Why did Christopher Columbus come to America?
Columbus was not actually looking for America. He was looking for a shorter route to the far east. He wanted to find valuable silks and spices to bring back to Europe. Where did he land? Columbus expected his trip to be short. But it was a very long trip. For more than one month Columbus and the other men on the journey were at sea. Finally, one month after they left Spain, Columbus landed on a small island in the Bahamas which he called San Salvador. The island he landed on is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Columbus thought he had landed on the Spice Islands near India. This is why he called the people he met Indians. We now call them Native Americans, or sometimes American Indians. These people were living in North and South America for thousands of years before Columbus came to America from Europe. The Native Americans were the first people to live in North and South America, but Christopher Columbus was the first person to arrive from his area of Europe. Many people soon fol
