Explorers Ch.3

Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer, governor, and a conquistador. He was born in 1475 and died in 1519. He is best known for crossing the Isthmus of Panama.

Amerigo Vespucci

Amerigo Vespucci was one of the first explorers who had the idea that the land that he saw was not part of Asia, (which is what Columbus thought) the land he saw was actually part of the "New World," After his expedition both North America and South America were both named after him.

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo

Juan Cabrillo was the first Spanish and European explorer to explore the west coast of North America. Cabrillo was the first European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States.

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was famous for discovering the Americas. He sailed the ocean to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he found the Americas. He also proved that the world is round.

Jaques Cartier

Cartier was sent by King Francis to look for the Northwest Passage. Cartier was also instructed to find gold. between 1534 and 1541, Cartier made three voyages to North America. on His first voyage he reached the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and claimed all the land around it for France. On his second voyage he traveled up the St. Lawrence River. During his trip he saw fish in appearance like horses. what he saw were not fish-they were walruses. Unfortunately, he never found the Northwest Passage

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado y Luján

Coronado was a Spanish Conquistador. He visited New Mexico and other parts of what are now southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542. His goal was to conquer the mythical seven cities of gold.

Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan left Spain in 1519. Magellan left with five ships. He and his crew sailed to present-day Brazil. After passing through the water passage at the tip of South America, him and his crew realized they were in the same ocean that Balboa had seen.

Giovanni de Verrazano

Giovanni de Verrazano was sent by Francis I. Verrazano set sail in January 1524and landed in the coast if what is now North Carolina. Verrazano then sailed farther north along the Atlantic coast, sailing into several bays and rivers while searching for a waterway that lead to Asia.

Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson made four voyages in search of the Northwest Passage. A company in England paid for his first two expeditions. In 1608, on his first voyage, Hudson reached an Island east of Greenland. He sailed farther north through the Arctic Ocean but failed to find the Northwest Passage. for his third voyage, Hudson was hired by the Dutch East India Company to find the Northwest Passage. He sailed to the Hudson River in what is present-day New York.

Hernando De Soto

Hernando De Soto was a Spanish Explorer. He helped conquer the Inca Empire in Peru, and his success there made him rich. De Soto believed Florida might have rich empires like the Inca. He wanted to defeat all the empires so he could have wealth and glory. In 1539, de Soto and 600 men from his crew sailed from Cuba and landed near Tampa Bay, and every star that is now part of the southwestern United States. They became the first Europeans to see the Mississippi River. De Soto and his crew didn't find gold, but they claimed much land for Spain.

Hernando Cortes

Hernándo Cortés was a Spanish Conquistador. He led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire. While Cortés set for the Aztec Indians, the Indians believed that one day a white-skinned god would come from the east.

John Caboto

John Caboto was born Giovanni Cabboto was born in Italy around 1450. He made a voyage in 1497. He claimed land in Canada mistaking it for Asia for King Henry VII of England.

Juan Ponce de León

Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. Ponce de León sailed with Columbus on his second voyage and later helped conquer Puerto Rico. He heard of the island, Bimini and the Fountain of Youth there. In 1513, Ponce de León set out to find Bimini, but he never found it. Instead, he landed in what is now the state of Florida. He named the land La Florida, Spanish for flowery, and claimed it for Spain. He was the first explore who set foot on that land, which is now part of the United States.