Christopher Columbus founded America, but he didn’t have the best ships. In the fifteenth century, ships were the fastest way to travel long distance. The boats only being about 18 meters long, they held over 200 pounds of cargo, and 52 crewmen. They wouldn’t allow the ships to go near shallow water, or coral reefs would puncture a hole in the bottom of the ship. Ships nowadays are designed to travel through deep and shallow water. The ship “Niña” weighed 50-60 tons and was only 15 meters by 12 meters. Columbus had many disadvantages, such as; not knowing that the earth was a sphere and not flat. Columbus was one of the first few people to explore, unlike today we have maps and GPS’ that give us exact direction and location. The worst thing was when the ships didn’t have sails, but there were lined with oars on each side of the ship. One of the few advantages Columbus had been that his ships were smaller, meaning they moved faster. Columbus’s boat had sails, while in today we have engines that take gas and oil, while in the fifteenth century they wouldn’t have to worry about running out of gas. Even with the ships having engines, it still takes days to travel on a ship. A disadvantage Columbus and his crewman had been working on the ship, while still operating the ship, in the 2000s it took less work to run and operate a ship than what it did then, for example the people aren’t constantly turning the sails.
For the ship today in the 2000s we have many advantages that Columbus didn’t have, such as; bedrooms and bathroom, where in the 1500s there was just a basement under the deck, and a bucket for the bathroom. Ships in the 2000s have improved drastically, there are now stoves, and restaurants on board, while in the 1500s the crewmen were eating raw fish. Nowadays with all the technology we have, it would take a lot for a ship to sink. All the technology alerts us, gives us directions to where to go, communicates and checks the weather, and it can detect and iceberg which can cause a ship to sink very easy. Nowadays we have radars that detect what is under the water and alert the captain for what’s ahead. Disadvantages we have today is that ships are very expensive, and it is very expensive to ride on a ship. Ships in the 1500s would carry cargo for little charge, but today ships charge $10 thousand for one shuttle. Another advantage in the 2000s is how sturdy our ships are, those ships go through many storms and come out standing, while in the 1500s many ships would’ve fallen apart or even sank. The ship from today weigh extremely more, but they also carry more cargo, more people and there is just more to the ship from the 2000s. The ships the crewmen would try to make the ship as lightweight as they could, so the ship could travel faster.
A huge disadvantage in the 1500s for everyone on board were food issues. Many people would eat spoiled food, but first they would eat the food that rotted the fastest. Then they would eat whatever else was left, once they ran out of food they packed onto the ship, crewmen would catch fish, then they’d either eat the fish raw or dry the fish out, but never cooking them. When the people ate the fish raw, it caused them to have gum disease, which made their teeth fall out. Their bodies would get week, and some would even get anemia. Many problems they had with the food that they packed aboard for the voyage, rats, and mice would eat on the food, and the rodents would leave their feces on the food making the people sick. As on today’s boats, there is unlimited food all you can eat and drink. More than 3,000 people can pick whatever they want to eat and get to drink whatever they choose.
In conclusion, the people from the 1500s definitely have it harder than what people do nowadays. They had to supply themselves with food and many other supplies. Everyone on board had to know how to move the sails from side to side, just in case if they are one of the last few people living. There could only be a small crew of people, because of space issues, they needed to save space for cargo, because you never know how long the voyage will last. If their boat got into shallow water it would puncture a hole in it, causing it to sink or making everyone get off the ship, because the water was seeping up through the bottom. Therefor, they most definitely had it harder than people going on ships today.
