European Explorers
Explorer &
Area of
Country They Exploration
Sailed For
Prince Henry Supported
the Navigator exploration of
Portugal
Main Expedition & Year
Goal of Expedition

the western
coast of Africa


Bartholomeu
Días
Coast of
western Africa
1488: rounded the southernmost tip of
Africa
Establish a Christian
empire in western
Africa to aid
Portuguese wars
against the Moors of
northern Africa
Find new sources of
gold
Create maps of the
African coast
Impact
The trips funded by Henry the Navigator led to more exploration
of western Africa, and the following discoveries:





- The Madeira Islands (João Gonçalves Zarco, 1420)
- Cape Bojador (rounded by Gil Eannes, 1434)
- Cape Blanco (Nuño Tristão, 1441)
- The Gambia River (Alvise da Cadamosto, 1456)
- Cape Palmas (Diogo Gomes, 1459–1460)
Find a water route to
Asia
Días led the Portuguese closer to discovering a water route to
Asia.
Find a water route to
Asia
Da Gama found a water route to Asia and brought back a small
but impressive collection of jewels and spices, which
encouraged further exploration.
Portugal
Vasco da Gama
Coast of
western Africa
1498: rounded the southernmost tip of
Africa and reached India
Caribbean
Columbus made four main
expeditions to the area: in 1492, when
he reached the present-day Bahamas
and later Cuba and Hispaniola
(modern-day Haiti), followed by three
additional expeditions in 1493, 1498,
and 1502.
Portugal
Christopher
Columbus
Spain
Find a western water
route to Asia
Although Columbus believed that he had landed on the fringes
of Asia, he had actually discovered the New World and opened
up additional exploration of the Americas.
Vasco Núñez
Balboa
Caribbean
1513: discovered the Pacific Ocean
and the Isthmus of Panama
Further exploration of
the New World
Balboa discovered a new passage for exploration and the
Pacific Ocean; he also claimed the Pacific Ocean for the
Spanish empire.
Southern tip of
South America
and into the
Pacific Ocean
519–1522: Magellan started in Spain
with five ships and navigated to the
southern tip of South America,
discovering the strait that is named
from him. After passing through the
strait, he continued into the Pacific
Ocean. Though Magellan himself was
killed in the Philippines, his ships
went on to complete the first known
circumnavigation of the globe.
Seeking access to Asia
across the Pacific
Ocean
Magellan discovered a new passage between the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans; his expedition was the first known to
circumnavigate the globe.
Modern-day
Florida
1513 and 1521: Ponce de Leon likely
initially thought that what is now
Florida was an island when he
explored the area.
Seeking gold
Ponce de Leon explored mainland North America.
Mexico (from
modern-day
Cuba)
1519: Led by a Spanish castaway,
Cortés came into contact with the
Aztec empire, which he conquered for
Spain in 1521.
Gold
Due to a smallpox outbreak, the Aztec population dwindled
quickly, and Cortés played a major role in the conquest of the
empire. The Aztec empire eventually spent 300 years under
Spanish rule. Cortés also brought Spanish crops, animals,
language, laws, customs, and religion. Intermarriage between
the surviving Aztec and the Spanish led to the culture
of mestizos.
South America
(modern-day
Peru)
1532–1538: conquered Peru and the
Incan empire for Spain
Seeking gold and silver
for Spain
Pizarro conquered the Incan empire for Spain and spread
Spanish influence in South America.
Gold, silver, jewels
De Soto was the first known European to cross the Mississippi
River.
Spain
Ferdinand
Magellan
Spain
Juan Ponce de
Leon
Spain
Hernán Cortés
Spain
Francisco
Pizarro
Spain
Hernando de
Soto
Spain
North America
1539–1542: through Florida west into
the continent
European Explorers
Francisco
Coronado
North America
1540–1542: Mexico through modernday Arizona and New Mexico and into
modern-day Kansas
Fabled “golden cities,”
which were actually
adobe pueblos
Coronado furthered the spread of Spanish influence on the
continent, opening up the Southwest of the modern-day US to
Spanish settlement.
Spain
John Cabot
North America
1497–1498: northeastern coast of
North America
England
Giovanni
Verrazano
A northwest passage
through the New World
to the Orient
Cabot established an English presence in North America,
though England did not make any serious attempts to settle
there for nearly 100 years.
1524: from France up the
northeastern coast of North America
from the Carolinas to Nova Scotia
Establish a presence in
the New World for
France
Verrazano helped to establish a French claim in North America.
North America
1534: the St. Lawrence River as far
inland as modern-day Montreal
Establish a presence in
the New World for
France
Cartier established a presence for the French in modern-day
Canada
North America
1577–1580: circumnavigated the
globe, passing through the Strait of
Magellan; captured a Spanish ship
(which was carrying silver from Peru)
off the coast of South America;
explored the coast of California,
claiming it for England; and returned
to Europe through the Pacific, Indian,
and Atlantic Oceans
Establish English
presence in the New
World, assert English
dominance over Spain
Drake’s expeditions led to an increase of tensions between
Spain and England
North America
France
Jacques Cartier
France
Sir Francis
Drake
England