Explorers

1
Explorers

• Mountain View Elementary School
• Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801

2
Chinese Empire

• Zhu Di had the Great Wall of China built as
  protection from enemies.
• A silk road developed from China to Europe
  because China had a lot of silk.
• The silk road was a road used to trade silk,
  oranges, horses and gold between China and
  Europe.
• Zheng He (Chinese) was the first explorer of the
  Oceans.
• The Chinese invented the magnetic compass.

3
African Kingdoms

• Songhai was a powerful kingdom in West Africa.
  It was also a big trading kingdom with Europe.
• There was a lot of gold in Songhai, West Africa.
• Gao was an artists paradise because the city was
  full of art and artists.
• Timbuktu was a scholarly city that had an
  excellent university.

Picture Credit http//www.cultures.com/features/A
frica/timbuktu/timbuktu.html
4
What motivated the earliest European explorers?

• Faster/ safer trade routes
• Spread of Christianity
• Adventure
• Conquest/power
• Wealth (Gold and Silver)
• Spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper)
• Spices were used to preserve food.

5
Obstacles

• Simple compasses and maps
• Enemies
• Disease/death/starvation
• Fear of falling off the earth
• Lack of food, water etc.

6
Leading up to Exploration (Marco Polo)

• Marco Polo took the Silk Road and returned 3
  years later to Europe with the goods he had
  brought back from China.
• Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in
  1448.

Picture Credit http//shabonee.northbrook27.k12.
il.us/Projects/polo.htm
7
Prince Henry

• Trained and encouraged navigators to reach Cape
  Verde, southern tip of Africa.
• He employed cartographers who created the most
  current maps at that time.

Picture Credit http//www.mrdowling.com/610-henry
.html
8
Bartholomew Dias

• The explorer Bartholomew Dias was the 1st to
  reach the Cape of Good Hope, the Southern tip of
  Africa!
• This helped others to see it was possible to
  reach India by going around Africa!

9
Vasco Da Gama

• He opened a new route for trade between Europe
  and Asia without using the silk rode.
• In 1498 Vasco Da Gama went around Africa and
  reached India.

Picture Credit http//www.mariner.org/age/images/
dagama.gif
10
Vikings

• Eric the Red was a Viking that led Europeans to
  Greenland. He started a settlement there.
• Leif Ericson, (a son of Eric the Red) led 35
  Vikings about 1000 B.C. to go find a land he had
  heard about through another sailor.
• He landed on New Foundland and called it Vinland
  (Wine Land) because they found grapes there that
  they made into wine.
• On his way back to Greenland, Leif Erickson
  rescued a ship and its men. As a result, he
  became rich because the ship gave him all the
  cargo.

11
Christopher Columbus

• Christopher Columbus convinced King Ferdinand and
  Queen Isabella to have three ships.
• The three ships were Nina, Pinta, and Santa
  Maria.
• He landed in the Bahama Islands on October 12,
  1492.

Picture Credit http//www.mariner.org/age/columbu
s.html
12
Christopher Columbus

• Also named San Salvador meaning Holy Savior.
• He saw people and named them Indians because
  he thought that he was in the West Indies.

13
Columbian Exchange

• As a result of Columbuss voyages to the New
  Word, an exchange began between the Americas and
  the rest of the world.

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Columbian Exchange
15
Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese)
Picture Credit http//www.mariner.org/age/magella
n.html

• Ferdinand Magellan sailed around the southern tip
  of South America.
• His crew made the first round trip around the
  world. His ship the Victoria made it around the
  world.
• He named the Pacific Ocean because it was so
  peaceful.

16
John Cabot

• He was born in Italy.
• He loved to watch sailors at the docks and hear
  their stories.
• At age 16, he began studying sailing and mapping.
• He moved to England and got the King to support
  his exploration.
• He is important because his exploration for
  England gave England the right to the USA.

Picture Credit http//www.heritage.nf.ca/explorat
ion/cabot.html
17
Ponce de Leon

• He went with Christopher Columbus on his 2nd
  voyage in 1493. He stayed there and became the
  1st European to live on the mainland of North
  America.
• He was Looking for the fountain of youth
• He found Puerto Rico and became governor there.
• He also found Florida and named it "Pascua de
  Florida" (feast of flowers) after a Spanish
  Easter holiday because he found Floridia on
  Easter!

Picture Credit http//multimedia.esuhsd.org/2000/
ed_project/135_web/studentprojects/ageexploration/
poncedeleon.html
18
Hernando De Soto

• He Sailed for Spain
• His time in the USA was spent exploring Florida
  down to Mexico looking for gold.
• He did find the Mississippi River.

19
Francisco Coronado

• He spent his time looking for the 7 cities of
  gold!
• He was considered a failure because he didnt
  find gold.

http//www.mce.k12tn.net/explorers/spanishexplorer
s.htm
20
Vasco Nunez de Balboa

• Vasco Nunez de Balboa shipwrecked in the Bahamas,
  on the island, Hispaniola.
• He tried to make a living farming but ended up
  owing a lot of money to people.
• He then hid in a barrel on a ship to escape.
• He discovered the Pacific Ocean.

Picture Credit http//www.czbrats.com/Photos/Home
again/two/balboa.JPG
21
Amerigo Vespucci

• Amerigo Vespucci
• He wanted to find a star above the South pole to
  help sailors navigate.
• He never found the star, but he did help map
  3,300 miles of land in South America.
• America was named after him.

Picture Credit http//www.esd.k12.ca.us/Matsumoto
/TM30/history/Explorers/vespmap.html
22
Hernando Cortes

• Hernando Cortes came to Mexico.
• The Aztecs thought he might be a god since he was
  the 1st white person they had ever seen.
• Hernando Cortes conquered the Aztecs in 1519.
• The Emperor, Moctesuma was killed in the fighting.

Picture Credit http//www.pwcs.edu/i-tech/resourc
es/tlcf/EarlyExploration/hernando_cortes.htm
23
Francisco Pizzarro

• He explored Peru.
• Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incas and stole
  their gold and silver.

Picture Credit http//www.mce.k12tn.net/explorers
/spanishexplorers.htm