Who is Christopher Columbus from A People's History of the United States and what is their importance?

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was a merchant, a part-time weaver, and an accomplished sailor from Genoa, Italy. He is credited with discovering America. In reality, Columbus was assigned to travel to Asia to find gold and spices. He spent hours financing his trip and finally made a deal with the King and Queen of Spain. In return, Columbus was expected to bring back spices and gold, for which, he would receive a 10% profit on goods sold.

Columbus convinced the Spaniards to fund future voyages as well. He made four voyages in total.