Download Samuel de Champlain

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Samuel de Champlain (1567?-1635)
Samuel de Champlain was a French explorer, navigator, and mapmaker.
He explored much of eastern Canada and became known as the father of
New France, which was the French part of Canada.
Champlain was born in Brouage, France. As a boy he learned how to
navigate ships, and became a naval captain, like his father.
In 1603 he went on his first voyage to Canada, as geographer on a furtrading expedition. He travelled up the Saguenay, St. Lawrence, and
Richelieu rivers and used the information he collected to make a very
accurate map of Canada from Hudson Bay in the north down to the Great
Lakes.
In 1604 Champlain made his second trip to North America. He was
looking for a place where French people could make a permanent
settlement. Champlain remained for three years, exploring the Atlantic
coast from the Bay of Fundy down to Cape Cod.
On his third trip in 1608, Champlain founded a settlement and trading
post along the St. Lawrence River that eventually became the city of
Quebec. It was the first permanent white settlement in Canada, which
makes Quebec the oldest city in Canada.
He spent most of the rest of his life going back and forth between France
and Canada. His goals were to map North America, find a quicker way to
get to the Pacific Ocean, and teach North American natives about
Christianity.
In 1629 Quebec was captured by the English and Champlain was taken to
England as a prisoner. When Canada was returned to France in 1633 he
returned to his trading post and remained in Quebec until his death on
Christmas Day in 1635.
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JOHN CABOT (1450?-1499)
John Cabot (known as Giovanni Caboto in Italy) was a great Italian
navigator and explorer. He was probably born in Genoa, Italy around
1450, but he moved to Venice and that is where he most likely learned to
sail.
In 1484, he moved again, this time to Bristol in England. That's when he
decided to call himself John Cabot, the "English" version of his name.
Like Columbus and others of his time, Cabot believed that Asia could be
reached by sailing westward. Up until then, the only known way to get to
Asia was by going east. Some wealthy Englishmen liked his ideas and paid
for him to lead an westward expedition to Asia. They were anxious to find
an easier and quicker way to bring back goods from Asia to trade in
Europe.
He made his first voyage to North America (which he thought was Asia) in
1497. The ship was called the Matthew and had a crew of 18 men. He
sailed northwest, through the stormy Atlantic Ocean, and eventually came
to North America. He sailed along the coast, past Labrador,
Newfoundland, and New England. He claimed the land he found for
England. King Henry VII was pleased with his efforts and granted Cabot a
pension of 20 pounds a year.
In 1498, Cabot wanted to return to find "Japan," so he organized another
expedition. This time, he took four or five ships and about 300 men and
left Bristol in June of 1498. No one knows for certain what happened to
this expedition, but it may have sailed from Greenland southward towards
Chesapeake Bay in North America. Cabot had to return to England
because he was running out of supplies, and he died soon after returning.
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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS (14511506)
Christopher Columbus is one of the best-known of all explorers. He is
famous for his voyage in 1492, when he "discovered" America while he
was looking for a way to sail to Asia.
Columbus was probably born in Genoa, Italy, around 1451. His real name
was Christoforo Columbo. His wife, a Portuguese women who he married
around 1480, was Felipa Perestrello e Moniz. They had one son named
Diego.
He made several voyages to the New World, which he thought was Asia.
His first voyage took place in 1492. He led an expedition of three ships: the
Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. On October 12, 1492, the expedition
landed on a small island in the Caribbean Sea. Columbus was sure that he
was close to Asia.
His second voyage was from 1493 to 1496. This time, he took 17 ships and
1200 sailors and colonists looking for riches in the New World and a quick
route to Asia. On this trip, he explored Cuba and discovered the islands of
Jamaica, Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico.
He went again to the New World from 1498 to 1500. His final voyage was
in 1502-1504. Christopher Columbus died in 1506.
He was not the first European to find North America. The Vikings had
come to northern North America hundreds of years earlier. However,
Columbus is important because his explorations made Europeans much
more aware of the New World and helped to encourage more exploration
of North and South America in the 1500s.
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AMERIGO VESPUCCI (1454-1512)
Amerigo Vespucci is important because he was one of the
early explorers of the New World, and also because the
continents of North and South America were named in his
honor. (He was also known by the name of Americus
Vespucci.)
Amerigo Vespucci was born in Florence, Italy in 1454. He was
well-educated by his uncle, and became a businessman
involved in trading goods. That is how he became familiar
with ships. He moved to Seville, Spain in 1491 to work in the
trading business there. He was probably there when
Christopher Columbus returned from his first journey to the
New World. He then helped Columbus get ships ready for his
second and third voyages to the New World.
Vespucci was a skilled navigator. As a trader, he was very
interested in finding a quicker way to sail to Asia. He went on
at least two, and possibly four, voyages to Central and South
America between 1497 and 1504 for Spain and Portugal. He
went to many places, including Venezuela and Brazil.
After his explorations in 1501-1502, he was one of the first
explorers to come up with the idea that these places he had
visited were not part of Asia (as Columbus thought) but
rather were part of a "New World." In 1507, a pamphlet was
published called "The Four Voyages of Amerigo" and the
author suggested that the new land that Amerigo had
explored be named in his honor. At first, the name of America
was only meant to apply to South America, but later on, both
continents of America became known by his name.
After his explorations, Amerigo returned to Seville and
became its Master Navigator. He stayed in that job until he
died in 1512.
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FERDINAND MAGELLAN (1480-1521)
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese sea captain. He was the commander
of the expedition that became the first to sail around the world. He first
went to sea in 1505. He was interested in the way that Columbus sailed and
studied Columbus's maps of his routes for many years. He was sure that
he could get to the riches of the Far East quicker by sailing westward, but
he had no idea how far it really was from Europe to the Far East.
In 1513 Magellan asked King Manuel of Portugal for permission to sail to
the Spice Islands in the Far East. These islands grew cloves and many
other spices which would be very valuable if brought back to Spain. His
best maps convinced him that he could sail to the Spice Islands (which are
now part of Indonesia) by going around the southern tip of South America.
He thought that this route would be shorter than the eastward trip to the
southern tip of Africa and across the Indian Ocean. Of course, he thought
that the Spice Islands were very close to South America. He didn't realize
how big the Pacific Ocean was. Nobody knew at that time. King Manuel
refused Magellan's proposal because he didn't like Magellan.
Magellan then studied astronomy and navigation for about two years. He
met a man named Ruy Falesrio who enjoyed listening to what Magellan
had to say. He influenced Magellan's life and in a way became Magellan's
partner. They finished their studies on the territory of the Spice Islands,
that were awarded to Spain in 1494.
In 1518 Magellan went left Portugal and went to Spain. He presented the
information he had learned about the Spice Islands. The year after that,
Magellan convinced King Charles I of Spain to support his voyage. The
king promised Magellan one-fifth of the profits from the voyage to the
Spice Islands.
Getting the voyage ready took more that a year. The voyage began on
September 20, 1519. His first destination was southern Spain. From his
ship Magellan commanded a total of 241 men and a fleet of five ships. The
fleet sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to South America. The ships followed
the South American coast. They landed on the bay where Rio de Janeiro
now stands. They remained there for two weeks and then sailed south to
find a passage to the Pacific Ocean. However, they could not find the
passage before the end of summer in the southern hemisphere.
In late March 1520, Magellan's fleet anchored for the winter at Puerto San
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Julian in what is now southern Argentina. During the winter a storm
destroyed the Santiago. In addition, a mutiny broke out shortly after the
men set up their winter quarters. Magellan and his crew resumed their
voyage on Oct. 18, 1520.
They were the first Europeans ever to sail across the Pacific, and it was far
larger then anyone had imagined. They went for 98 days without seeing
any land and ran out of food and used almost all their water. They ate rats
and sawdust to avoid starvation. Nineteen men died before they reached
the Pacific island of Guam on March 6, 1521. Conflicts with the people of
Guam and the nearby islands prevented Magellan from fully resupplying
his ships. The crew finally got enough food to set out westward again,
toward the Philippines.
Magellan and his crew stayed in the Philippines for many weeks and they
got to know the islanders very well. On April 27, 1521, Ferdinand
Magellan was killed when he took part in a battle between rival Filipino
groups on the island of Mactan.
After the battle only about 110 of the original members remained. That
was not enough to sail three ships. Therefore they abandoned one of the
ships, called Conception. The two remaining ships sailed to the Spice
Islands. At the Spice Islands the ships were loaded up with spices for the
trip back.
The ship called the Trindad tried to return back to Spain the same way
they had came. They sailed eastward across the Pacific Ocean but were
caught in really bad weather. More than half of the crew members died.
The rest of the group was forced to return to the Spice Islands and where
they arrived there, the Portuguese imprisoned them.
The last ship that remained was the Victoria. That ship continued back to
Spain. The Victoria experienced many hardships and many of the crew
members died of malnutrition and starvation. Finally, on September 6,
1522, they reached Sanlucar de Barrameda in Spain, nearly three years
after the voyage started. Five ships and 241 men began the journey. Only
eighteen survivors returned to the starting spot. Those people completed
the first voyage around the world that started with the dream of
Ferdinand Magellan.
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HERNÁN CORTÉS (1485-1547)
Hernán Cortés was a Spanish explorer who is famous mainly for his
march across Mexico and his conquering of the Aztec Empire in Mexico.
Cortés was born in the Spanish city of Medellín in 1485. When he was a
young man, he studied law, but he soon gave that up to seek his fortune in
the New World that was just being discovered by Columbus and others.
First he went to the island of Santo Domingo (now known as the
Dominican Republic) in 1504. He was only 19 years old at the time. He
stayed there for seven years, then took part in the Spanish conquest of
Cuba in 1511. He became mayor of Santiago de Cuba and stayed there
until 1518.
Cortés was eager for more power and conquests, so he talked the Spanish
governor of Cuba into letting him lead an expedition to Mexico in 1519.
Mexico had just been discovered by the Spanish explorer de Córdoba a
year before.
At that time, Mexico was ruled by the Aztec Empire and its leader,
Montezuma II. Cortés arrived in Mexico in March 1519 with a group of
about 600 men and a few horses. He soon learned of the Aztecs and began
to make his way inland to the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlán. Along the
way, he made friends with a native group called the Tlaxcalans, who were
enemies of the Aztecs. The Tlaxcalans helped Cortés against the Aztecs.
In November of 1519, Cortés and his men reached the Aztec capital and
met Montezuma. The Aztecs may have thought that Cortés was a godking, and so they treated him and his soldiers well. However, Cortés was
afraid that the Aztecs might soon try to get rid of him, so he took
Montezuma hostage and asked for a huge ransom of gold and jewels.
It turned out that Cortés was right and the Aztecs finally drove him and
his men out of their city in June of 1520. But Cortés regrouped and
returned in the summer of 1521 to capture Tenochtitlán.
Soon after, he began to build Mexico City on the Aztec ruins and brought
many Europeans over to live there. It soon became the most important
European city in North America. Because of his conquests and all the gold
and jewels he had collected, Cortés was very popular back home in Spain
and so he was made governor and captain general of New Spain in 1523.
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But he wasn't done exploring.
In 1524, he led a group into Honduras and stayed in that area for two
years. By 1528, the Spanish government was worried that Cortés was
getting out of control in the Americas, and so he had to give up his
governor's job and was sent back to Spain. He spoke to the king, who was
persuaded to send Cortés back to Mexico in 1530, but with less power and
freedom than before.
In 1536, Cortés explored the northwestern part of Mexico and discovered
the Baja California peninsula. He also spent time exploring the Pacific
coast of Mexico. This was the last major expedition by Cortés. In 1539, he
went back to Spain, and spent much of the rest of his life there before he
died near Seville in 1547.
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SIR FRANCIS DRAKE (1540?-1596)
Sir Francis Drake was always dreaming that he would sail, and he did.
Drake was an Englishman who hoped to explore possibilities of trade and
colonial settlement in the Pacific Ocean and to find the western outlet of
the Northwest Passage. He wanted to find an undiscovered continent that
was thought to lie in the Pacific.
Drake became a ship's captain in 1567, and he lead several trading voyages
from England to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
In 1577, Queen Elizabeth I chose him to lead a secret expedition to the
Pacific coast of North America.
He started his voyage on December 13, 1577. He and more than 160 men
sailed from Plymouth on five ships, including Drake's flagship, the Golden
Hind.
After leaving Sao Tiago in the Cape Verde Islands, Drake's expedition met
two Portuguese ships. He captured one of the vessels and gave its
command to a friend,Thomas Doughty. The ships then sailed south along
the Atlantic coast of South America and ran into violent storms. They
stopped at San Julian.
Before leaving San Julian, Drake destroyed the supply ships and the ships
that he had picked up (the Portuguese ships) because they were in bad
condition.
The remaining three ships sailed through the Strait of Magellan. Shortly
after that some more violent storms wrecked the Marigold and blew the
Elizabeth off course forcing it to return to England. The storms also blew
the Golden Hind, which he was sailing on, way to the south. Drake then
headed north along the Pacific coast of South America. He captured a
Spanish ship the Cacafuego and stole its cargo of gold, silver, and jewels.
Loaded with treasure, the Golden Hind sailed north along the Pacific coast
of North America. Drake then turned south and repaired his ship where
what is now called San Fransico and named the new area New Albion. He
claimed the land for England.
Drake had planned to return to England through the Strait of Magellan,
not to sail around the world. But he feared an attack from the Spanish if
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he sailed south again. So he decided to sail home by the Pacific and Indian
oceans.
Drake stopped many times for supplies. After crossing the Indian ocean he
sailed around the Cape of Good Hope. Drake reached Plymouth on
September 26, 1580. He had been out at sea for almost three years and the
voyage made him a national hero and he is still today.
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HENRY HUDSON (?-1611?)
Henry Hudson was a very good navigator and sailor who
named and explored Hudson Bay in Canada and the Hudson
River in America. His quest was to find a shortcut from
Europe to the Far East. Hudson was from England, but
nothing is known about his life before 1607.
On May 1, 1607, Hudson, his son, and 11 other crew members
sailed from England on the Hopewell. He and his crew went
past Greenland toward the North Pole. They were working for
an English trading company and were hoping to find a
quicker way to get from England to the Far East, by way of
the Arctic Ocean. In the next two years, he tried twice more to
find a "northeast passage" but failed and returned to
England. The trading company would not send him on any
more explorations.
In 1609 he moved to Holland and sailed for a Dutch trading
company on the ship named Half Moon. In 1609 he set sail
from Amsterdam and headed north, again trying to find a
way through the Arctic to the Far East. This time, conditions
were so bad that his crew of about 20 men threatened to
mutiny. Hudson turned the ship around and headed south
down the east coast of Canada.
Hudson was hoping that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were
separated by just a thin strip of land, and that he would be the
one to find the shortest way between the two oceans. He sailed
into New York Bay in September of 1609 and explored a river
which became known as the Hudson River for about 150
miles. He was looking for the shortcut to the Pacific, but of
course, he did not find it, so he returned to Holland. He was
told by Holland to go back to England.
On his final journey from England in 1610, he again headed
northwest towards Canada, this time on the ship Discovery. In
August Hudson found a body of water which at first he
thought was the Pacific Ocean. The body of water was a large
bay, which eventually was named the Hudson Bay.
In November 1610, the Discovery became locked in ice in
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Hudson Bay. The crew wanted to get back to England, but
Hudson would not let them leave. It was a very cold winter,
and the crew suffered greatly in the icy conditions. The crew
was thinking of mutiny. In June 1611, they decided to put
Hudson, his son, and the seven others into a small boat, and
they were never heard from again.
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RENE-ROBERT CAVALIER,
SIEUR de LaSALLE (1643 - 1687)
Rene-Robert de LaSalle was important because of his exploration of the
Mississippi River in North America. He was the first European to sail
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. He claimed the Mississippi
River Basin, which he called the Louisiana Territory, for France. He is
sometimes called "the Father of the Louisiana Territory."
He was born in France on November 24, 1643. He went to Jesuit schools.
When he was 23, he set sail for Canada, with plans to be a farmer.
However, La Salle became interested in fur trading and set up a fur
trading post instead.
He became friendly with the Iroquois Indians, and learned from them of a
great river which led to a sea. He became convinced that this was the great
water route that would lead to Asia and make trading with the Far East
easier. He decided he would try to find that trade route.
In 1669 he sold his land and spent two years exploring. He went up the St.
Lawrence River to Lake Ontario, and probably to the Ohio River region
after that, though we're not really sure because the records of this part of
his trip were lost. We do know that he didn't find what he was looking for
and that he returned to Canada.
In 1677 he had grown bored with fur trading and asked Louis XIV for
authorization to explore the western parts of New France. France was very
interested in taking over more of North America. In 1679-80, LaSalle led a
group that explored the Great Lakes and helped to establish French forts
in the area.
In 1682, LaSalle traveled down the Illinois River to the Mississippi and
continued all the way south to the Gulf of Mexico. On April 9, 1682 La
Salle claimed all of the Mississippi River Basin for France. That was an
enormous amount of land because it included all the rivers and streams
that feed into the Mississippi, and all of the land between. It includes much
of the western part of North America. He named this area Louisiana in
honor of the king. Later, in 1803, France sold this land to the United
States, and that led to the explorations of Lewis and Clark and then the
westward expansion of America.
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From 1684 to 1687, LaSalle led an expedition to further explore the
southern end of the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. This
expedition was full of problems. LaSalle didn't get along with other
leaders. He became very sick. Many of his men were unhappy and deserted
the expedition. On March 20, 1687 La Salle was assassinated in Texas by
three of his own men. It was a sad end for an important explorer.
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JACQUES MARQUETTE (1637-1675)
LOUIS JOLLIET(sometimes spelled Joliet) (1645-1700)
Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet searched together and found the
waters of the Mississippi River. They were the first Europeans to follow
the course of the river.
Jacques Marquette (also known as Father Marquette) was a Catholic
missionary and explorer. He was born in Laon, France. In 1666 came to
Québec, Canada and learned Indian languages. From 1669 to 1671 he
worked in missions in Sault Sainte Marie (Michigan) and La Pointe
(Wisconsin). Around this time, he first met Louis Jolliet, who was trading
with Indians in the same area.
Jolliet was a French-Canadian trader and explorer. Jolliet was born near
Québec City and raised in a Jesuit seminary. In 1668 he decided that he
didn't want to become a priest and he became a trader with the Indians
instead. From 1669 to 1671 Jolliet explored a lot of the Great Lakes region.
During that time he became a great map maker, also worked as a fur
trader, and met Marquette.
In 1672, Jolliet was named leader of an expedition that would explore the
northern part of the Mississippi River the following year. Jolliet asked
Father Marquette to be the chaplain of this group. Along with five others,
Jolliet and Marquette crossed Lake Michigan, and explored the Fox and
Wisconsin Rivers, before reaching the Mississippi River. They followed the
Mississippi southward past the mouth of the Arkansas River, then
returned northward.
After the expedition, Marquette stayed by Lake Michigan and Jolliet
returned to Québec. Father Marquette preached among the Illinois
Indians until his death in 1675.
On his way back to Québec, when Jolliet was on Lake Michigan, his canoe
turned over and all his precious maps and journals of his trips were lost,
but he was able to replace most of the information from memory. Later, he
explored other parts of Canada, such as Labrador and Hudson Bay. Louis
Jolliet died in 1700 at the age of 55.