Explorers
© 2005 Clairmont Press
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
 How did Native American culture
change as a result of European
exploration?
 Why did the Europeans (French,
Spanish, and British) explore and
settle in the southeastern part of
North America?
AGE OF DISCOVERY
• For almost 3 centuries, European nations would
challenge each other for rights to the Western
Hemisphere.
Europeans believed the world
consisted of only 3 continents:
World
Europe
Africa
Asia
Plus Scattered Islands in the Ocean
EUROPEAN COLONIZATION
Line of Demarcation –
– Spain and Portugal
signed a treaty
which divided the
world in two halves,
giving Spain control
of the New World.
Other European nations refused to accept Spain
and Portugal’s division of the Americas between
themselves.
 England and France prepared to make their
own explorations.
ELBOW
PARTNERS:
WHY DID THE
EUROPEANS
START
EXPLORING
THE “NEW
WORLD?”
THE RACE IS ON...
Spain financed
more than 80
voyages to the
New World
during the 12
years after
Columbus’s
first voyage.
HOW MUCH LAND COULD AN
EXPLORER CLAIM AND
FOR HOW LONG?
Any first discovery claims had to be followed by
actual occupation
 It was not enough to plant a flag on the beach.
 To enforce a claim, settlers and soldiers from the
explorer’s country must follow and colonize (occupy
and control) the land.
 Did not require permission from Native Americans.
 Felt a moral duty to convert the natives to
Christianity.
God
Expand Its
Empire
Glory
SPAIN
COMES TO
THE
SOUTHEAST
Convert the
Natives
Discover
New Riches
Gold
More Than Gold Changed Hands...
Take to
the New
World
Wheat
Bring
Back to
Spain
Oranges
Corn
Sugar cane
Potatoes
Horses
Tomatoes
Cows
Pineapple
Pigs
Tobacco
Chickens
Hernando de Soto
Mission:
Search for Gold & Conquer
Hostile Indians
Hernando de Soto
• In return, he would be given a title,
land, and a portion of the colony’s
profits.
In 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando De
Soto, with hundreds of men, marched
north from Tampa, Florida into
southwest Georgia (near today’s Albany).
THE MISSISSIPPIANS
MEET THE SPANIARDS
• On this journey, the Spanish encountered the
Indian chiefdoms of the Mississippian period.
JOURNEY OF DEATH &
DISAPPOINTMENT
• Food was a continual problem.
• Often seized stored food supplies
from Indians.
• Meat was in
such short
supply that the
expedition
reportedly even
ate the dogs
of some Indian
villages.
SPANISH MISSIONS
Mission – Definition: A religious
church or station established in a
foreign land to allow missionaries to
spread their religion.
In 1566, Spain established missions
on Georgia’s Cumberland Island and
St. Catherine’s Island, called Santa
Catalina. During the same century,
posts were established at Sapelo and
St. Simon’s Island.
The missions were used by the
Spanish to convert the Native
Americans to Catholicism but also
served as a trading post; Native
Americans used the missions to
integrate themselves into the
European world.
De Soto’s weapons, plated armor, and horses
overwhelmed the Native Americans; thousands of
American Indians in Georgia died, many from
disease brought by the Spaniards.
DISEASES
 The Native Americans were exposed for the first
time to European diseases against which they had
little resistance.
 Measles
 Chicken pox
 Small pox
During the two centuries following the
discovery of the New World,
90% of the Native Population vanished.
Native
Americans
Spanish
Guns
Weapons of
Stone &
Wood
Steel Swords
Metal Armor
Horses
The Spaniards marched across Georgia
into South Carolina, but never found the
gold they sought.
Explorer
Date
Country
Represented
Spain
Hernando de Soto
1540
Territory
Discovered/Explored
Results of Exploration
Explored Georgia and
Southeastern North
America
Failed to Find Riches,
Brought Death and
Destruction to Indians
ELBOW PARTNER
• With your partner. . .
– 5-3-1:
• List five things you learned in this
section.
• List three things you are still unsure
about.
• Compose one question you have.
THREE COUNTRIES VIE FOR
LAND
ENGLAND
In 1497, John Cabot sailed from England to the
northeastern coast of North America.
ENGLAND’S REASONS TO
SETTLE IN THE NEW WORLD
• Mercantilism – the
belief that countries
should export more
than they import.
• Countries wanted to
take over as many
of the world’s
natural resources as
possible
FRENCH CLAIMS IN THE
SOUTHEAST
• France was the 3rd European power to enter the race
for North America.
• Giovanni de Verrazano believed that he could sail
westward from
Europe to Asia.
• First, landed on
the Carolina coast.
JEAN RIBAULT
• Jean Ribault and a band of 150 Hugenots (French
Protestants) landed on Florida’s coast and sailed
northward looking for a place to settle.
 Just north of present-day
Savannah, Ribault discovered a
protected inlet, which he named
Port Royal.
 Spain was outraged and quickly
drove the French out and captured
Fort Caroline and then executed
the French Huguenots.
SO WHAT DID
FRANCE DO?
(REASON FOR
EXPLORATION)
• Established the
Louisiana
Territory and a
lucrative fur
trade
ELBOW PARTNER:
PICK A NEW ELBOW PARTNER
• Each student will receive a map of the US.
– Color where the English settled red.
– Color where the French settled blue.
– Color where the Spanish settled green.
• Write a paragraph together of what the main
purposes of each country was and where each
country predominately settled.