Explorer Country(ies) Sailed For
Discovery Dates Territory Discovered
Spain Spain . Spain . Spain Spain Spain Spain Spain Spain
England England England England
France France France France
Portugal Prince Henry 1415: Henry's conquests in Africa
landed him spices and maps. Henry founded a school of Navigation in
1419 to prefect mapmaking, shipbuilding, and instrument making.
Historians honor his efforts with the name Henry the Navigator.
While never leading a voyage, he did however, funded 14 voyages
along the coast of Africa.
Bartholemew Dias 1488: Dias sailed to the tip of Africa. A three
day storm carried his fleet to the southeastern side of Africa.
Dias considered going to India, but a bad storm an exhausted crew,
and low supplies forced him to return home. Dias calls the tip of
Africa the Cape of Storms after his trip. King John of Portugal
realized that he had discovered the way to India and renames the
cape to the Cape of Good Hope.
Vasco da Gama 1498: Vasco da Gama sails past the Cape of Good Hope
and around Africa to India. Making this bold move, Vasco da Gama
helped Portugal compete with the overland spice trade routes.
Pedro Cabral 1500: A storm blows Cabral off course and the result
was the discovery of Brazil. Later this territory will become
important when Pope Alexander VI divides the non-Christian world.
Brazil, later becomes the largest Portuguese colony in South
America.
Amerigo Vespucci 1499: Amerigo sailed for both Spain and Portugal,
but he liked the speedy Portuguese ships over the slow Spanish
ships. As he sailed the eastern coast of South America he realized
that it was not Asia, it was a new world. In 1507, a German
mapmaker honored Amerigo by naming the new continent after Amerigo
Vespucci.
Treaty of Tordesillas 1494: As a result of Columbus's discovery,
tensions between Portugal and Spain increased. Pope Alexander VI
stepped in and drew an imaginary dividing line known as the Line of
Demarcation. Lands to the east belonged to Portugal. Lands to the
west belonged to Spain.
Spain Columbus 1492: Columbus started his
voyage August 3, 1492 and landed on an island in the Bahamas on
October 12, 1492. The encounter with the natives was friendly and
he mistakenly called them indios. Columbus named his discovery San
Salvador or Holy Savior. On his next voyages he carried soldiers
and planned to turn the Caribbean area into a colony and the Native
American into slaves.
Vasco Balboa 1510 - 1513: Balboa marched across the Isthmus of
Panama to discover the Pacific Ocean. Although Balboa did not name
the Pacific Ocean he was the first European to see it. This
discovery made Panama part of the Spanish sovereign.
Ponce de Leon 1512 - 1513: Ponce de Leon discovers Florida and the
Gulf of Mexico. This discovery will give the Spanish a foothold in
southern America.
Treaty of Tordesillas 1494: As a result of Columbus's discovery,
tensions between Portugal and Spain increased. Pope Alexander VI
stepped in and drew an imaginary dividing line known as the Line of
Demarcation. Lands to the east belonged to Portugal - lands to the
west belonged to Spain
Hernando Cortés 1519: This Spanish conquistador had heard rumors
about a land full of silver and gold. Montezuma, the Aztec leader
thinking Cortés was a god offered to share the throne and gold with
him. Two things helped Cortés: 1. Spanish superior weapons 2. A
translator by the name of Malinche, got other natives to fight with
Cortés against the Aztecs.
Ferdinand Magellan 1519 - 1522: Magellan set sail on the most
daring of all the voyages by circumnavigating the world. He
discovered a sail through at the bottom of South America, known
today as the Straits of Magellan. Magellan made it to the
Philippines and was killed there in a local war. His crew of 18
finished the voyage back to Spain, with only 1 ship.
Francisco Pizarro 1530 - 1533: Pizarro, another conquistador,
marched into South America with a small force of about 200.
Atahualpa, the Incan ruler, was kidnapped by Pizarro's forces.
Atahualpa offered to fill a room with gold and silver however,
after receiving the ransom he was killed. When Pizarro's men lost
one of their shoes, there was no iron to replace it, so the horse
was shod in silver. By 1533, Pizarro controlled the Inca
Empire.
Francisco Coronado 1540 - 1541: Francisco Coronado led an
expedition through the present day states of Arizona, New Mexico,
Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Coronado found little gold and from
that point on the Spanish sent only priests to explore and colonize
America.
England John Cabot 1497: John Cabot, An Italian
navigator was one of the first Europeans to land in North America.
Cabot followed on the success of Columbus and offered the same deal
to Henry VII of England. He charted the coast of North America from
Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. He established the British claim to
Canada.
Francis Drake 1580: One of England's best sea dogs. Drake was
encouraged by Queen Elizabeth to raid Spanish shipping as he
completed a trip around the world in 1580.
Martin Frobisher 1576: One of the first English navigators to
search for a Northwest Passage to India. Frobisher was one of the
greatest seamen in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He fought against
the Spanish Armada.
Henry Hudson 1610: Discovered the Hudson Bay as an Englishman in
the service of the Dutch. Hudson was also searching for the
Northwest Passage as he discovered the Hudson Bay.
France Giovanni da Verrazzano 1524: This Italian sailed in
the
service of France. Verrazzano was also looking for the Northwest
Passage or a passage to the Pacific Ocean. He discovered what is
known as New York harbor.
Jacques Cartier 1534: Jacques Cartier discovers the gulf known
today as the Saint Lawrence. Cartier followed the gulf into a river
and located a city by a large island and a huge mountain. Mount
Royal later became known as Montreal.
Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet
1673: French priest Jacques Marquette and trader Louis Joliet
penetrated the North American continent and explored the Great
Lakes and the upper Mississippi River basin.
Sieur de La Salle 1683: Sieur de La Salle explored the lower
Mississippi and claimed the land for French king Louis the XIV.
Louisiana is named in honor of the French king Louis XIV.
Others Zheng He 1405: Zheng He was probably the
greatest maritime explorer in Chinese history. Zheng He made seven
long voyages and opened tributary and trade relations with states
such as Arabia and eastern Africa. Zheng He's treasure ships
measured over 400 feet long.
Henry Hudson 1609: Hudson discovered the Hudson River and Hudson
Strait. The Dutch claimed these regions along the waterway and
called them New Netherlands. Later the Dutch set up the Dutch West
India Company.
Table for Correct Answers This sailing vessel was about 65 feet
long and equipped with triangular sails. The triangular sails gave
the ship the maneuverability to zigzag against the wind. At times,
square sails were used for power. The caravel had an excellent
cargo area for long voyages. Another factor was that the ship could
sail close to land. Much of the ship’s technology was adopted from
the Arabs.
In order to find latitude, a captain in the early days may have
used a quadrant. The quadrant divides the sky into four sections
and is used to measure the angle between the horizon and the star
or sun. The quadrant later evolved into the sextant and
octant.
Columbus was carrying a copy of a chart from Toscanelli’s
calculations. Globes helped put the world in perspective and each
new discovery end in giving more information to the explorers.
Toscanelli was using perspective geometry to develop a map with
grids. The result was used by sailors to travel to south of the
Equator and return north by the same method.
Explorers were aided by this Chinese invention. The magnetic
compass helped track direction more accurately.
A cross-staff is an improvement over the quadrant. A horizontal
stick would be lined up with the horizon and a perpendicular slider
would be adjusted along the length of this until the sight of the
sun was in line with the top of the slider and the end of the
stick. The proportion of the slider's height to the length of the
stick between the eye and the slider could be converted into an
angle which indicated the sun’s height.
Muslims helped prefect this navigational tool. The astrolabe was a
brass circle with adjusted rings marking off degrees. The rings
helped in using a star to determine how far north or south of the
Equator the ship was located.
Notations and logs helped sailors in their use of charts. As time
went by, charts contained more information on items such as water
depth and speed of tidal streams. Any hazard to navigation would be
noted.
This tool for sailors told them the time at night in the northern
hemisphere. The viewer would look through the hole and line up the
pole star. Next the sailor would identify two stars to the south
and move the arm of the nocturnal to match the three star’s
locations. The sailor would then look at the marking on the time
scale disk of the nocturnal to determine the time. Time was
accurate within ten minutes.
This sailing vessel was an improvement over the caravel. The sails
were squarer with the back sail still lateen (triangular.) The
square sails gave the ship more stability in the Atlantic Ocean.
This heavier vessel made travel ideal for ocean voyages. As time
goes by this ship develops into the galleon.
Notes for Tools for Discovery
These flims have interesting clips that would aid in learning about
explorers.
“Wind” – PG13 – Matthew Modine and Jennifer Grey – I used one of
the first races between the Australians and the Americans for the
World Cup. Look at the 8th chapter “The seventh race.” The movie
shows how a ship of today would replicate a caravel of yesteryear.
The movie shows how a ship could sail into the wind and
demonstrates how tacking is done in present day. It also
illustrates some of the hazards today that also would have been
around in the days of the European sailors. Please be aware that
“sailor language” is present!
“1421 – the year China discovered America?” Take a look at the
chapter – The New Theories. Gavin Menzies presents his theory that
the Chinese discovered the eastern coast of the United States.
Menzies cites charts and other examples. Experts give their
theories to counter Menzies’ theory. Admiral Zheng He may have
shown the Europeans the way. Students will enjoy these last
chapters of the DVD. Maps and charts are the foundation of many of
Menzies’ theories.
“Lost at Sea – The search for Longitude” – Lost at Sea: The Search
for Longitude - YouTube 54:23 54:23
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NENPdT4LASw
This Nova productions looks at many of the tools of technology the
sailors used during this time period. Climb aboard a tall sailing
ship and see how John Harrison, a carpenter, with no formal
education used his imagination and reasoning skills to solve the
problem of longitude. Harrison’s genius at solving the problem of
longitude was only one part of the solution. It took him 58 years
to collect the £20,000 prize offered by Parliament. Solving this
dilemma without the aid of scientist earns Harrison the title
“Father of Longitude.” His trial and error method shows how one man
can triumph over problems. It’s also nice to see how clocks and
watches solved the problem and now sea captains can know where they
are. Now all this is done with GPS (global positioning
systems.)
“Master and Commander” Russell Crowe – I like to show this one when
we study Napoleon, but it would equally do well here. It’s rated
PG-13. I cut out the bad language in chapter 19 “Survivors.” Other
than that the movie does a good job showing the hazards at sea. I
don’t show the movie all at once. I stretched it out over a week
(20 to 30 minutes a day.)
Software Stowaway: In this game students, go through an 1800’s
British warship looking for a stowaway hiding in each of the ten
sections of the ship. As they look for the stowaway they find out
all kinds of information about sailing. I usually let the students
play two class periods after a short lesson. The software is dated
and will not run on Vista. There’s also a sound patch you need to
load on the computers you plan to play. The software and patch are
located at www.LearnAtGlobal.com . It’s worth whatever it takes to
play this game. You’ll find the title under the history section and
its about $10 dollars per disk. You have to have a disk in each
computer you play on. If you only have one copy you can demo the
funny animations on the ship for the students.
Students use the explorer chart as a graphic organizer. Students
have both programs running at the same time. (Explorer Chart in
Word and Flash European Explorers) To copy text in the Flash
program students hold down the left button and drag it to the text
area and let go. If you did it right an I bar will appear in the
text area. Students can select any text they want to put in their
chart by dragging over what they need – See selected text below.
Don’t forget ( Control C to copy and Control V to paste.) To go
between programs quickly they hold down the Alt key on the keyboard
and hit the Tab key until they select the program they need. We
found it best to go landscape for this project. Flash European
Explorers Microsoft Word Explorer Chart
Movies
“Lost at Sea – The search for Longitude” – Lost at Sea: The Search
for Longitude - YouTube 54:23 54:23
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NENPdT4LASw
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