Explorors of North America

Christopher Colombus First Voyage

Aug 3, 1492

On his first trip, Columbus led an expedition with three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, and about 90 crew members. he wanted to go to the Asia but found North America instead. Lived 1451-1506

Christopher Columbus Second Voyage

May 30, 1493

sailed with 17 ships and 1,200 to 1,500 men to find gold and capture Indians as slaves in the Indies. Columbus established a base in Hispaniola and sailed around Hispaniola and along the length of southern Cuba.

Amerigo Vespucci First Voyage

May 10, 1497

Vespucci was the navigator under under the command of Alonso de Ojeda. On this trip, Ojeda and Vespucci discovered the mouth of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers in South America, thinking it was part of Asia. Lived 1454-1512)

Christopher Columbus Third Voyage

May 30, 1498

Columbus sailed farther south, to Trinidad and Venezuela. Columbus was the first European since the Viking Leif Ericsson to set foot on the mainland of America.

Amerigo Vesspuchi Seccond Voyage

May 11, 1501

he mapped some of the eastern coast of South America, and came to realize that it not part of Asia, but a New World.

Colombus' Fourth Voyage (Last Voyage)

May 9, 1502

Columbus sailed to Mexico, Honduras and Panama and Santiago.

Francisco Pizarro

Sep 10, 1513

Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador who traveled through much of the Pacific coast of America along Peru. He "discovered" the Incan empire and conquered it brutally and quickly. Lived 1478-1541

Herman Cortes

Aug 2, 1518

Known for: Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
He went with the expedition to Cuba and
Known for the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
Lived 1480-1521

Ferdinand Magellan

Sep 6, 1522

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition that sailed around the Earth. Magellan also named the Pacific Ocean. Lived 1480-1521

Giovanni Verrazzano

Sep 10, 1524

Giovanni da Verrazzano was an Italian navigator who, in 1524, explored the northeast coast of North America from Cape Fear, North Carolina to Maine while searching for a Northwest passage to Asia.

Hernando De Soto

Sep 10, 1532

First European to explore Florida and the southeastern US. Lived 1500?-1542

Francis Drake

Dec 13, 1577

Sailed by Panama, Led the seccond voyage around the world. Drake and John Hawkins were on a slave-trading trip to the West Indies that ended with an attack by the Spanish fleet at San Juan de Ulua, near Veracruz, Mexico. and to an island near southern mexico.The Spanish called him El Draque, meaning "The Dragon." Lived 1545-1596

Sir Walter Raleigh

Sep 10, 1584

Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618) was a British explorer, poet, historian, and soldier. Raleigh led expeditions to both North America and South America; he was trying to found new settlements, find gold, and increase trade with the New World. In 1585, Raleigh sent colonists to the east coast of North America; Raleigh later named that area Virginia, in honour of Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen. He is often credited with bringing tobacco and potatoes from the New World to Britain, but they were already k

Henry Hutdson

Sep 10, 1609

Henry Hudson (1565-1611) was an English explorer and navigator who explored parts of the Arctic Ocean and northeastern North America. The Hudson River, Hudson Strait, and Hudson Bay are named for Hudson. He tried to find the Northwest Passage farther south. Hudson sailed to Nova Scotia, He found what is now called the Hudson River.

Peter Minuit

Sep 9, 1625

Peter Minuit (1580-1638) was the first director general of New Amsterdam, a Dutch colony in America. He bought the island of Manhattan,

Jaqk Marquette

Sep 10, 1673

(1637-1675) was a French Jesuit priest and explorer. He sailed to Quebec in 1666 and in 1671 started a Chippewa mission at Chequamegon Bay. found the Mississippi River in 1673; they were the first Caucasians to see the Mississippi River. They travelled along Lake Michigan to Green Bay, canoed up the Fox River, and went downstream on the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi River. They travelled almost to the mouth of the Arkansas.

James Cook First Expedition

Aug 26, 1768

James Cook (October 27, 1728 - February 14, 1779) was a British explorer and astronomer who went on many expeditions to the Pacific Ocean, the Antarctic, the Arctic, and around the world. He sailed to Tahiti on the Endeavor in order to observe Venus as it went between the Earth and the sun.

Cooks Seccond Expedition

Aug 27, 1772

He went to Antarctica and to Easter Island on a voyage intended to show there was no large southern continent. Cook's two ships on this voyage were the Resolution and the Adventure.

Cooks FInal Expedition

Aug 28, 1776

He serched for a Northwest Passage across northern North America to Asia - he searched from the Pacific Ocean side of the continent. Cook arrived at Capetown, South Africa, and sailed to the Indian Ocean and on to New Zealand the Cook Islands, and Tonga. Heading for Alaska, Cook sailed to and named the Christmas Islands. He then sailed to and named the Sandwich Islands.