Early Explorers

John Cabot• John Cabot “discovered”

North America in 1497 by landing in Labrador and New Foundland

• John Cabot was a sailor, an explorer, and merchant from Venice, Italy

• Cabot traded in the areas of the Mediterranean Sea

John Cabot

• Cabot discovered areas east of Canada• Merchant – buys and sells goods for a

profit• Mediterranean Sea – South of Europe and

North of Africa

Sebastian Cabot• It is believed that Sebastian

sailed with his father John

• Sebastian was an explorer, sailor, and a cartographer (map maker)

• He too sailed to Labrador and New Foundland

• He was sponsored by France and Spain

Sebastian Cabot

• Sponsored – to pay for

Christopher Columbus

• Navigator, colonizer, and explorer

• Believed there was a shorter way to India

• Sailing in the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria Christopher Columbus arrived at what he thought was India when in fact he landed in the Bahamian Archipelago

Christopher Columbus

• Colonizer – began colonies in places he found

• Bahamian Archipelago – West of Florida

Christopher Columbus• Christopher Columbus had gone

to Portugal for money to back his trip to India

• The King of Portugal refused to give Columbus money

• Many believed the Earth was flat

• King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, however agreed to give Columbus the money he needed for the trip

• This inset statue of Columbus and Queen Isabella is located in Madrid

Erik the Red• Erik the Red’s parents lived in

Iceland

• Erik the Red committed many crimes and was banished from Iceland for good

• Erik the Red was the first to explore all of Greenland

• Erik the Red took 500 settlers to Greenland to start a colony

Erik the Red

• Banished – kicked out of a place: not allowed to return

Leif Ericson• Leif Ericson is believed to be

the first to discover North America because he lived between 970 and 1020 and created colonies on Greenland after his father Erik the Red’s death

• Leif named the colonies the Western and Eastern Settlements

Leif Ericson

• Greenland – is northeast of Canada and is a province of Denmark

• Province – a place ruled by another country

Marco Polo• Marco Polo was a merchant

and explorer from Venice, Italy

• In about 1266 Marco traveled from Venice through Asia and China then arrived back in Venice around 1271

• Marco Polo wrote about his travels and made maps which helped cartographers to make maps of Asia and China

• Marco Polo’s travels inspired Christopher Columbus and others

Bartholomeu Dias• A Portuguese explorer

• Dias wanted to find a faster route to India by sailing around the Cape of Africa

• Also the King of Portugal wanted to be friends with the people of the area to increase trade

• In 1500 Dias was able to sail around the Cape but his sailors forced him to turn around

Amerigo Vespucci• Amerigo Vespucci sailed in

the year 1490 to the year 1502 (making several voyages) around the Cape of Good hope to explore South America

• Vespucci discovered the mouth of the Amazon, Brazil, and Guyana

• It is believed that the name “America” in the names of North and South America came from “Amerigo”’s name

Ferdinand Magellan• Ferdinand Magellan was a

Portuguese sailor hired by Spain to find a new trade route to the Spice Islands

In 1520 Magellan traveled through the Strait of Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan• Ferdinand Magellan had set out to find a shorter route to the Spice

Islands but by the end of 1522 his crew had circumnavigated the globe

• Magellan’s crew member Elcano completed the voyage around the Earth

Vasco Da Gama

Vasco Da Gama was a Portuguese sailor who in the 1460’s was sent to find a reliable route to India

Da Gama was also to make peace with other traders

This is the route used by Da Gama to reach India and trade posts in Africa

Vasco Nunez de Balboa• In 1513 Balboa, Spanish

explorer, governor, and conquistador, became the first European to cross the isthmus of Panama and reach the Pacific Ocean by going around the New World

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

• Conquistador – Spanish word for conqueror – a person who takes over the governments of other countries

Juan Ponce De Leon• First European to have

explored Florida

• Was from Spain

• Is tied to the myth of the • “Fountain of Youth” said to be

located in Florida

• Was an explorer and conquistador

Juan Ponce De Leon

• myth - a story that people believe without knowing the truth

Jacques Cartier• Made three voyages from

France to North America between 1534 and 1542

• French explorer who claimed Canada for France

• First European to describe and map the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River

Francisco Hernando de Cordoba

• Cordoba left for Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula from Cuba in 1517

• Once Cordoba and his crew arrived in Mexico they were met by a Mayan army who did not want any part of Cordoba

• Many of Cordoba’s men were killed and Cordoba himself was fatally wounded

Francisco Vazquez de Coronado

Coronado was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led this expedition when he was about 25 years old. Coronado conquered and claimed this land for Spain calling it “New Spain”.

Francisco Vasquez de Coronado

• Most of the U.S. ‘s southern and western states were once under Spanish control by Coronado.

Hernando de Soto• A Spanish explorer and

conquistador who was the first European explorer to lead an expedition deep into what is now U.S. territory to discover the Mississippi River

• de Soto’s expedition went through the southeastern United States seeking gold and a passage to China

Hernando de Soto

• The Spanish had control of this part of the U.S. at this time in history, so the first to explore the Mississippi River was de Soto, a Spanish explorer.

• De Soto and others believed that the continents were closer and maybe could even be connected by smaller bodies of water.

Sir Francis Drake• Englishman who was a

privateer, pirate, sea captain, politician, and navigator

• Knighted for fighting for England in their Navy

Sir Francis Drake

• Privateer – a captain for hire

Sir Francis Drake• Drake circumnavigated the

world between 1577-1580.

• This statue was to honor him for his travels

• This statue is located in Plymouth, England

Sir Walter Raleigh• English poet, soldier, and

explorer

• Between 1579 and 1583 fought against the rebellions in Ireland

• In 1584 Queen Elizabeth allowed Raleigh to plan a colony in Virginia (what is now Virginia and North Carolina)

Sir Walter Raleigh

• Rebellion – to fight against the government that has control right now

• The colony was given to Raleigh as a reward for his fighting.

Samuel de Champlain• De Champlain was called “The

Father of New France”• He was a French navigator,

map maker, soldier, explorer, geographer, diplomat, and writer of timelines

• De Champlain founded Quebec City on July 3, 1608 and was in charge of this city for the rest of his life

Samuel de Champlain

• Diplomat – a person who speaks for colonies that he is assigned to and tries to make peace

• Quebec – a province of Canada

Henry Hudson• Henry Hudson was a sea explorer and

navigator from England during the 1600’s• After many voyages to discover a

Northeast Passage to India Hudson explored the area around New York City while secretly looking for a western route to the Orient for the Dutch East India Company.

• Hudson explored the Hudson River—named for him and made it possible for the Dutch to settle in this region

• Hudson’s last trip sent him farther north in search of the Northwest Passage to the Orient which led to his discovery of the Hudson Bay and the Hudson Strait also named after Henry Hudson

• After spending the winter in James Bay, Hudson wanted to press on in the Spring of 1611, but the crew disagreed and cast him off the ship into a small boat.

• Hudson’s story after this remains a mystery

Henry Hudson

• Like de Soto Henry Hudson believed that there was a path from the New World that could be taken back to China.

Louis Joliet• Louis Joliet was born in Quebec and his

step-father was a fur trade. Joliet went on trips to New Orleans with his step-father

• On May 17, 1673 Louis teamed up with Jacques Marquette to explore the Mississippi in 2 canoes

• Joliet’s knowledge of many Native American languages helped them on their journey

• They followed Lake Michigan to the Bay of Green Bay, then went up the Fox River, from their they carried their canoes a bit less than 2 miles through a marsh and plains are then set their canoes in the Wisconsin River. A trading post named Portage had been built in this area. From here they entered the Mississippi River near present-day Prairie du Chien on June 17. Marquette remained but Joliet returned to Quebec to tell of their discoveries.

Joliet’s statue is in front of City Hall in Joliet, Illinois

Louis Joliet

• Joliet was part of the team from France who explored from Quebec to the Mississippi River.

Father Jacques Marquette

Father Marquette was Joliet’s partner in the exploration from Quebec to the Mississippi River.

His statue is in front of Fort Mackinac in the state of Illinois

Illinois was affected positively by the exploration of both men

Father Jacques Marquette

• Marquette was the other part of the team from France who explored from Quebec to the Mississippi River.

Robert de LaSalle• LaSalle was a French explorer• He was born on November 21,

1643 and died on March 19, 1687

• LaSalle explored the area of the United States and Canada known as the Great Lakes region

• He went on to explore the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico

• LaSalle claimed all of the Mississippi River Basin for his country of France

Robert de La Salle

• First French explorer to explore the Mississippi river and claimed the basin for France.

Peter Minuit• Peter Minuit, a Dutchman, came to

America with two purposes: one was to flee the religious wars in Europe and the other as the 3rd General Director of New Netherland as appointed by the Dutch West India Company (on whose behalf he was to purchase land)

• Minuit was at the center of the famed Long Island and Manhattan Island, New York purchases

• Minuit has been accused of cheating the Native Americans out of their land by giving them trinkets and beads as payment

• The best we can figure out is that a trade was made with the wrong Native American group for Long Island. As for Manhattan, the items had worth to the Dutch and seemed very generous to them. However, in both “trades” cultural barriers made it impossible for the Native Americans to truly understand what was taking place.

Peter Minuit

• Dutch – are people from the Netherlands in Europe

Peter Stuyvesant• Stuyvesant served as the 7th and

last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland (New York) from 1647 until it became English owned in 1664

• He was a major figure in the early history of New York City.

• Stuyvesant's accomplishments as director-general included a great expansion for the settlement of New Amsterdam (later renamed New York) beyond the southern tip of Manhattan. Among the projects ordered and planned to be built by Stuyvesant were the protective wall on Wall Street, the canal that became Broad Street, and Broadway.

Daniel Boone• Daniel Boone was born on

November 2, 1734 and died on September 26, 1820

• Daniel was an American pioneer and hunter whose frontier adventures made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States

• Boone is most famous for exploring and settling the area now known as the U.S. state of Kentucky, which at the time was beyond the western borders of the original 13 Colonies

• In 1778 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky with many unfriendly run ins with the Native Americans who used this area as their hunting grounds.

• Here he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements beyond the Appalachian Mountains

• Before the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.

Daniel Boone• Boone was an officer during the

American Revolutionary War• In Kentucky this war was fought

mainly between settlers and British-allied American Indians.

• Boone was captured by the Shawnee tribe in 1778 and adopted into the tribe, but he escaped and continued to help defend the Kentucky settlements.

• He was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the war, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last battles of the American Revolution. Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war and resettled to Missouri.

Captain James Cook• Captain James Cook was a British

explorer, navigator, and map maker (cartographer)

• Cook became a Captain in the Queen’s Royal Navy

• He was the first to map Newfoundland

• He made 3 voyages to the Pacific Ocean becoming the first European to make contact with the eastern coast of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands

• Captain Cook is also the first on record to have circumnavigated the island of New Zealand

• Cook fought in the Seven Years’ War during which he surveyed and mapped much of the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River which let his navy launch a surprise attack.

A copy of Cook’s ship the endeavor shown here in Cooktown Harbor.

Captain James Cook

• Seven Years’ War – Began in 1756 and ended in 1763. The war started out as the French and Indian War taking place in North America. After two years all of the major European countries were involved until it ended with a peace treaty.

Captian James Cook

Cook’s 1st voyage is shown in red, the 2nd in green, his 3rd and last voyage in blue

Captain James Cook• Cook charted many areas and

recorded several islands and coastlines on European maps for the first time.

• His success is because of his ability to sail, superior surveying and cartographic skills, courage in exploring dangerous locations to confirm the facts (for example dipping into the Antarctic Circle many times and exploring around the Great Barrie Reef),

• Capt. Cook had the ability to lead men in dangerous conditions

• Capt. Cook was very bold and full of courage—often he would go beyond his orders and be far more successful than he was expected to b e

Capt. Cook’s statue in St. Kilda, Australia

Juan Perez• Perez was a Franciscan Friar

who befriended Christopher Columbus

• Perez encouraged Columbus to pursue his dream of finding a “New World”

• Perez encouraged Columbus to visit with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

• Columbus had said that Perez was one of only two people who never gave him a hard time about his desire to exploreThis engraving shows two friars

sending Columbus on his way.

Junipero Serra• He later took the name of "Junípero" in honor of Saint Juniper, who

had also been a Franciscan and a follower of Saint Francis. On September 14, 1730, he entered the Order of Friars Minor. For his proficiency in studies he was appointed lector of philosophy before his ordination to the priesthood. Later he received a doctorate in theology from the Lullian University in Palma de Mallorca, where he also occupied the Duns Scotus chair of philosophy until he joined the missionary College of San Fernando de Mexico in 1749.

• That year he journeyed to North America, first to Mexico City, where he taught. While riding on a mule from Vera Cruz to the capital, he injured his leg in such a way that he suffered from it throughout his life, though he continued to make his journeys on foot whenever necessary. He requested a transfer to the Sierra Gorda Indian Missions some 90 miles north of Santiago de Querétaro where he spent about nine years. During this time, he served as the mission's superior, learned the language of the Pame Indians, and translated the catechism into their language. Recalled to Mexico City, he became famous as a most fervent and effective preacher of missions. His zeal frequently led him to employ extraordinary means in order to move the people to penance: he would pound his breast with a stone while in the pulpit, scourge himself, or apply a lit torch to his bare chest. He established nine missions.

• • • Monument of Junípero Serra (with Juaneño Indian boy) on plaza de

San Francisco de Asis in Havana• In 1768, Serra was appointed superior of a band of 15 Franciscans

for the Indian Missions of Baja California. The Franciscans took over the

Junipero Serra

• Philosopher – a person who thinks about the meaning of life and the ways people interact with each other and life

James Weddell

• In 1819 Weddell was the captain of The Jane and also a second boat called The Beafoy. These ships sailed south in search of seal. Weddell sailed south to the Shetland Islands, the South Orkney Islands, and two days’ journey from the South Pole. This last trip put him in the record books for 80 years as being the only captain to travel this far south.

James Weddell

Sealer – a person who hunts seals

At this time seal fur was very valuable and the seal itself was used for food and fuel.