Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus, in search of a shorter route to
Asia, decided to sail west across the Atlantic Ocean. He
thought this would be a shorter journey. By studying the
writings of Marco Polo and Paolo Toscanelli, Columbus
believed that Asia was much larger than it actually is. In
addition, he underestimated the size of the Atlantic
Ocean. He had no idea he would run into America on his
way to Asia!
Although Columbus was actually Italian, he proposed his
plan to sail across the Atlantic to both Portugal and Spain.
Portugal worried that Columbus had miscalculated and
decided not to fund his expedition. Columbus pitched his
plan to Spanish rulers, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
They decided to fund his expedition and used this as an
opportunity to spread Christianity to new areas and
hopefully gain riches.
Columbus set sail in August 1492. After sailing for two
months, they worried they wouldn’t survive and
considered turning back. Luckily for Columbus, they saw
land on October 12. Columbus believed he reached the
Indies in Southeast Asia but in reality was in the
Caribbean. The natives he encountered were called the
Tainos but were given the name, “Indians” because of
where Columbus believed he was. Columbus would go on
to make three more voyages to the Americas.
Bartolomeu Dias
Prince Henry of Portugal opened a
school of navigation and decided to
organize and pay for sailing expeditions
to explore the Atlantic and the west
coast of expeditions. He hoped to find
African gold, to learn more about
geography and to spread Christianity.
One of the explorers he funded was
Bartolomeu Dias.
In January 1488, the Portuguese
explorer Bartolomeu Dias reached the
southern tip of Africa. After sailing
around it, he returned to Portugal at
the urging of his crew. Portugal’s king
named the tip the Cape of Good Hope
because he hoped they had found a
route to Asia.
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese
explorer. He followed the route of
Bartolomeu Dias around the southern tip
of Africa. Da Gama continued north
along the eastern coast of Africa. Then
he sailed east across the Indian Ocean to
India. Finally, someone had found an allwater route to Asia. The route meant
that the Portuguese could now trade
with Asia without dealing with the
Muslims or Italians. Portugal took
control of the valuable spice trade and
became very wealthy. This forced other
nations to look for their own water
routes to Asia.
Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci was one of
the first explorers to set sail
after Columbus. He was an
Italian sailor who set out in 1501
to find a sea route to Asia.
Vespucci realized that the land
he saw on this voyage was not
Asia. A German mapmaker was
impressed by Vespucci’s account
of the lands, so he named the
continent “America” after him.
Although Vespucci was Italian,
he sailed for Spain.
Ferdinand Magellan
Perhaps no explorer was more capable than
the Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan.
He proposed to reach Asia by sailing west
around South America. The Spanish king
agreed to fund Magellan’s voyage. In 1519,
Magellan set out from Spain with five ships
and about 240 men. After a stormy passage
around South America, Magellan entered
the Pacific Ocean. For several months his
crew crossed the Pacific, suffering great
hardships. Eventually, Magellan reached
the Philippines, where he became involved
in a local war and was killed. But his crew
traveled on. In 1522, the one remaining
ship arrived back in Spain. The sailors in
Magellan’s crew became the first people the
sail around the world.
Hernan Cortes
Soldiers called conquistadors, or conquerers,
explored the Americans and claimed them for
Spain. Hernan Cortes was one of these
conqustadors. He landed on the Central
American coast with 508 men in 1519. The
Spanish arrival shook the Aztec Empire, which
dominated most of Mexico. The Aztec emperor
Montezuma feared that Cortes had been sent
by an Aztec god to rule Mexico. Montezuma
sent Cortes gifts to get him to leave, but the
gifts only excited Spanish dreams of riches.
Cortes and his men, along with other natives
that allied with them against the Aztec, took on
Montezuma and his empire. After months of
fighting, Cortes finally took over the Aztec
capital, Tenochtitlan. It was on that site where
Cortes built Mexico City.
Francisco Pizarro
Native American stories of Incan wealth reached
the Spanish. In 1531, a conquistador named
Francisco Pizarro led an expedition of 180 men
into Peru. Like the Aztecs, the Incas feared that
the Spanish might be gods. The Incan emperor
Atahualpa ordered his troops not to fight. Then
he went to meet the conquistadors. The Spanish
attacked quickly. They killed thousands of Incas
and took Atahualpa captive. In an attempt to
free himself, the Incan emperor gave the Spanish
a treasure of gold. The Spaniards strangled him
anyway. With Atahualpa dead, the Incan Empire
collapsed. Having been ordered by Atahualpa
not to fight, the Incas refused to defend
themselves even after his death. The Pizarro
took control of this area for Spain. The Spanish
called the area Peru.
John Cabot
One of the first explorers to chart a
northern route across the Atlantic in
search of Asia was the Italian sailor
John Cabot. In 1497, Cabot crossed
the Atlantic Ocean to explore for the
English. He landed in the area of
Newfoundland, Canada. He was
certain that he had reached Asia and
claimed the land for England. The next
year he set sail once more, hoping to
reach Japan. He was never seen again.
Even so, his voyages were the basis for
future English colonies along North
America’s Atlantic shore.
Henry Hudson
In 1609, the Englishman Henry Hudson
sailed under the Dutch flag from
Europe. He hoped to find a route to
China. Arriving at the coast of presentday New York, he sailed up the river
that now bears his name. Hudson did
not find a passage to Asia, but he led
another expedition in 1610, this time
for the English. In Canada, he
discovered a large bay, today called
Hudson Bay. After enduring a harsh
winter, his crew rebelled. They put
Hudson, his young son, and several
loyal sailors in a small boat and set
them adrift. Hudson’s party was never
heard from again.
Giovanni da Verrazzano
In 1524, another Italian,
Giovanni da Verrazzano, set
out under the French flag to
find the Northwest Passage
(a water route through
North America to Asia). He
explored the Atlantic
coastline of North America,
but there was no passage to
be found.
Jacques Cartier
France tried to find a Northwest
Passage between 1534 and 1536
with the voyages of Jacques
Cartier. Cartier traveled up the
St. Lawrence River to the site of
present-day Montreal. At that
point rapids blocked the way
and ended his search for the
Northwest Passage. It would be
almost 75 years before the
French would return to colonize
the region.
Sir Francis Drake
In 1577, Sir Francis Drake began a
three-year voyage that took him
around the world. During his
voyage he raided Spanish ports
and ships in South America. He
stole great amounts of treasure
from them. When he arrived
home in 1580, he was a national
hero. Not only had Drake and his
men hounded the Spanish, buy
they were also the first
Englishmen to sail around the
world.
Remember to record the following information:
-Which country the explorer sailed for (this might be different from
where they were from!)
-What the explorer was looking for
-The area discovered or explored by each person
-Accomplishments or specific details about what they did in the area
explored (example: sailed all the way around the world, conquered the
Aztecs, etc.)