Early Explorers

On-line Study Guide

Who am I?• “discovered” North America in

1497 by landing in Labrador and New Foundland

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

• traded in the areas of the Mediterranean Sea

• discovered areas east of Canada

• Merchant – buys and sells goods for a profit

• Mediterranean Sea – South of Europe and North of Africa

Who am I?• It is believed that he sailed

with his father John

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

• He too sailed to Labrador and New Foundland

• He was sponsored by France and Spain

• Sponsored – to pay for

Who am I? Part 1• Navigator, colonizer, and

explorer

• Believed there was a shorter way to India

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

• Colonizer – began colonies in places he found

• Bahamian Archipelago – West of Florida

Who Am I? Part 2• had gone to Portugal for

money to back his trip to India

• The King of Portugal refused to give him money

• Many believed the Earth was flat

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

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

Who Am I?

• His parents lived in Iceland

• He committed many crimes and was banished from Iceland for good

• He was the first to explore all of Greenland

• He took 500 settlers to Greenland to start a colony

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

Who Am I?• He 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

• He named the colonies the Western and Eastern Settlements

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

• Province – a place ruled by another country

Who Am I?• was a merchant and explorer

from Venice, Italy

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

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

• His travels inspired Christopher Columbus and others

Who Am I?• A Portuguese explorer

• 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 he was able to sail around the Cape of Africa but his sailors forced him to turn around

Who Am I?• sailed in the year 1490 to the

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

• 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 his name

Who Am I? • He was a Portuguese sailor

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

In 1520 he traveled through the Strait of Magellanset out to find a shorter route to the Spice Islands but by the end of 1522 his crew had circumnavigated the globeHis crew member Elcano completed the voyage around the Earth

Who Am I?

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

was also to make peace with other traders

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

Who Am I? • In 1513 this 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

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

Who Am I? • 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

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

Who Am I? • 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

Who Am I?

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

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

• Many of his men were killed and he was fatally wounded

Who Am I?

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

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

Who Am I? Part 1• 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

• His expedition went through the southeastern United States seeking gold and a passage to China

Who Am I? Part 2

• 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 this man, a Spanish explorer.

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

Who Am I? Part 1• Englishman who was a

privateer, pirate, sea captain, politician, and navigator

• Knighted for fighting for England in their Navy

Who Am I? Part 2• circumnavigated the world

between 1577-1580.

• This statue was to honor him for his travels

• This statue is located in Plymouth, England

• Privateer – a captain for hire

Who Am I?• English poet, soldier, and

explorer• Between 1579 and 1583 fought

against the rebellions in Ireland

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

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

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

Who Am I?• was called “The Father of New

France”• He was a French navigator,

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

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

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

• Quebec – a province of Canada

Who Am I? Was a sea explorer and navigator from

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

Northeast Passage to India he explored the area around New York City while secretly looking for a western route to the Orient for the Dutch East India Company.He explored the Hudson River—named for him and made it possible for the Dutch to settle in this region

• His 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

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

• His story after this remains a mystery• Like de Soto he believed that there was a

path from the New World that could be taken back to China.

Who Am I?• Born in Quebec and his step-father

was a fur trader. He went on trips to New Orleans with his step-father

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

• This man’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 he returned to Quebec to tell of their discoveries.

His statue is in front of City Hall in Illinois

Who Am I?

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

Who Am I?• was a French explorer• He was born on November 21,

1643 and died on March 19, 1687

• 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

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

• First French explorer to explore the Mississippi river and claimed

the basin for France.

Who Am I?• 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)

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

• 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.

• Dutch – are people from the Netherlands in Europe

Who Am I?• 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.

• His 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 him were the protective wall on Wall Street, the canal that became Broad Street, and Broadway.

Who Am I? Part 1

• was born on November 2, 1734 and died on September 26, 1820

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

• 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 he 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 him.

Who Am I? Part 2• He was an officer during the

American Revolutionary War• In Kentucky this war was fought

mainly between settlers and British-allied American Indians.

• He 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. He worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war and resettled to Missouri.

Who Am I? Part 1• a British explorer, navigator, and

map maker (cartographer)• 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

• was also the first on record to have circumnavigated the island of New Zealand 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 his ship the endeavor shown here in Cooktown Harbor.

Who Am I? Part 2

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

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.

Who Am I? Part 3• 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 Barrier Reef),

• had the ability to lead men in dangerous conditions and 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

His statue in St. Kilda, Australia

Who Am I?• was a Franciscan Friar who

befriended Christopher Columbus

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

• encouraged Columbus to visit with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

• Columbus had said that he 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.

Who Am I?• Philosopher – a person who

thinks about the meaning of life and the ways people interact with each other and life

• Was a religious explorer• Taught his beliefs to the new

people he met on his explorations.

Who Am I?• In 1819 he was the

captain of The Jane and also a second boat called The Beafoy. These ships sailed south in search of seal. He 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.

Sealer – a person who hunts seals

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