Chapter 2 – European Explorers (pp

							                          Our Canada: Chapter 2 – European Explorers Study Guide

1.       Why did Europeans Want to Explore? What were the MAIN reasons?

Note: You should use your “Push-Pull” Assignment to study for this. A few main points are below:

     -   Disruption of trade routes with Asia drove up prices of Asian silk and spices for Europeans.
     -   Some Europeans felt if they could secure a supply of Asian trade goods they could make lots of money.
     -   Europeans needed to find a sea route to Asia, since land routes were dangerous to travel.
     -   The “Three C’s” of exploration: Curiosity, Commerce, and Christianity
     -   Early Explorers: Columbus, Caboto (1497).

2.       European Contact with First Nations Peoples: How Were First Nations Groups Affected?

Trade with First Nations Groups (p. 46)

     -   After Caboto (late 1400’s), the Mi’kmaq came into regular contact with Europeans fishing off the east
         coast. Trade between the two could be advantageous for both Europeans and First Nations. Europeans
         wanted furs and fish, First Nations wanted durable metal goods and good relationships.
     -   Other groups willing to trade: Stadacona and Hochelaga.

The tragedy of the Beothuk (p. 48)

     -   Beothuks of Nfld. did NOT establish friendly relations with Europeans: camps and settlements
         interfered with traditional fishing areas, conflict over equipment, more British settlers arrived, pushing
         Beothuk out.
     -   In early 1800’s, the British tried to establish friendly relations with the Beothuk, but they avoided
         contact.
     -   1823 – Shawnadithit captured by British trappers. British settler, William Cormack, recorded some
         Beothuk culture and history, but Shawnadithit died of tuberculosis in 1829, the last of her people.

3.       French Explorers in Canada

Jacques Cartier (p. 51)

     -   1534 – the King of France sponsored Frenchman Jacques Cartier to find a passage to Asia through
         North America.
     -   Cartier recorded his first encounter with a Mi’kmaq person on June 24, 1534. He also recorded
         encounters with the Stadacona near the Gaspe Peninsula.
     -   During an over-winter, Cartier’s crew grew sick with scurvy, but the Stadaconans gave him a cure - tea
         rich in Vitamin C.

Samuel de Champlain (p. 56)

     -   In 1603, Champlain retraced Cartier’s voyages and explored the St. Lawrence River.
     -   In 1604 he returned to establish the first French colony in North America – Port Royal in Acadia.
     -   In 1608 he established a settlement at Quebec.
     -   From Quebec, Champlain traveled deep into the interior of North America.
     -   He was known as the “Father of New France”.
     -   He made highly accurate maps (was a cartographer), which were very useful to later explorers.

4. Explorers and Identity (p. 63) You should know a few key details that would identify each of the
   following explorers! Please use your notes we took in class, and look at pages 62-65.

1. Martin Frobisher (Britain); 2. Henry Hudson (Britain; 3. La Salle (France); 4. La Verendrye (France); 5.
Hearne (Britain) and Matonabbee (traveled with Hearne); 6. Mackenzie (Britain).