Christopher Columbus deserves acclaim for his accomplishments in breaking down the Western Hemisphere’s isolation from the rest of the world. Although famous for accidently finding the Americas, his stubbornness and tenacity that allowed him to persevere were the real reasons that made him famous. He was a capitalist, pure and simple who desired fame and fortune and traveled to talk with any head of state that he could gain an audience with. In 1485, some seven years before his historic voyage he tried to persuade the Portuguese to back his plan but was rejected because his calculations were not concrete. He then traveled to Spain and gained and audience with the Catholic Monarchs Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon.