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1445
Prince Henry and His Discoveries
He sent many expeditions from Portugal to the west coast of Africa and was responsible for Portugal's influence in the Great Age of Exploration. From 1455-1456 Prince Henry hired another explorer named Alvise Cadamosto who explored the Atlantic coast of Africa and discovered several islands of the Cape Verde archipelago between 1455 and 1456. In his first voyage, which started on 22 March 1455, he visited the Madeira Islands and the Canary Islands. -
1488
Bartolomeu Dias and His Discoveries
In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias was the first European explorer to sail around the southern tip of Africa discovering what is called the Cape of Good Hope. This discovery made it possible for Europeans to trade with Asia and India via water instead of across land, which was very expensive at the time. A major maritime victory for Portugal, Dias' breakthrough opened the door to increased trade with India and other Asian powers. -
Period: 1490 to
The English
Colonization efforts began in the 16th century with failed attempts by England to establish permanent colonies in the North. The first permanent British colony was established in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. -
Oct 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus "discovers" America
Trying to find a new trading route to Aisa, Columbus sailed west instead of east and ended up in what is today the Caribbeans/Americas. -
Period: Sep 24, 1493 to
The Spanish
Spanish colonialism began with the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi's expedition on February 13, 1565, from Mexico. After this, the colony was directly governed by Spain. Spanish rule ended in 1898 with Spain's defeat in the Spanish American War. The Philippines then became a territory of the United States. -
Jun 7, 1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
Both Spain and Portugal signed an agreement for control of the Americas; the Treaty of Tordesillas. This agreement gave them both control over newly discovered routes, Portugal had control of Africa and Spain had the Americas. -
Jun 24, 1497
John Cabot and His Discoveries
His voyages in 1497 and 1498 helped lay the groundwork for the later British claim to Canada. -
May 20, 1498
Vasco da Gama and His Discoveries
He was known for being the first to sail from Europe to India by rounding Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Vasco de Gama had two voyages beginning in 1497 and 1502, da Gama landed and traded in locales along the coast of southern Africa before reaching India on May 20, 1498. His nickname is “admiral of the Indian seas” because the city of Mozambique became ruled by Portugal. -
Period: 1500 to
The Portuguese
Portugal colonized parts of South America (Brazil, Colónia do Sacramento, Uruguay, Guanare, Venezuela), but also made some unsuccessful attempts to colonize North America, Newfoundland, Labrador, and Nova Scotia in Canada. -
Apr 22, 1500
Pedro Álvares Cabral and His Discoveries
On April 22, 1500, he saw land(Brazil), claimed it so it would be part of Portugal, and named it the "Island of the True Cross." He was the first European to reach Brazil. When Cabral arrived in Brazil, he brought food from his hometown, Portugal and Europe. These foods had an effect on the Natives and other inhabitants of the newly discovered land. Their culture changed drastically and affected their economy. His nickname is “Much Bread” because those were his last words. -
1519
Hernán Cortés and His Discoveries
Cortés was a Spaniard conquistador that conquered the Aztec empire, went to Tenochtitlán with a small army, and he made alliances with the city-states of the Aztecs. After his arrival in Tenochtitlán, he was welcomed by the Aztec monarch. -
Apr 15, 1524
Giovanni da Verrazzano and His Discoveries
Verrazzano sets off on his first voyage to the New World and he makes landfall on the coast of North Carolina and seals north along the coast of North America. -
Period: 1534 to
The French
Lawrence in 1603. In the next year he was on the Bay of Fundy and had a share in founding the first French colony in North America—that of Port-Royal, (now Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia). In 1608 he began the settlement that was named Quebec, selecting a commanding site that controlled the narrowing of the St. -
Apr 20, 1534
Jacques Cartier and His Discoveries
Cartier goes from France to find the Northwest Passage and he gets to Canada and explores its eastern regions. -
Nov 3, 1545
Francis Drake and His Discoveries
Francis Drake led the second expedition to sail around the world in voyage from 1577 to 1580. Queen Elizabeth ordered Francis Drake to order the expedition together with John Winter and Thomas Doughty. They left Plymouth, England on December 13, 1577, with six ships. They go to Brazil and they go through the perilous Strait of Magellan. -
Period: to
England's First Settlement
England’s first effort to establish a settlement in the New World ended badly. In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh got a royal charter to found the settlement of Roanoke, and which is located on an island off the coast of North Carolina. They got raids by the Native American tribes and the disease devastated the settlement, and the settlement eventually got abandoned. -
Period: to
The Dutch
After abandoning their North American colonies (in what is now New York), the Dutch established outposts in the Caribbean, South America (what is now Suriname), South Africa, and what is now Indonesia. Holland also established a trading center in Japan, one of only a few European nations to do so. -
Period: to
The East India Company
it was used as a trading body for the English to gather items and do trade with the East Indians for the spice trade. As time went on they also traded and shipped cotton, silk, indigo, saltpeter, tea, and opium to their wares and also participated in the slave trade -
Period: to
The Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company, called the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC in Dutch, was a company whose main purpose was trade, exploration, and colonization throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. -
Samuel de Champlain and His Discoveries
Samuel de Champlain comes to North America as a geographer for a French fur trading company -
Henry Hudson and His Discoveries
He discovered the Hudson River, Hudson Strait, Hudson bay. On May 16 he made a voyage to Greenland and Whalebay north of the arctic circle, the purpose was to find a passage from the north pole to Japan and China -
Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet and Their Discoveries
Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet begin their exploration of the Mississippi River Valley -
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and His Discoveries (compound sentence man)
La Salle gets to the mouth of the Mississippi and claims the land for France, and he names it Louisiana for Louis XIV, the king of France. -
William Dampier and His Discoveries
William Dampier was a British buccaneer, explorer, and map-maker. When he was a teen he sailed to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Then he sailed to Australia, New Guinea, southeast Asia, and the South Seas, charting the coastlines, rivers, and currents for the British Admiralty. He also has a detailed journal, noting native cultures, the first noted typhoon, and other discoveries he made during his voyages. He discovered and named New Britain, near New Guinea. -
James Cook and His Discoveries
James Cook’s first journey was from 1768 to 1771, when he sailed to Tahiti in order to try to determine Venus as it passed between the Earth and the Sun. At the same time, he also mapped New Zealand and eastern Australia. -
Period: to
James Cook Trip
James Cook’s second trip took him to Antarctica and to Easter Island on a voyage intended to show there was no large southern continent. The 2 ships on this voyage were the Resolution and the Adventure. Many scientists accompanied him on the trip.