Explorers
Vasco da Gama: In 1497, Captain Vasco da Gama sailed south from Portugal. After three months of sailing, his ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope and then sailed to India. Two years later, he returned to Portugal. He chartered a round-trip route from Europe to Asia.
Christopher Columbus: A sailor from Italy, Columbus thought differently. He hoped to sail west across the Atlantic. He had studied the works of Ptolemy, a scientist in ancient Greece, who estimated the size of the Earth. Columbus predicted that the distance from Europe west to Asia was thousand of miles less than it really was. No European knew at the time that two huge continents - North America and South America- barred the way. With the backing from the rulers of Spain, Columbus set sail with three ships in August 1492. They made swift progress across the Atlantic and landed on an island in what is today the Bahamas. Columbus believed that he had reached lands just off the coast of China. He made three return voyages but found no traces of the Asian mainland. Columbus died believing these lands were the gateway to Asia.
Pedro Cabral: In 1500, Pedro Cabral, a Portuguese captain, led a fleet to the Indian Ocean. He sailed too far west and landed on the east coast of South America.
Amerigo Vespucci: In 1501, the Portuguese king sent explorers to learn more about Cabral's discovery. Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian navigator on this voyage, later wrote about this travels. He concluded that the lands Columbus called "the Indies" were, in fact, part of a "New World". Vespucci's report was very popular in Europe. A German cartographer named the newly encountered lands "America" a Latin version of Vespucci's first name.
Ferdinand Magellan: In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan launched the most ambitious voyage of discovery. He set out from Spain with five ships and a crew of more than 250. He hoped to find a western route to Asia. Unlike Columbus, Magellan knew that a continent stood in his way. His fleet sailed south along the uncharted continent. Finally, they threaded their way through a strait, or narrow channel. It led them to the Pacific Ocean. The strait came to be called the Strait of Magellan. Magellan continued north and then west across the Pacific Ocean. The long journey used up the ships' food supplies. Many crew members died from a lack of vitamins. Magellan next reached the Philippine Islands. He claimed them for Spain. Later, Magellan died in a battle with the islanders. In September 1522, three years after departing, Magellan's lone surviving ship made it back to Spain. Only 18 crew members survived the voyage. They achieved the most difficult navigational feat of the age. They circumnavigated, or sailed completely around, the world.
Vasco da Gama: In 1497, Captain Vasco da Gama sailed south from Portugal. After three months of sailing, his ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope and then sailed to India. Two years later, he returned to Portugal. He chartered a round-trip route from Europe to Asia.
Christopher Columbus: A sailor from Italy, Columbus thought differently. He hoped to sail west across the Atlantic. He had studied the works of Ptolemy, a scientist in ancient Greece, who estimated the size of the Earth. Columbus predicted that the distance from Europe west to Asia was thousand of miles less than it really was. No European knew at the time that two huge continents - North America and South America- barred the way. With the backing from the rulers of Spain, Columbus set sail with three ships in August 1492. They made swift progress across the Atlantic and landed on an island in what is today the Bahamas. Columbus believed that he had reached lands just off the coast of China. He made three return voyages but found no traces of the Asian mainland. Columbus died believing these lands were the gateway to Asia.
Pedro Cabral: In 1500, Pedro Cabral, a Portuguese captain, led a fleet to the Indian Ocean. He sailed too far west and landed on the east coast of South America.
Amerigo Vespucci: In 1501, the Portuguese king sent explorers to learn more about Cabral's discovery. Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian navigator on this voyage, later wrote about this travels. He concluded that the lands Columbus called "the Indies" were, in fact, part of a "New World". Vespucci's report was very popular in Europe. A German cartographer named the newly encountered lands "America" a Latin version of Vespucci's first name.
Ferdinand Magellan: In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan launched the most ambitious voyage of discovery. He set out from Spain with five ships and a crew of more than 250. He hoped to find a western route to Asia. Unlike Columbus, Magellan knew that a continent stood in his way. His fleet sailed south along the uncharted continent. Finally, they threaded their way through a strait, or narrow channel. It led them to the Pacific Ocean. The strait came to be called the Strait of Magellan. Magellan continued north and then west across the Pacific Ocean. The long journey used up the ships' food supplies. Many crew members died from a lack of vitamins. Magellan next reached the Philippine Islands. He claimed them for Spain. Later, Magellan died in a battle with the islanders. In September 1522, three years after departing, Magellan's lone surviving ship made it back to Spain. Only 18 crew members survived the voyage. They achieved the most difficult navigational feat of the age. They circumnavigated, or sailed completely around, the world.
European Interest in New Lands
Trading Posts: Portuguese traders set up a string of trading posts in Africa, India, and East Asia. Armed ships and soldiers guarded these trading posts. The posts helped the Portuguese trade freely throughout the Indian Ocean and beyond to China and Japan. Dutch traders challenged the Portuguese. The Dutch East India Company traded in Asia. The Dutch government granted this trading company many powers. It could build forts, take over another country's ships, and even start wars to protect its spice trade. This trading company won many Portuguese-held territories. Eventually, French and English trading companies gained control of posts in India as well.
Colonies: European nations also set up colonies. Spain led the rush to colonize the Americas. By 1650, Spanish colonies had more than 500,000 European settlers. In Brazil, Portuguese colonists set up sugar plantations. Later, a gold rush began, which attracted more settlers. The population of Brazil reached about 300,000 by 1700.
Dutch traders were interested in South America as well. They founded a colony in Guiana, on the north coast of South America, and settled several Caribbean islands. These colonies served as bases to raid Spanish ships. They also briefly held the colony of New Amsterdam in North America.
The French, too, owned Caribbean islands. However, they held more territory on the mainland. French fur traders settled in the colony of New France. Explorers sailed down the Mississippi. They claimed lands as far south as present-day Louisiana. By 1690, New France had about 10,000 French settlers.
Beginning in the early 1600s, English colonists founded towns along the east coast of North America. Colonists in Jamestown, Virginia, grew tobacco. Farther north, Puritans and other Protestants settled in the New England colonies. By 1700, about 250,000 English colonists lived in 11 English colonies.
Missions: Catholic missionaries worked in the Spanish, Portuguese, and French colonies.Missionaries are church members who try to convert people to a particular religion. A mission is a religious settlement or base where missionaries work. Europeans set up missions in areas where Native Americans lived. In New Spain, missionaries built bases as far north as present-day California.
Missionaries met with mixed success in other areas. In New France, few Native Americans were converted. The same was true in the English colonies. In Asia, the Jesuits won Catholic converts in China and Japan. Many people in the Philippine Islands also became Catholic.
Trading Posts: Portuguese traders set up a string of trading posts in Africa, India, and East Asia. Armed ships and soldiers guarded these trading posts. The posts helped the Portuguese trade freely throughout the Indian Ocean and beyond to China and Japan. Dutch traders challenged the Portuguese. The Dutch East India Company traded in Asia. The Dutch government granted this trading company many powers. It could build forts, take over another country's ships, and even start wars to protect its spice trade. This trading company won many Portuguese-held territories. Eventually, French and English trading companies gained control of posts in India as well.
Colonies: European nations also set up colonies. Spain led the rush to colonize the Americas. By 1650, Spanish colonies had more than 500,000 European settlers. In Brazil, Portuguese colonists set up sugar plantations. Later, a gold rush began, which attracted more settlers. The population of Brazil reached about 300,000 by 1700.
Dutch traders were interested in South America as well. They founded a colony in Guiana, on the north coast of South America, and settled several Caribbean islands. These colonies served as bases to raid Spanish ships. They also briefly held the colony of New Amsterdam in North America.
The French, too, owned Caribbean islands. However, they held more territory on the mainland. French fur traders settled in the colony of New France. Explorers sailed down the Mississippi. They claimed lands as far south as present-day Louisiana. By 1690, New France had about 10,000 French settlers.
Beginning in the early 1600s, English colonists founded towns along the east coast of North America. Colonists in Jamestown, Virginia, grew tobacco. Farther north, Puritans and other Protestants settled in the New England colonies. By 1700, about 250,000 English colonists lived in 11 English colonies.
Missions: Catholic missionaries worked in the Spanish, Portuguese, and French colonies.Missionaries are church members who try to convert people to a particular religion. A mission is a religious settlement or base where missionaries work. Europeans set up missions in areas where Native Americans lived. In New Spain, missionaries built bases as far north as present-day California.
Missionaries met with mixed success in other areas. In New France, few Native Americans were converted. The same was true in the English colonies. In Asia, the Jesuits won Catholic converts in China and Japan. Many people in the Philippine Islands also became Catholic.