European Exploration in North America

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European Exploration in North America
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Georgia Performance Standards

• SS4H2 The student will describe European
  exploration in North America.
• a. Describe the reasons for, obstacles to,
  and accomplishments of the Spanish, French, and
  English explorations of John Cabot, Vasco Nunez
  Balboa, Juan Ponce de Leon, Christopher Columbus,
  Henry Hudson, and Jacques Cartier.
• b. Describe examples of cooperation and
  conflict between Europeans and Native Americans.
• SS4G2 The student will describe how physical
  systems affect human systems.
• b. Describe how the early explorers
  adapted, or failed to adapt, to the various
  physical environments in which they traveled.

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Essential Questions

• Why were Europeans interested in world
  exploration?
• What were some of the opportunity costs involved
  in European exploration?
• What influence did the Europeans and Native
  Americans have on each other?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
  relationships between Native Americans and
  Europeans?

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Europeans arrive in the Americas

• In 1420, the oceans of the world were a mystery
  to most Europeans.
• In 1492, Christopher Columbus asked King
  Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to pay for
  a westward voyage to Asia. They agreed to pay for
  the voyage because they hoped that Columbus would
  find gold and spices in Asia.

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Christopher Columbus meeting with King Ferdinand
and Queen Isabella
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Christopher Columbus

• Columbus set sail from Spain on August 3, 1492.
• He carried enough supplies to last for a year and
  close to 90 men traveled in three ships named the
  Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
• On October 12, 1492, the ships arrived at an
  island in the Caribbean Sea that Columbus named
  San Salvador which today is part of the Bahamas.
• Columbus thought that he had reached land off the
  coast of Asia, near India so he named the islands
  the West Indies and the people living on them
  Indians.

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• Columbus and his men were the first Europeans to
  meet the people of the Caribbean who called
  themselves the Taino (TY noh) which means good.
• Columbus returned to Spain and made three more
  voyages to the Caribbean.
• King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella wanted Columbus
  to start settlements (a small community of people
  living in a new place) and to search for gold.
  Columbus sailed a fleet of 17 ships back to the
  islands and began claiming more land for Spain.

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• Columbus and the settlers had to adapt to their
  new physical environment.
• They brought crops such as wheat, barley, and
  sugar cane and found ways to grow them in the new
  land.
• They also brought animals such as horses, pigs,
  and cows, which had not previously lived in the
  Americas.

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• The Europeans adapted to their environment, but
  they hurt the Taino environment.
• The Europeans cut down rain forests and built
  sugar plantations. Many of the American plants
  and animals were destroyed by the Europeans.
• The Europeans also brought diseases to the Taino
  that they never had before. Within 50 years of
  Columbus arrival, almost no Taino people were
  left.

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• Columbus returned to Spain with plants, such as
  corn, peanuts, potatoes, tomatoes, chocolate,
  peppers, beans, and squash. No one in Europe had
  ever seen these plants.
• The movement of plants, animals, and people
  between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres is
  known as the Columbian Exchange.

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John Cabot

• An Italian explorer
• The king of England paid for his voyage across
  the Atlantic Ocean where he reached present-day
  Canada, which he thought was Asia.
• He did not find people, silks, or spices, but he
  did find a rich fishing area off the coast of
  Canada.
• People began sailing to these waters.

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John Cabot thought that he could reach Asia by
sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. Once people
knew that the land that he found was not Asia,
explorers continued to search fora water passage
through the North American continent.
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Jacques Cartier

• In 1534, he continued Frances search for a water
  route to Asia.
• He sailed far up the St. Lawrence River in
  Canada.

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• He faced many obstacles, especially the cold
  climate and short growing season.
• Over time, people began to come to the region to
  trade for furs.

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Vasco Nunez de Balboa(VAS coh NOON yez deh bal
BOH ah)

• Balboa was a Spanish explorer who traveled to
  present-day Panama in Central America.
• In 1513, he crossed the mountains and jungles of
  Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean.

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Balboas Travels
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Juan Ponce de Leon (pon seh deh leh OHN)

• Juan Ponce De Leon was a conquistador (Spanish
  for conqueror).
• He was the first conquistador to reach what is
  now the United States.
• In 1513, he led an expedition to present-day
  Florida where he claimed the area for Spain.

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• As the conquistadors traveled the land in search
  of gold, they found many American Indians.
• The conquistadors fought and enslaved the
  American Indians. Many of the Spanish died in the
  battles as well.
• The conquistadors also faced many obstacles,
  including long distances, bad weather, and
  starvation as they explored the continent.

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Henry Hudson

• The Dutch wanted to search for a Northwest
  Passage too, so a Dutch trading company hired
  Henry Hudson, an English captain, to search for
  the passage.
• The Dutch are the people of the Netherlands.

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• Hudson sailed up the Hudson River in present-day
  New York and made claims for the Dutch.
• In 1610, he made a voyage for England where he
  found the bay known as Hudson Bay in present-day
  Canada.
• One obstacle Hudson faced was the cold climate,
  which he failed to adapt to.

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• He stayed too long in the bay and ice trapped the
  ship for an entire winter.
• His unhappy crew later set him adrift in a small
  boat where he was never seen again.
• Even though his voyage was unsuccessful in
  finding a Northwest Passage, it did lead to
  England claiming the land around Hudson Bay.