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The Americas. Part 1 Exploration of the Americas. There are many theories about how early Americans arrived here. Early Americans.
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The Americas Part 1 Exploration of the Americas
There are many theories about how early Americans arrived here.
Early Americans Alaska, in the extreme northwest corner of North America, is separated from Russia by the Bering Strait, a narrow body of water that connects the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. During the last Ice Age, it is believed the ocean level was lower, exposing a land bridge between Russia and Alaska. People from Asia likely crossed the bridge while hunting animals for food.
Did some early Americans cross a land bridge from Asia to North America? It is a possibility.
In Viking legends from northern Europe, written in the 12th century and later, it is told that Eric the Red, a Viking, explored the southeast and southwest coasts of Greenland in 983-986 A. D. He had been banned from Iceland on a charge of manslaughter. He gave the land its name because people would be more likely to go there if it had an attractive name.
Greenland was warmer in the tenth century than it is now. There were many islands teeming with birds off its western coast; the sea was excellent for fishing; and the coast of Greenland itself had many FJORDS where anchorage was good. At the head of the fjords there were enormous meadows full of grass, willows, junipers, birch, and wild berries. Thus Greenland actually deserved its name.
The Vikings • About 1000 A.D., Eric the Red’s son, Leif explored the east coast of North America, and called the area “Vinland”, which is probably the current Canadian province of Newfoundland. • Vinland, and other Viking settlements did not last long, mainly because of bad relations with natives. • Evidence of Viking settlements was discovered in the 1960s.
Some archaeologists think Vinland may be the excavated site L’Anse aux Meadows.
After the settlements were abandoned, it was nearly 500 years before Europeans showed up again and explored this area of the world.
With Italians in firm control of Mediterranean trade in the 1400s, Europeans began to search for other trade routes.
Portugal, located on the southwest edge of Europe, turned to the sea, and its use of a ship known as a CARAVEL, to try and find a route around Africa.
Portuguese explorers made it to the bottom of Africa in the 1480s, and all the way to India by the 1490s.
An Italian explorer named Christopher Columbus proposed sailing west, into the Atlantic Ocean, in order to reach Asia.
Although much of the educated world accepted the idea that the earth was round, there were some who feared venturing far from land in case they fell off, or were attacked by sea monsters.
Columbus had approached Portugal with his idea, but they thought it was impractical, and chose to focus on their African route. • Both Genoa and Venice were also not interested in his plan. • He approached the Spanish monarchy, but was originally rejected. • However, he was called back by the Spanish royalty, and he eventually achieved financing for his adventure.
News of Columbus’ successful journey spread rapidly throughout Europe. Mistakenly believing he was in Asia, he referred to the natives as “Indians”. He made a total of four voyages to this “New World”, as some called it. Note: HE NEVER TOUCHED WHAT IS NOW THE MAINLAND U. S.!!!
Columbus died in 1506, still believing that he had made it to Asia. In history, he is famous for making the journey, and then having so many other Europeans come after he did. Some Native Americans do not look on him fondly, because of all the changes that took place in the “New World” after his journeys. Despite your opinion of him, he made a huge impact on history.
The Columbian Exchange -products, animals, and diseases that were “exchanged” between the “Old” and “New” Worlds.
Why America? After the voyages of Columbus, other Europeans followed. One, an Italian named Amerigo Vespucci, is given credit for claiming that the continents of North and South America were separate landmasses, and not part of Asia. In 1507, a German mapmaker, Martin Waldseemuller, made a world map, and labeled the new land “America”. The name stuck.
In the late 1400s and early 1500s, Europeans began searching for a waterway through North America, that would get them to Asia. This hoped-for waterway was nicknamed: “The Northwest Passage”.
The Current “Northwest Passage” A ship didn’t actually find a “Northwest Passage” until the 20th century. It is a hard trip because of the weather conditions and icy water of the Arctic. Here are some of the early explorers who originally tried to find it.
John Cabot An Italian explorer whose English name was John Cabot sailed along the eastern coast of North America in 1497, and was probably the first European to land there since the Vikings.
Henry Hudson Hudson was English, but worked for the Dutch as well. He also was looking for a Northwest Passage and explored the east coast of North America, including where modern-day New York City is located. While exploring what is now the Hudson Bay in Canada, his crew mutinied, and left Hudson, his teenage son and 8 crewmen adrift.
Henry Hudson set adrift by his mutinous crew. He was never heard from again.
Jacques Cartier Cartier was a Frenchman who explored the St. Lawrence River and claimed the land for France in the 1530s. He helped give Canada its current name by using the native term “kanata” which meant village. He called some of the natives “Canadiens”.
The voyages of Jacques Cartier and his men helped stake France’s claim to territory in the New World.
Samuel de Champlain He explored what is now Quebec and the Great Lakes area. He was determined to have a French colony in America, and is considered the father of “New France”.
Further to the South, Spain continued its explorations, and even Portugal got in on the action. Both Spain and Portugal were Catholic countries. Not wanting them to fight, the pope created an imaginary line, giving Portugal the riches of Africa, and Spain the riches of the “New World” Columbus had bumped into. Nobody knew how big the region really was.
The Pope divided new land between Spain and Portugal without knowing how far Brazil juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. That is why Portuguese is the dominant language there.
Around the year 1500, a Portuguese explorer by the name of Cabral was supposed to go around Africa. However, possibly by accident, or perhaps being blown off course, he landed on Brazil’s east coast. • Eventually other Catholic Christian countries like France didn’t pay too much attention to this line, and Protestant Christian countries like England and Holland ignored it as well. However, it took awhile for those countries to catch up to Spain and Portugal in claiming the riches of this “New World”.
Like the English, French, Italians, and Dutch who explored in the North, many explorers working for Spain explored the “New World” further to the South. Some famous ones include: Vasco Nunez de Balboa – Crossed the Isthmus of Panama Juan Ponce de Leon – Explored Florida searching for the “Fountain of Youth” Hernando de Soto – Explored much of the southeastern United States Francisco Vasquez de Coronado – Searched much of the American Southwest looking for the “7 Cities of Gold” Ferdinand Magellan – His crew was the first to circle the Earth
In 1513, Balboa became the first European to see the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean, which he claimed for Spain. Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Juan Ponce de Leon – Searched for the Fountain of Youth The Fountain of Youth?
Hernando de Soto – The first European to see and explore the Mississippi River
Francisco Vazquez de Coronado – Led an expedition through what is now the Southwest U. S., looking for the mythical “Seven Cities of Gold”.
Ferdinand Magellan A Portuguese explorer working for Spain, he led an expedition of 237 men on five ships. When the expedition made it back to Spain three years later, there were only 18 men left, on one ship. It was the first expedition to make it all the way around the globe.
