Land Ho!
Explorers of the New World
Explorers
Erik the Red Amerigo Vespucci
Leif Eriksson Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Marco Polo Ponce de Leon
Prince Henry the Navigator Ferdinand Magellan
Bartholmeu Dias Hernando de Soto
Christopher Columbus Henry Hudson
John Cabot Robert LaSalle
Vasco da Gama
Important Vocabulary
Saga Colony
Silk Road Latitude
Renaissance Longitude
Monarch Prime meridian
Navigation New World
Expedition Circumnavigate
Compass Scurvy
Compass Rose
Seven Reasons for Exploration
Curiosity - people wondered who and what else was out there in
the world.
Wealth – Many people explored in order to find their fortune.
Fame – Some people wanted to go down as a great name in
history.
National Pride - Many people explored to claim new lands for their
country and become national heroes.
Religion – Some explorers went on pilgrimages to spread
Christianity.
Foreign Goods – People wanted to bring back spices and jewels
that could not be found in their own country.
Better Trade Routes – Many people explored to find faster and
cheaper ways to foreign countries.
Trade
Trade played an important part of early
explorations.
People learned about other cultures.
They shared goods and ideas with other on
different continents.
People became interested in others and their
customs.
European ocean trade routes made a lasting
contact between the Eastern and Western
Hemispheres.
The Renaissance
1350-1600 (25 years)
Renaissance mean “rebirth”
It was an age of thought, learning, arts, and science.
It was a desire to learn about the world – a new curiosity
Venice, Italy was the center of trade, and the wealth that
came out of here supported the arts and learning
Italians studied ancient European cultures, Greeks,
Romans, Chinese, and Arabic cultures
During this time, monarchs, or kings and queens, ruled
European lands and watched over the country and the
money.
Important Developments during the
Renaissance
Johann Gutenberg (German) develops the 1st
printing press, which makes printing faster. A
large number of books can be printed at a time.
This makes spreading news faster.
Ship design and ship building is also faster.
Travel by sea is safer and faster.
Navigation devices, such as the compass, is
developed. Navigation is the science sailors use
to plot their course and find their location far
from land.
Where on Earth?
Lines of latitude – imaginary Lines of longitude – imaginary
lines that run east and west on lines that run north and south
the Earth. Measured in on the Earth. Measured and
degrees and are used with degrees and are used with
lines of longitude to help locate lines of latitude to help locate
places on the globe. places on the globe.
Where on Earth?
Prime meridian – 0 degrees longitude; separates the
Earth into an eastern hemisphere and a western
hemisphere
Equator – 0 degrees latitude; separates the Earth into an
northern hemisphere and a southern hemisphere
Erik the Red
Year of Exploration – 965, Country of Origin - Norway
From Scandinavia
Exiled, or kicked out, in
965
Takes longboat out to sea
to find a new settlement.
Founder of Greenland –
He knew no one would
want to settle on the icy
land, so he named it
Greenland so people
would think it was green
and lush.
Leif Eriksson
Year of Exploration - 1002, Country of Origin - Norway
A Viking - son of Erik the Red
Heard rumors of lands even
farther out west.
In the year 1000, he sailed west
from Greenland looking for land
for settlements.
First European to set foot on North
America.
Landed in Newfoundland (east
coast of Canada)
Called it Vinland because it had
lots of grapevines
Conflict with Indians, so they left in
1015.
Information about this exploration
came from Viking sagas, which
are long-spoken tales passed
down from generation to
generation.
Marco Polo
Year of Exploration – 1271, Country of Origin – Italy
Set sail from his home in Venice, Italy in 1271.
He was only 17.
Nickname was “Marco Millions.”
Goal: Bring back valuable goods from China.
Why?
The Chinese learned how to weave silk cloth, which was in demand
across Europe, Asia, and Africa. They also traded tea and spices,
which preserved food and improved its flavor.
The major trade route between China and other lands was a
network of routes known as the Silk Road.
Effects: Two hundred years later, The Travels of Marco Polo was
printed, which caused more and more people in both Europe and
Asia to want to know more about each other.
Prince Henry the Navigator
Year of Discovery – 1410, Country of Origin - Portugal
Prince of Portugal
Sent by King John to find a new
water route to Asia. The Silk
Road was too dangerous and
expensive.
Set up the 1st European school
for training sailors in navigation
– how to plan and control a ship.
He organized more than 50
voyages but never went on one.
He thought the most direct route
to Asia was to go by sea to
Africa and sail east.
His sailors found many markets
and new goods on the African
coast.
They started buying slaves from
West Africa.
Bartholomeu Dias
Year of Exploration – 1488, Country of Origin – Portugal
First explorer to sail around the
tip (or horn) of Africa.
Departed in 1488 with 3 ships
and were met with violent
storms.
When the storms stopped, they
were around the horn (in the
Indian Ocean).
Reports to the king that they
have gone around the “Cape of
Storms.”
The king renames the tip “The
Cape of Good Hope” to
encourage people to explore the
area.
Vasco da Gama
Year of Exploration – 1498, Country of Origin - Portugal
Sailed from Portugal, around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, to India
(and back) in 1497-1499.
At that time, many people thought that this was impossible to do
because it was assumed that the Indian Ocean was not connected
to any other seas.
Effects: Discovered an ocean route from Portugal to Asia.
Portuguese merchants begin to settle in Calicut, India.
Ferdinand Magellan
Year of Exploration – 1519, Country of Origin – Portugal / Spain*
Born in Portugal; sailed for Spain
Goal:
Circumnavigate, or sail around, the world
Some crew members got scurvy, a sickness
from lack of Vitamin C and died.
3 years later, only one ship (the Victoria) made it back carrying
only 18 of the original 270 crew members.
Magellan was killed towards the end of the voyage in the
Philippines, during a battle with the natives, but the crew
completed the trip.
Effects: Magellan named the Pacific
Ocean (the name means calm, peaceful ocean)
His crew was the first to circumnavigate the Earth.
Christopher Columbus
Year of Exploration – 1492, Country of Origin – Portugal / Spain*
* Was originally from Portugal
* Sailed for Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain
Goal: Find a shorter route to the Indies (part of Asia) by going west across
the Atlantic Ocean.
Why?
Spain wanted to start a colony in the West
Indies. A colony is a settlement far from the
country that rules it. The Indies was rich with
gold, spices and other goods and the current
route through the Silk Road to the Indies was
a difficult land journey.
Left on August 3, 1492 on three ships, Nina,
Pinta, and Santa Maria. On October 12th, the
Pinta spots land.
Landed in what is now the Bahamas.
Made a 2nd trip to Americas in 1493
with settlers, animals and supplies.
Effects: Opened the way for European
colonization of the Americas.
Amerigo Vespucci
Year of Exploration – 1502, Country of Origin - Italy
Became the first explorer to
call the Americas as the “New
World”.
Didn’t see anything that
matched Polo’s or Columbus’s
description of Asia and thought
the length Columbus traveled
was not correct.
Found a new way to measure
length of travel, proving that
Columbus, Cabot, and himself
had NOT traveled to Asia.
Effects: German Martin
Waldssemuler drew a new
map of this New World. He
named it America after
Amerigo, and the Americas
appeared on a map for the first
time in 1507.
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Year of Exploration – 1513, Country of Origin - Spain
Discovered the
Pacific Ocean for
Spain
His discovery proved
Christopher
Columbus did not find
western route to
Indies and Amerigo
Vespucci was correct.
Ponce de Leon
Year of Exploration – 1513, Country of Origin - Spain
Landed on the Florida
peninsula and
claimed the land for
Spain
Ponce de Leon was
searching for the
legendary fountain of
youth and other
riches.
Hernando de Soto
Year of Exploration – 1539, Country of Origin – Spain
Goal:
Find for gold.
Effects:
Explored the southeastern United States.
His crew became the first Europeans to
see the Mississippi River.
John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto)
Year of Exploration – 1497, Country of Origin – Italy / England*
Originally from Italy
Paid by the English to explore
Was looking for a Northwest passage across North America to Asia
Reached Newfoundland, Canada and thought he was in Asia
His expeditions were the first of Britain’s claims to Canada. An
expedition is a journey made for a special purpose.
Henry Hudson
Year of Exploration – 1609, Country of Origin – England / Holland*
An Englishman paid by the Dutch
Goal:
Find a short northwest route to Asia.
Explored northeastern North America
Effects:
Named Hudson River and Hudson Bay;
A major settlement was built in modern-
day New York City
Robert LaSalle
Year of Exploration – 1682, Country of Origin – France
Goal:
Find the mouth of the Mississippi River. Louis XIV
wanted land to send settlers to claim and develop.
Effects:
He claimed the land
along the Mississippi
River for King Louis
XIV and named it
Louisiana.