. They could also stay in touch with friends and family. Columbus would also be
aware of other occurrences in the rest of the world while he travelled West. He could also advise
Spain of any plans on when they would return home and announce their discoveries. The other
key invention for all the crew would be a bunch of smartphones for everyone on the crew. They
could use these phones to tell the whole world of their findings through Social Media. The crew
could text each on the ships and communicate more easily with the other two ships, the Nina and
the Pinta. They could post Instagram pictures every day to keep the world up to date and to show
the world what they were seeing. They could use twitter to tweet about their findings, also they
can see what other major events are happening in the world. They could see what phrases are
trending also what other people are saying about their journey. (history.com)

Therefore, the main point I am trying to get out is that his journey would be much easier
if he had inventions that make life easier for us in the present day. During the rest of his life
Columbus made many more journeys. He tried to stay away from enslaving the natives and
fighting them but he was unsuccessful. After his first visit he left 40 men in the New World,
Columbus told them to treat the natives with respect, but that didnt happen. The men raped the
woman, and enslaved the natives. Therefore, there are many modern day inventions that would
have made Columbus journey easier and to ensure that his directions in his absence were
followed.

Work Cited
"The Truth About Christopher Columbus's Life." About.com Education., 2014. Web. 25
Sept. 2016.
"Search Results." History.com. A&E Television Networks, Web. 25 Sept. 2016.