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European Exploration, cont…
SLMS/13
Columbus’s Voyage
Spanish Explorers
•Since the Portuguese were focused on
finding a way to India by going around
Africa, Christopher Columbus elected to sail
west in order to reach the east. (He had no
idea that two continents stood in the way!)
•He left Spain on August 3, and sighted land
on October 12.
•Although he sighted the
Bahamas, and explored
islands in the Carribbean, he
called the area the Indies,
because he incorrectly believed that he had
reached the East Indies. This is why Native
Americans were incorrectly called “Indians”.
•Columbus made 3 more voyages, and died
still believing that he had reached the East
Indies in Asia.
•Vasco de Balboa is best known for crossing
the isthmus of Panama in 1513 and
“discovering” the Pacific Ocean.
•Ferdinand Magellan
began an ambitious
voyage in 1519. It was
his goal to be the first
explorer to
circumnavigate the globe (sail around the
world). He sailed around the southern tip of
South America through the straits which
bear his name. Magellan’s ship and crew
made it back to Spain in 1521, but Magellan
himself was killed in the Phillippines.
Spanish Conquistadors
•Conquistador is spanish for conqueror.
Most conquistadors were motivated by the
desire for riches and personal
glory, (and possibly the desire to
spread religion). They were
warriors who dominated and
controlled large native empires.
•Hernando Cortés was a conquistador
extraordinarie. In 1519, Cortés set out for
Mexico and encountered the Aztec Empire.
By 1521, thanks to advanced technology
and disease, he succeeded in conquering
and dismantling the Empire.
•Francisco Pizarro, a distant cousin of
Cortés, heard of the riches and gold in
South America. After two unsuccessful tries
in 1524 & 1526, he was able to conquer the
Incan Empire of South America (centered in
Peru) in 1533.
The English, French and Dutch
•The northern Europeans (French, English &
Dutch) began their programs of exploration
after the Spanish and Portuguese. Like others, they were motivated to find
a westward passage to the East.
•John Cabot, an Italian who
sailed for England in 1497, was
commissioned to find a Northwest passage to China. He was unsuccessful, but claimed Canada for England.
•Henry Hudson was an English explorer
commissioned by the Dutch East India
Company to find a Northwest passage in
the early 1600s. He explored the northeast
coast of Canada. Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait
and the Hudson River all bear his name.
•Jacques Cartier was an explorer from
France who in 1534 was commissioned to
find a Northwest passage. He discovered the
Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence
seaway instead. He claimed Canada for
France. Conflict?