Mel-O-Toons presents
Christopher Columbus
Young People's Records
Five hundred years ago,
there were people on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean,
but neither knew about the other.
On the Western side, our side,
the people had reddish brown skins
and lived in huts, or wigwams.
On the Eastern side, in Europe,
the people were white skinned.
They had learned how to build
houses and large sailing ships,
but they still didn't know much
about the rest of the world.
In fact, most of them believed the earth was flat.
Then one day,
a mapmaker named Christopher Columbus had an idea
Do you know what?
♪ I think the world isn't flat at all. ♪
♪ I think it's round, like a ball. ♪
♪ Did you hear what he said? Did you hear what he said? ♪
♪ He said that the world is round! ♪
♪ He's crazy. He's mad. He's insane! ♪
♪ I think the world isn't flat at all. ♪
♪ I think it's round, like a ball. ♪
♪ The world is flat as the brim of your hat ♪
♪ and that is very plain. ♪
♪ I know that I'm right. Oh, I know that I'm right ♪
♪ when I say that the world is round. ♪
♪ - Oh, I'm right. - You're wrong. - I'm right. ♪
♪ My thinking is sound, ♪
♪ and I'll prove the world's round, ♪
♪ it won't take very long! ♪
But it did take long, seven long years
before Columbus could convince a King or a Queen
to let him try out his idea.
Then, Queen Isabella of Spain
agreed to supply the ships and men for his trip.
I will discover a shortcut to India
and bring back some of the great wealth I find there.
And I can do it, for I know the world is round.
And instead of going east to India,
I shall sail west and reach India around the other way.
It will be a shorter and cheaper way,
for I'll do it all by sea.
Queen Isabella provided Columbus with three ships,
the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
And on August 3rd, 1492,
they set sail across the unknown Atlantic.
♪ High on the foaming tide ♪
♪ Over the ocean ♪
♪ Onward our ships will ride ♪
♪ Onward my sailors ♪
The ships sailed onward,
but two long months after they started,
there was still no sign of land ahead.
♪ Turn back, Columbus Turn back, Columbus ♪
We'll not turn back until we find India.
Onward, men!
By October 10th, the sailors and the crew
were ready to take matters into their own hands.
If Columbus won't do as we ask,
we'll put him in chains.
And we'll turn the ships around ourselves.
Wait! Have you heard?
One of our men has just seen a branch in the ocean.
What of it?
It had fresh berries on it.
That means we're near land.
Hurray!
Two days later, the ships reached land
and Columbus and his crew saw the people
with reddish brown skins, who lived there.
♪ Oh, I think it is rather surprising ♪
♪ That they should have reddish brown skins ♪
♪ But now since we have landed in India ♪
♪ Then these people must be Indians ♪
We'll call this part of India, San Salvador,
and I take possession of it
in the name of the King and Queen of Spain.
The people Columbus called Indians were very friendly,
and they gave Columbus and his men many gifts.
But not the rich jewels and gold for which they had come.
For Columbus wasn't really in India, at all.
He was on one of the islands off the coast of America.
But because of Columbus' mistake,
the natives of America have been called Indians, ever since.
Columbus visited other islands near San Salvador,
looking for the great wealth of India.
And then he, and some of his men, returned to Spain.
Hurray! Hurray!
Hurray for Admiral Christopher Columbus!
Hurray! Hurray!
Columbus had no trouble
getting ships and men for his second voyage,
but he still hadn't the slightest idea
that he was headed for the vast continent of America,
and that he would have had to cross it
and sail over the Pacific Ocean,
before he could reach India by travelling west.
The men of Europe were no longer afraid of the ocean.
Columbus made two more voyages, and other Explorers followed.
But each year, on October 12th, we celebrate Columbus Day,
the anniversary of that day in 1492,
when Columbus first sighted the land of the new world, America.
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