 |
| Major
Explorations of the Americas |
 Explorers in a New
Land |
 Leif
Ericson is believed to have led the
first "white" expedition to America,
from Iceland, about 1000. |
 Christopher Columbus
Contrary to some popular accounts,
Christopher Columbus did not embark on the voyage
that ultimately resulted in his
"discovering" America in order to prove
that the Earth was round, he set out to find what
he believed to be the shortest sea route to the
Indies. |
 John
Cabot made three voyages to America
between 1496 and 1498 on behalf of England in
search of a Northwest Passage. |
 Amerigo Vespucci
made two voyages between 1499 and 1502 and is
best known for establishing that the lands
discovered by Columbus were part of a whole new
continent, and for "lending" his name
to those lands -- "America." |
 Gaspar Corte-Real
made two voyages to America on behalf of Portugal
in search of the fabled Northwest Passage, in
1500. |
 Vasco Núñez de Balboa
became the first European to see the Pacific
Ocean from its eastern shore in 1513. |
 Giovanni di
Verrazano explored the eastern coast
of North America in 1524 and discovered New York
Harbor and Narragansett Bay along the way. The
Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York City is
named in his honor. |
 Henry
Hudson discovered the Hudson River,
Hudson Bay, and Hudson Strait while attempting to
find the Northwest Passage. |
 Francisco Vásquez de
Coronado led an expedition through
the American Southwest and Midwest to search for
the fabled kingdoms of Cibola and Quivira in
1540-1542; he was sorely disappointed. |
 Hernando de Soto
led the first European expedition to sight the
Mississippi River, in 1541. |
