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Period: 984 to 1000
Leif Erickson
Was born in Iceland
Sponsored by King Olaf Tryggvason
Was motivated to spread religion
Accomplished his goal to spread in vinland
Fun fact: a Monk named Saint Brendan may have beat Leif to the Americas. The journal written by the monk describes him landing in East America -
Period: 1405 to 1433
Zheng He
Born in China
Sponsored by Yongle
Was sent to get treasures and valuable items
Went near Vietnam, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.
Fun fact: He served under 3 different emperors. -
Period: 1460 to 1524
Vasco da Gama
Traveled from 1460-1524
Was born in Sines, Portugal
Sponsored by Portugal
Tried to find trade route from Europe to Asia
Traveled near India
Found the trade route he was looking for
Historians can't figure out if he was born in 1460 or 1469 -
Period: 1480 to 1521
Ferdinand Magellan
Was born in Spain
Was sponsored by Spain
Wanted to discover a western Sea route to the Spice Islands
Went through the Strait of Magellan
Found the western passage, achieved glory
Magellan gave the pacific ocean its name -
Period: 1492 to 1493
Christopher columbus
Was born in Genoa, Italy
Was sponsored by king Ferdinand
Wanted to prove the earth was round, find an all water route to Asia, and find the Americas
Found the Earth was round, underestimated the length of the Earth.
Christopher's real name was cristoforo Colombo at birth -
Period: 1497 to 1504
Amerigo Vespucci
Born in Florence, Italy
Was sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Elizabeth
Wanted to achieve fame by exploring
Explored near South America
He got the Glory he wanted
He helped Christopher Columbus prepare his fleet for travel -
Period: 1497 to 1498
John Cabot
Was born in Gaeta, Italy
Was endorsed by King Henry the 7th
Wanted to conquer land, find a rout to Asia, and explore the Americas
We have no idea if he accomplished this because his journal was never found. He was lost at sea and never found again.
At a time when he was a debtor, he tried to hide in different cities, -
Period: 1508 to 1509
Juan ponce de Leon
Was born in Spain
since he was a governor, h had enough money to set sail
Wanted to find the fountain of youth
He went to present day Florida
He didn't find the fountain of youth but he named Florida due to all of the flowers there.
He was once a Solider in the military -
Period: 1513 to 1528
Francisco Pizarro
Was born in Trujillo, Spain.
Was sponsored by Spain
Wanted conquer land
Went near Columbia
Conquered Peru, went to Uraba, Columbia
One of his shipmates was Hernando de Soto -
Period: 1513 to 1519
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Was born in Spain
Was also sponsored by Spain
Was sent to help defend the fleet from natives
Explored around present day Columbia and Pacific Ocean
Founded the Pacific Ocean
He had a wife but the met only once since he was accused for many crimes and didn't return to his homeland -
Period: 1518 to 1522
Hernan Cortes
Was born in Medellin, Spain
Was sponsored by King Charles
Wanted to conquer land for Spain
Claimed Mexico for Spain
Was declared too powerful wen he came back, so his actions had to be monitored -
Period: 1520 to 1528
Panfilo de Narvaez
Was born in Spain
Was also funded by Spain
Wanted to capture and replace Hernan Cortes and Colonize Florida.
Went to West Florida, Mexico, and Texas
He explored new land
He entered the military as a minor -
Period: 1520 to 1528
Giovanni de verrazzano
Was born in Tuscany, Italy
Was endorsed by King Francis I
Wanted to find a route to the pacific
Arrived in Brazil, South America
Found profitable plywood and the New York harbor.
He once thought North America was split in two parts -
Period: 1527 to 1537
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Was born in Spain
Was also funded by Spain
Wanted to govern a province
Went to Texas and Mexico
He became a governor
He once lived off of horse meat to get out of Florida -
Period: 1534 to 1536
Jacques Cartier
Was born in France
Was endorsed by King Francis I
Wanted to find gold, spices, colonize america, and find a route to Asia
Sailed onto Quebec
He discovered different mineral species and found riches.
Almost 1/3 of hi group died from natives attacking them, and many other died from the sickness they had. -
Period: 1535 to 1554
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
Was born in Spain
Was also financed by Spain
Wanted to find the seven golden cities
Went from mexico to Kansas
Couldn't find the seven golden cities
He founded the Grand Canyon -
Period: 1538 to 1542
Hernando de Soto
Was born in Spain
Sponsored Himself
Wanted to find gold and the northwest passage
Went to Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and the Mississippi river
Was the first to find Mississippi
His body was sunk in the river. -
Period: 1562 to 1582
Jean Ribault
Born in France
Was also funded by France
wanted to explore and colonize Florida
Landed in st. Augustine, went to st john river, south Carolina, and back to st. Augustine.
He made fort Charleston in Florida
He was once sent to prison by the queen of England -
Period: to
Henry Hudson
Was born in England
Was sponsored by the Dutch East India company
Wanted to find a trade route to Asia
Sailed on Nova Scotia and the Hudson River
Sighted a lot of whales which made people want to whale hunt
He was the European to travel furthest north -
Period: to
Robert Cavelier de la salle
Was born in France
He sold his land to get the money needed to set sails
He wanted to explore the Ohio Region and expand New France
He sailed around Present day Louisiana
He discovered Louisiana
He used the power given by the king to start a buffalo hide monopoly -
Period: to
Jaquez Marquette
Was born in Laon, France
Since he was a missionary, it was his job to spread religion
Wanted to spread his religion to the places he visited.
He visited most place along the Mississippi river.
He established missions along the st Lawrence River
He died at the mouth of the Pere Marquette River