"Look what I made at school today!" Laurie said, coming into the study.
"Since we're celebrating the explorer Christopher Columbus on Monday, we made astrolabes."
She proudly presented the paper astrolabe to Grandpa.
"You did a great job!" Grandpa admired her work.
"You know what these were used for, right?"
"To measure a ship's distance from the equator," Laurie stated.
"Correct. Sailors back in Columbus' time didn't have GPS or even a complete map of the earth!
So they used interesting instruments to measure time and distance.
In fact, I got something today that Columbus used on his voyage too."
Grandpa picked up an hourglass on his desk.
"This hourglass is similar to the ones fifteenth century Europeans used to keep time.
Back then, one turn of the glass measured thirty minutes, but this one is a little smaller," he said.
"A student in my Artifacts from the New World class made it."
"What's that class about?" Laurie wanted to know.
"Well, we examine artifacts that tell the story of Europeans landing in the New World.
But I always begin with a quick history of the age of exploration."
"Quick? How quick?" Laurie flipped the hourglass over and grinned at Grandpa.
Grandpa grinned back, accepting the challenge.
"In the 1400s trade was the fastest and easiest way to become rich.
European explorers were discovering cities in Africa and Asia that produced spices, gold, silk, ivory, and precious gems.
Spices like pepper and cinnamon were just being introduced to Europeans;
if you could bring back a ship full of them, you could easily pay for the entire cost of your journey.
The Portuguese were great shipbuilders and sailed often to Africa.
So when Christopher Columbus thought he could sail west and find a shorter sea route to Asia, he asked the king of Portugal to sponsor him.
But the king rejected Columbus' request.
The explorer then traveled to Spain, where he asked Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand to support him.
At first the rulers were hesitant, but the race for exploration had begun, and they didn't want to be left behind.
So Isabella and Ferdinand gave Columbus three ships, ninety sailors, and lots of salted fish, biscuits, and water for the journey.
The men set out on August 3, 1492.
After two months, with still no sight of Asia, the crews nearly rebelled against Columbus and planned to kill him.
Luckily for Columbus, on October 12, they landed on an island he believed was part of India.
He named it San Salvador and called the people there Indians.
But really, he was in the Caribbean, on an island called Guanahani.
Its native people, the Tainos, were friendly, and the Spaniards were intrigued by their red face paint and gold earrings.
The land was hot and humid, and the Tainos slept outside in hanging nets they called hammocks."
"I love hammocks!" Laurie blurted out.
"They're perfect on a summer day, aren't they?" Grandpa smiled.
"The Europeans thought so too, and they brought hammocks, as well as canoes, tobacco, and other things they'd never seen, back to Spain.
Columbus didn't find the gold he had hoped for.
But he continued to claim nearby islands and govern them for Spain—even though people with their own societies and cultures already lived there.
Hmph!" Grandpa shook his head before continuing.
"His first journey was praised, but during his lifetime, Columbus never received the fame he gets today.
Many Spanish rebelled against him, and Columbus treated the Tainos so poorly that there was no hope for peace between the natives and the Spanish.
For example, Columbus turned the Tainos into slaves and forced them to find gold.
If they didn't, he had them killed. Cruelty like that, along with diseases the Spanish brought from Europe,
killed half the Taino population within two years.
Disappointed in his abilities as a governor, Isabella and Ferdinand took away Columbus' privilege to govern the new lands.
But Columbus Day is still a holiday in the U.S.—even though Columbus never reached North America.
In fact, some think he wasn't even the first person to sail to the Caribbean.
Oral histories tell of West Africans from the Mali kingdom setting out to explore the western seas, and of Chinese expeditions as well.
But when Columbus reached land, he proved the existence of a land mass west of Europe, and that's why he's so famous."
"Grandpa, if Columbus gets credit for finding America, how come the Americas aren't called the Columbuses?" Laurie asked, puzzled.
"Well, a man named Amerigo Vespucci published a theory that the land wasn't Asia, but a new continent.
So a mapmaker named the land 'America,' after Amerigo.
Vespucci was a merchant and explorer who sailed to the South American coasts," Grandpa answered.
"So who discovered North America?" Laurie asked.
"It depends on what you mean by 'discovered,'" Grandpa said with a chuckle.
"Native Americans were here for thousands of years before Europeans arrived.
But Leif Eriksson, a Viking, is usually considered the first European to sail across the Atlantic to North America.
His expedition arrived in what's now Canada in the year 1000.
But since Leif didn't establish long-lasting colonies and governments,
John Cabot, who sailed from England, is often considered the first European to claim North American land. He arrived in Canada in 1497."
"Time!" Laurie called. The hourglass was empty.
"I hope you're finished because I already have too much to think about.
After hearing about the Tainos, I'm not sure if we should celebrate Columbus as a hero," Laurie admitted.
"Yes. Sometimes history teaches you unpleasant things," Grandpa answered.
"But knowing both the good and the bad makes you smarter. Do you agree?"
"I agree," Laurie said. "I'm glad you're smart.
I hope I will be too one day. See you at dinner?"
"See you at dinner." And Grandpa watched with a smile as his granddaughter walked away with a crinkled brow,
no doubt still questioning who really discovered America.