4-1.2

It Is Essential For Students To Know:

• The motivations of most explorers were “God, gold and glory” for themselves and for their countries. However their accomplishments were very different.
• Leif Eriksson was a Viking from Greenland who sailed the northern Atlantic Ocean and settled briefly in North America, which he called Vinland. However, the Vikings’ relationship with other Europeans did not allow them to share their discovery so North America remained unknown to most Europeans.
  
• Christopher Columbus sailed for Spain looking for a new and faster route to the Far Easst. Columbus sailed west because the Portuguese controlled the eastern route around Africa. Columbus also believed the world was small enough that he could reach the Far East by sailing west. [Columbus was not the first person to believe the world was round. Most educated people of the time held this belief. This is a common misconception.] Columbus did not reach his goal to bring back the many riches from the Far East. Instead he discovered the lands and wealth of North and South America.
• John Cabot sailed for England. He was looking for a route to the Far East known as the Northwest Passage. Cabot saile near the Artic Circle, but he had no success. He claimed the lands he encountered for england
• Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first to sail around the world. although Magellan died before the journey was complete, he claimed more lands for Spain. His crew proved that sailing around the world could be achieved, but at great costs.
  
• Hernando de Soto was a Spanish conquistador who explored throughout the southeastern United States and claimed this land for Spain.
• Henry Hudson was an explorer who sailed for both the Netherlands and England. In searching for the Northwest Passage, he claimed and mapped what is now New York for the Dutch and lands in Canada for the English. The Hudson River and Hudson Bay are named for him.
• Robert LaSalle explored for France. LaSalle explored the Mississippi River to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico and named the area Louisiana, claiming it for France.
• Students do not need to memorize dates of all voyages, except for Columbus’s voyage in 1492. They do need to know the sequence of events.

It is Not Essential For Students To Know:

• It is not essential for students to know specific information about other explorers or pirates.
• It is not essential for students to know the birth or death of these explorers or their biographies.