barbary pirates 6

This Day In History: October 12 October 1492 Columbus reaches the “New World” After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sights a Bahamian island on October 12, 1492, believing he has reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. Columbus was looking for a new route due to the death and destruction of maritime ships.by Barbary Pirates, The Barbary States comprised the African countries along the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. They included Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli (now Libya). Muslim privateers known as the Barbary pirates operated from these states for centuries. They were active from medieval times until the 19th century. The Barbary pirates mainly operated throughout the Mediterranean, south along West Africa's Atlantic coast, and into the North Atlantic as far north as Iceland. In addition to seizing merchant ships for their cargo and crew, they were responsible for raiding European coastal villages.