Exploration of America 1492-1600

Native American
European Explores
Reason for colonization
The Spanish
The French
The Dutch
The English
Early America
Types of tribes
Nobody knows how many Indians lived in North America at that time. They were millions of
them and be cultures flourished. They were different tribes in America at that time. Indian
peoples belonged to several groups. Some Indian people belong to small group
Haunters and Gatherers – (an example) Apache,
they were Farmers (an example) Pueblo,
they were also Warriors – (an example) Iroquois,
Nomads – they were moved place to place without permanent home, (an example) Sioux
They were hundreds of tribes and ways of life.
First European
Erik the Red became the first Viking to settle in Greenland.
His son Leif Erikson established a settlement in Newfoundland around A.D. 1000. However,
that settlement was not permanent and so that voyages were forgotten. But still they were
the first.
During the (1400-e) 4-en hundreds of Europeans became interested in finding a short see route
to Asia because there are original spices and other valuable things.
The Spanish King and Queen financed Cristopher Columbus and of course he said seil from
Spain to find a new route to Asia. And this happened in 1492 but instead he discovered a route
to the America. And before he died in 1506 Columbus made 4 voyages – 1492, 1493, 1498,
1502 (San Salvador, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, West Indies, Trinidad)
Reason for European exploration
Somebody wanted to find a New passage to the Far East for tribe
Somebody was looking for Gold, silver, and other valuables
Somebody wanted to plain New lands for their countries
They were those who Escape from religious persecution in Europe
Some wanted to Convert people to Christianity
The Spanish
In fact, that was Spanish who began the lasting European occupation of America.
1513 Juan Ponce de Leon a Spanish conqistodor. He came with new boat with Columbus on
the explorer 2 voyage. He was looking a fountain of youth. He never founded it, but he claimed
Florida for Spain.
And then between 1539-1542 Hernado de Soto The Mississippi American Southeast
1540-1542 Francisco de Coronado American Southwest
Working separately explored the second part of what is now the US.
Exploration route. De Soto landed from Florida to Cuba and then he land his exploration West
discovering the Mississippi river and traveling beyond Oklahoma.
The French
In the 1534 the French king Francis 1 sent an Italian sailor Giovanni da Verrazano to find rich
lends and new see route to Asia. The Giovanni sail the full land north-eastern coasts of America
but found neither and he anked his ship in the New-York. And the 10 years later another French
explorer Jacques Cartier discovered the St. Lawrence river (near the Great Lakes). And then
another French explorer Samuel de Champlain mapped the Atlantic coast of Canada, part of St.
Lawrence river and parts of the Great Lakes and he also established the first French settlement
in the Canadian territory and found the city of Quebec.
The Dutch
English explorer Henry Hudson made 2 unsuccessful voyages in search in passage to Asia. In
1609 he set out the third voyage founded by the Dutch and explored the river and the bay, now
has his name the Hudson river and the Hudson Bay.
In the 1617 Dutch settlers found Albany – the capital city of New-York state.
In the 1624 the Island od Manhattan was purchased from local American for the price 24
dollars.
The English
In 1497 John Cabot sailed from England to explore America at the request the King Henry 7. He
explored Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland.
In 1578 Queen Elizabeth 1 issued a charter to Humphrey Gilbert to establish a colony in the
North America. Unfortunately, his first attempt failed but he was succeeded in 1583. Own his
way to home and he went down in his ship in the storm.
His half-brother Water Raleigh organized 3 expeditions to America. And in his 2 expedition he
created the first English settlement on the America on Roanoke Island, he named it Virginia.
In fact, by 1589 there no colony had vanished in taily and they called the lost colony because
nobody knows what became with habitants in the Roanoke Island.
America first permanent English colony was established in Virginia in 1607. The settlers who
founded Jamestown were sent by the Virginia company of London. The first settlers were
employers of this company. The company was issued a charter and they sent to North America
and establish this colony. The company planned to search silver and gold and make a quit profit
on the investment. But the Virginia company of London never made a profit but by the 1624 it
had run out of money. It had gone a bankrupt. And the English government put it in the
company and placed the colony under the royal control. The company failed because life in the
colony was very difficult the settlers suffered from hunger, diseases, and conflicts with the
native Americans. Many of them died. Yet new settlers were not employers of the company,
they were homeless people from the streets of London and convict from London prisons. Most
of the settlers were busy growing tobacco. In 1619 the Dutch sold the settlers 200 captured
black African. It was the begging of the slavery.
Colonial America
By the 1643 the English owned 13 colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America.
Geographically, this colonies were divided into 3 main groups. Each group had own way of life
and character. In the far of was New England group sent in Massachusetts. New England
colonies were founded by a small group of puritans who escaped religious persecution in
England.
The coast of South of New England was named the Middle colonies. The biggest were New-York
and Pennsylvania. The people of the Middle colonies were usual more tolerant of the religious
and other differences then the New Englanders. Many of them also had German, Dutch,
Swedish, French ancestors rather the English one.
The colony of Virginia, North America, South Carolina, and Georgia formed 3 group. Wealthy
landowners found large plantations grew tobacco or cotton most of the work was done by the
black slaves.
The colonies were also classified according to the war they were governed. There were 3 types
of colonies established by the British Empire: charter colonies, proprietor colonies and royal
colonies.
The first were the charter colonies established by the charter companies. Charter served as a
written contract between the British king and the America colonies. Charters companies were
association to investors, shareholders who came together for trade, exploration, and
colonization. Massachusetts, Connetquot were charter colonies.
The second type of colonies established 1660 in were proprietary colonies (owned and control
by somebody). So, King Charles 2 avoided proprietary colonies to those who were loyal to him
and supported of restoration of monarchy. A small group owned the colony and control its
institution of government. By 1675 the proprietary system of colonies was Maryland, Denver,
Pennsylvania.
Lastly, there were Royal colonies ruled directly by the English monarchy. The king appointment
a governor and the counsel while the colonies could elect a legislature.
When charter colonies became unruly, the Crown withdraw their charters and convened them
to royal colonies. By 1775 the royal colonies system of government was a most colonies:
Georgia, New-York,
New England Colonies
In 1620 a radical group of puritans who were later called a got a land from the Virginia company
and set out of Virginia a land patent. Before landing Plymouth, they wrote out an agreement, it
was called a Mayflower compact. It was a short document which was established the following:
colonies would remain loyal to the English king
the colonies would make just and equal laws for the good of the colony
the colonies would create one society created and furthered by the colonists
the colonies would live in according to the Christian faith

The story of North American exploration spans (охватывать) an entire millennium and involves
a wide array множество of European powers and uniquely однозначно American characters. It
began with the Vikings’ brief stint пребывания in Newfoundland circa 1000 A.D. and continued
through England’s colonization of the Atlantic coast in the 17th century, which laid
установленный the foundation for the United States of America. The centuries following the
European arrivals would see the culmination of this effort, as Americans pushed westward
across the continent, enticed соблазненный by the lure соблазн of riches, open land and a
desire to fulfill выполнить the nation’s manifest destiny.
The Vikings Discover the New World
The first attempt by Europeans to colonize the New World occurred произошел around 1000
A.D. when the Vikings sailed from the British Isles to Greenland, established a colony, and then
moved on to Labrador, the Baffin Islands and finally Newfoundland. There they established a
colony named Vineland (meaning fertile плодородный region) and from that base sailed along
the coast of North America, observing the flora, fauna and native peoples. Inexplicably
Необъяснимо, Vineland was abandoned after only a few years
Although the Vikings never returned to America, other Europeans came to know of their
accomplishments достижения . Europe, however, was made up of many small principalities
whose concerns were mainly local. Europeans may have been intrigued by the stories of the
feared Vikings’ discovery of a “new world,” but they lacked the resources or the will to follow
their path of exploration. Trade continued to revolve around the Mediterranean Sea, as it had
for hundreds of years.
The Reformation, the Renaissance and New Trade Routes
Between 1000 and 1650, a series of interconnected developments occurred in Europe that
provided the impetus толчок for the exploration and subsequent последующий colonization of
America. These developments included the Protestant Reformation and the subsequent
Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Renaissance, the unification of small states into larger ones
with centralized political power, the emergence of new technology in navigation and
shipbuilding, and the establishment of overland trade with the East and the accompanying
transformation of the medieval economy.
The Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Church’s response in the Counter-Reformation
marked the end of several centuries of gradual erosion of the power of the Catholic Church as
well as the climax of internal attempts to reform the Church. Protestantism emphasized
подчеркнул a personal relationship between each individual and God without the need for
intercession посредничество by the institutional church. In the Renaissance, artists, and
writers such as Galileo, Machiavelli and Michelangelo adopted a view of life that stressed
humans’ ability to change and control the world. Thus, the rise of Protestantism and the
Counter-Reformation, along with the Renaissance, helped foster взращивать individualism and
create a climate favorable to exploration.
At the same time, political centralization ended much of the squabbling склокам and fighting
among rival noble families and regions that had characterized the Middle Ages. With the
decline of the political power and wealth of the Catholic Church, a few rulers gradually
solidified their power. Portugal, Spain, France and England were transformed from small
territories into nation-states with centralized authority in the hands of monarchs who were
able to direct and finance overseas заграничный exploration.
As these religious and political changes were occurring, technological innovations in navigation
set the stage for exploration. Bigger, faster ships and the invention of navigational devices such
as the astrolabe and sextant made extended voyages possible.
A Faster Route to the East
But the most powerful inducement побуждение to exploration was trade. Marco Polo’s
famous journey to Cathay signaled Europe’s “discovery” of Chinese and Islamic civilizations. The
Orient became a magnet to traders, and exotic products and wealth flowed into Europe. Those
who benefited most were merchants who sat astride the great overland trade routes, especially
the merchants of the Italian city-states of Genoa, Venice, and Florence.
The newly недавно unified states of the Atlantic–France, Spain, England, and Portugal–and
their ambitious monarchs were envious завистливый of the merchants and princes who
dominated the land routes to the East. Moreover, in the latter half of the fifteenth century, war
between European states and the Ottoman Empire greatly hampered препятствовать Europe’s
trade with the Orient. The desire to supplant вытеснять the trade moguls, especially the
Italians, and fear of the Ottoman Empire forced the Atlantic nations to search for a new route
to the East.
Portugal: Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco de Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral
Portugal led the others into exploration. Encouraged Поощряется by Prince Henry the
Navigator, Portuguese seamen sailed southward along the African coast, seeking a water route
to the East. They were also looking for a legendary king named Prester John who had
supposedly built a Christian stronghold крепость somewhere in northwestern Africa. Henry
hoped to form an alliance with Prester John to fight the Muslims. During Henry’s lifetime the
Portuguese learned much about the African coastal area. His school developed the quadrant,
the cross-staff and the compass, made advances in cartography, and designed and built highly
maneuverable little ships known as caravels.
After Henry’s death, Portuguese interest in long-distance trade and expansion waned until King
John II commissioned Bartolomeu Dias to find a water route to India in 1487. Dias sailed around
the tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean before his frightened crew forced him to give up the
quest. A year later, Vasco da Gama succeeded in reaching India and returned to Portugal laden
with jewels and spices. In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral discovered and claimed Brazil for
Portugal, and other Portuguese captains established trading posts in the South China Sea, the
Bay of Bengal, and the Arabian Sea. These water routes to the East undercut подрезать the
power of the Italian city-states, and Lisbon became Europe’s new trade capital.
Spain and Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus launched запущен Spain’s imperial ambitions. Born in Genoa, Italy,
around 1451, Columbus learned the art of navigation on voyages in the Mediterranean and the
Atlantic. At some point he probably read Cardinal Pierre d’Ailly’s early fifteenth-century work,
Imago mundi, which argued that the East could be found by sailing west of the Azores for a few
days. Columbus, hoping to make such a voyage, spent years seeking a sponsor and finally found
one in Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain after they defeated the Moors and could turn their
attention to other projects.
In August 1492, Columbus sailed west with his now famous ships, Niña, Pinta and Santa María.
After ten weeks he sighted an island in the Bahamas, which he named San Salvador. Thinking he
had found islands near Japan, he sailed on until he reached Cuba (which he thought was
mainland China) and later Haiti. Columbus returned to Spain with many products unknown to
Europe–coconuts, tobacco, sweet corn, potatoes–and with tales of dark-skinned native peoples
whom he called “Indians” because he assumed he had been sailing in the Indian Ocean.
Although Columbus found no gold or silver, he was hailed by Spain and much of Europe as the
discoverer of d’Ailly’s western route to the East. John II of Portugal, however, believed
Columbus had discovered islands in the Atlantic already claimed by Portugal and took the
matter to Pope Alexander II. Twice the pope issued decrees supporting Spain’s claim to
Columbus’s discoveries. But the territorial disputes between Portugal and Spain were not
resolved until 1494 when they signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which drew a line 370 leagues
west of the Azores as the demarcation between the two empires.
Despite the treaty, controversy continued over what Columbus had found. He made three more
voyages to America between 1494 and 1502, during which he explored Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, Jamaica, and Trinidad. Each time he returned more certain that he had reached the
East. Subsequent explorations by others, however, persuaded most Europeans that Columbus
had discovered a “New World.” Ironically, that New World was named for someone else. A
German geographer, Martin Waldseemüller, accepted the claim of Amerigo Vespucci that he
had landed on the American mainland before Columbus. In 1507 Waldseemüller published a
book in which he named the new land “America.”
Spanish Explorers After Columbus
More Spanish expeditions followed. Juan Ponce de León explored the coasts of Florida in 1513.
Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean in the
same year. Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition (in the course of which he put down a mutiny and
was later killed) sailed around the tip of South America, across the Pacific to the Philippines,
through the Indian Ocean and back to Europe around the southern tip of Africa between 1519
and 1522.
Two expeditions led directly to Spain’s emergence as sixteenth-century Europe’s wealthiest and
most powerful nation. The first was headed by Hernán Cortés, who in 1519 led a small army of
Spanish and Native Americans against the Aztec Empire of Mexico. Completing the conquest in
1521, Cortés took control of the Aztecs’ fabulous gold and silver mines. Ten years later, an
expedition under Francisco Pizarro overwhelmed the Inca Empire of Peru, securing for the
Spaniards the great Inca silver mines of Potosí.
In 1535 and 1536, Pedro de Mendoza went as far as present-day Buenos Aires in Argentina,
where he founded a colony. At the same time, Cabeza de Vaca explored the North American
Southwest, adding that region to Spain’s New World empire. A few years later (1539-1542),
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado discovered the Grand Canyon and journeyed through much of
the Southwest looking for gold and the legendary Seven Cities of Cíbola. About the same time,
Hernando de Soto explored southeastern North America from Florida to the Mississippi River.
By 1650, Spain’s empire was complete and fleets of ships were carrying the plunder back to
Spain.
Religious Motivations
As European powers conquered the territories of the New World, they justified wars against
Native Americans and the destruction of their cultures as a fulfillment of the European secular
and religious vision of the New World. The idea of “America” antedated America’s discovery
and even Viking exploration. That idea had two parts: one paradisiacal and utopian, the other
savage and dangerous. Ancient tales described distant civilizations, usually to the west, where
European-like peoples lived simple, virtuous lives without war, famine, disease or poverty. Such
utopian visions were reinforced by religious notions. Early Christian Europeans had inherited
from the Jews a powerful prophetic tradition that drew upon apocalyptic biblical texts in the
books of Daniel, Isaiah and Revelations. They connected the Christianization of the world with
the second coming of Christ. Such ideas led many Europeans (including Columbus) to believe it
was God’s plan for Christians to convert pagans wherever they were found.
If secular and religious traditions evoked utopian visions of the New World, they also induced
nightmares. The ancients described wonderful civilizations, but barbaric, evil ones as well.
Moreover, late medieval Christianity inherited a rich tradition of hatred for non-Christians
derived in part from the Crusaders' struggle to free the Holy Land and from warfare against the
Moors.
European encounters with the New World were viewed in light of these preconceived notions.
To plunder the New World of its treasures was acceptable because it was populated by pagans.
To Christianize the pagans was necessary because it was part of God’s plan; to kill them was
right because they were Satan’s warriors.
France: Giovanni da Verrazano, Jacques Cartier and Samuel de Champlain
While Spain was building its New World empire, France was also exploring the Americas. In
1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano was commissioned to locate a northwest passage around North
America to India. He was followed in 1534 by Jacques Cartier, who explored the St. Lawrence
River as far as present-day Montreal. In 1562, Jean Ribault headed an expedition that explored
the St. Johns River area in Florida. His efforts were followed two years later by a second venture
headed by René Goulaine de Laudonnière. But the Spanish soon pushed the French out of
Florida, and thereafter, the French directed their efforts north and west. In 1608 Samuel de
Champlain built a fort at Quebec and explored the area north to Port Royal and Nova Scotia and
south to Cape Cod.
Unlike Spain’s empire, “New France” produced no caches of gold and silver. Instead, the French
traded with inland tribes for furs and fished off the coast of Newfoundland. New France was
sparsely populated by trappers and missionaries and dotted with military forts and trading
posts. Although the French sought to colonize the area, the growth of settlements was stifled
by inconsistent policies. Initially, France encouraged colonization by granting charters to fur-
trading companies. Then, under Cardinal Richelieu, control of the empire was put in the hands
of the government-sponsored Company of New France. The company, however, was not
successful, and in 1663 the king took direct control of New France. Although more prosperous
under this administration, the French empire failed to match the wealth of New Spain or the
growth of neighboring British colonies.
The Netherlands: Henry Hudson Leads the Dutch
The Dutch were also engaged in the exploration of America. Formerly a Protestant province of
Spain, the Netherlands was determined to become a commercial power and saw exploration as
a means to that end. In 1609, Henry Hudson led an expedition to America for the Dutch East
India Company and laid claim to the area along the Hudson River as far as present-day Albany.
In 1614 the newly formed New Netherland Company obtained a grant from the Dutch
government for the territory between New France and Virginia. About ten years later another
trading company, the West India Company, settled groups of colonists on Manhattan Island and
at Fort Orange. The Dutch also planted trading colonies in the West Indies.
England: John Cabot and Sir Walter Raleigh
In 1497 Henry VII of England sponsored an expedition to the New World headed by John Cabot,
who explored a part of Newfoundland and reported an abundance of fish. But until Queen
Elizabeth’s reign, the English showed little interest in exploration, being preoccupied with their
European trade and establishing control over the British Isles. By the mid-sixteenth century,
however, England had recognized the advantages of trade with the East, and in 1560 English
merchants enlisted Martin Frobisher to search for a northwest passage to India. Between 1576
and 1578 Frobisher as well as John Davis explored along the Atlantic coast.
Thereafter, Queen Elizabeth granted charters to Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh to
colonize America. Gilbert headed two trips to the New World. He landed on Newfoundland but
was unable to carry out his intention of establishing military posts. A year later, Raleigh sent a
company to explore territory he named Virginia after Elizabeth, the “Virgin Queen,” and in
1585, he sponsored a second voyage, this time to explore the Chesapeake Bay region. By the
seventeenth century, the English had taken the lead in colonizing North America, establishing
settlements all along the Atlantic coast and in the West Indies.
Sweden and Denmark
Sweden and Denmark also succumbed to the attractions of America, although to a lesser
extent. In 1638, the Swedish West India Company established a settlement on the Delaware
River near present-day Wilmington called Fort Christina. This colony was short-lived, however,
and was taken over by the Dutch in 1655. The king of Denmark chartered the Danish West India
Company in 1671, and the Danes established colonies in St. Croix and other islands in the
cluster of the Virgin Islands.