Christopher Columbus went on his voyages for two reasons,
in my opinion -- money and glory.
In the time of Columbus,
the spice trade with places like India and Indonesia was extremely important and very
lucrative. Columbus believed that he could find a way to get to Indonesia by sailing
west. If he could do that, whoever sponsored him would be able to get in on the spice
trade that was, at this time, mainly in the hands of the Italians (via the Middle East)
and the Portuguese (by sailing around Africa).
Columbus
also wanted the glory of being the first to sail that route. He wanted to be known as a
person who figured out a way to Indonesia that no one else had
discovered.
All in all, then, Columbus wanted to get rich
and he wanted the glory of finding a new sailing route to "the
Indies."
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