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According to theSagas of Icelanders,Norse sailors (often calledVikings) fromIceland first settledGreenland in the 980s.
L'Anse aux Meadows, anarchaeological site on the northernmost tip ofNewfoundland, and a second site in southwestern Newfoundland, are the only known sites of a Norse village in North America outside of Greenland. These sites are notable for their possible connections with the attempted colony ofVinland established byLeif Erikson in 1003.
There are also some claims that Polynesians have met South Americans, including evidence such asSweet potato cultivation in Polynesia, long before the Spanish and Portuguese arrivals of the islands, linguistic evidence, and genetic evidence. However, the theory is still heavily debated in the academic cycles because of other evidence contradicting it.
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The Viking voyages did not become common knowledge in theOld World, and Europeans remained unaware of the existence of theAmericas as a whole, until 1492 when Spain discovered the Americas to the rest of the world. Many expeditions were launched from European nations in search of aNorthwest Passage to East Asia (or "the Indies" as the region was called) in order to establish a shorter trade route to China than theSilk Road, a trade route which had become desperately needed and yet exacerbated by thefall of Constantinople. Also, theCastilian crown needed an alternative to the Portuguese controlled eastern maritime trade route around Africa to India and East Asia.
On August 3, 1492, the Genoese navigatorChristopher Columbus set sail under Spanish flag and with a Spanish crew from the Port of Palos de la Frontera in theProvince of Huelva, from the newlylos Reyes Católicos coordinated Kingdoms ofCastile andAragon, in present-daySpain, financed by QueenIsabella I of Castille.Columbus's Letter on the First Voyage of his discovery of theBahamas,Cuba, andHispaniola spread the news across Europe quickly. Columbus under the Spanish flag rediscovered and explored much of theLesser Antilles in his second voyage then discovered bothTrinidad and Tobago on his third voyage whilst skirting the northernSouth American coast. His fourth voyage was spent scanning theCentral American coast. The Spanishvoyages of Christopher Columbus opened theNew World.
Genoese navigator and explorerGiovanni Caboto (known in English as John Cabot) is credited with the discovery of continental North America on June 24, 1497, under the commission ofHenry VII of England. Though the exact location of his discovery remains disputed, the Canadian and United Kingdom governments' official position is that he landed on the island of Newfoundland. The English presence through Giovanni Caboto was signaled inJuan de la Cosa's map of 1500.
In 1499João Fernandes Lavrador was licensed by the King ofManuel I of Portugal and together withPero de Barcelos they reachedGreenland and sightedLabrador for the first time since Leif Erikson, which was granted and named after Lavrador. After returning he possibly went to Bristol to sail in the name of England.[1] Nearly at the same time, between 1499 and 1502 the brothersGaspar andMiguel Corte Real explored and named the coasts of Greenland, Labrador and also Newfoundland, naming "Terra Verde" the explored North American coasts.[2] Both explorations were signaled in 1502Cantino planisphere.
It was soon understood that Columbus had not reached Asia, but rather found what was to Europeans aNew World, which in 1507 was named "America", afterAmerigo Vespucci, on theWaldseemüller map.
In 1500,Pedro Álvares Cabral was sent byPortugal to exploreSouth America. He is considered to be the discoverer ofBrazil.
KingFerdinand II of Aragon sentJuan Ponce de León from the fledgling colony onHispaniola to verify rumors of undiscovered land to the northwest. On April 2, 1513, Ponce de León disembarked on the northeast coast of what he namedFlorida for the crown. The exact location is disputed, but historians have offered the possibilities ofSt. Augustine,Ponce de León Inlet, andMelbourne Beach. He encountered the powerfulGulf Stream, and found a passage through theFlorida Keys to land on the southwestern coast of Florida on theGulf of Mexico. Again, the exact location is disputed.[3] While it is true that Columbus visited Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in 1493, Ponce de Leon was the first known European to reach the present-day United States mainland.[4]
On September 25, 1513, CastilianconquistadorVasco Núñez de Balboa was the first European to see thePacific Ocean once he crossed theIsthmus of Panama. He claimed all the territory touching it for the Crown, later to affect colonization ofLas Californias.
In 1517, Spanish explorerFrancisco Hernández de Córdoba led the first recorded European expedition to theYucatán Peninsula. Departing from Cuba with three ships, he and his crew became the first Europeans to encounter theMaya civilization, landing nearCape Catoche and exploring the coasts of Yucatán and Campeche. After suffering heavy attacks from local Maya warriors and severe losses, the expedition returned toCuba, but Hernández de Córdoba’s accounts prompted further exploration of the Mexican mainland by Juan de Grijalva and later Hernán Cortés.
In 1518, Spanish explorerJuan de Grijalva led an expedition along the Gulf Coast of Mexico, becoming the first European to explore parts of the Mexican mainland. Sailing from Cuba with four ships, he reached the coasts ofTabasco andVeracruz, where his crew made contact and traded with theMaya andAztec peoples. Grijalva’s reports of rich and organized civilizations inland later inspired Hernán Cortés’s 1519 expedition that led to the conquest of the Aztec Empire.
In 1519, Spanish conquistadorHernán Cortés became the first European to explore the mountainous interior ofMexico and visitTenochtitlán, theAztec capital. Setting out fromCuba with a small fleet, he landed near present-dayVeracruz and marched inland, forging alliances with Indigenous groups opposed to Aztec rule. After entering Tenochtitlán in November 1519 and capturing EmperorMontezuma II, Cortés and his forces besieged and destroyed the city in 1521, bringing much of central Mexico under Spanish control.
Around 1519–1521, with a mission to establish colonies for Portugal,João Álvares Fagundes explored the coasts of Newfoundland, Labrador, andNova Scotia.
In 1521,Juan Ponce de León attempted to establish a permanent settlement on the west coast of Florida. The landing place has not been determined. His expedition was repulsed by natives. Ponce de León was struck by an arrow, and died of his wounds.
In 1524, Italian explorerGiovanni da Verrazzano sailed for KingFrancis I of France, and is known as the first European since the Norse to explore the Atlantic coast of North America. Arriving near theCape Fear River delta, he explored the coastlines of present-day states ofNorth andSouth Carolina, entering thePamlico Sound, and bypassing entrances to theChesapeake Bay. Believing theNew York Harbor to be a lake, he sailed pastLong Island, exploringNarragansett Bay andNewfoundland.
In 1524–1525, Portuguese explorerEstevão Gomes, on behalf ofCharles I of Spain, explored present-dayNova Scotia sailing South along theMaine coast. Gomes enteredNew York Harbor and saw theHudson River (which he named the "San Antonio River"). Because of his expedition, the 1529Diogo Ribeiro world map outlines the East coast of North America almost perfectly.
In 1528,Pánfilo de Narváez, who had been named adelantado (governor) of La Florida by Carlos I, the King of Spain, landed in Boca Ciega Bay on the west coast of Florida to begin theill-fated land expedition of 300 men, of which only four survived. One survivor,Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, wrote theRelación, his book of the eight-year survival journey, on his return to Spain.[5]
In 1534,Jacques Cartier planted a cross in theGaspé Peninsula on theGulf of Saint Lawrence and claimed the land in the name of Francis I. In 1535 Cartier explored theSt. Lawrence River and also claimed the region for France.
In 1539Hernando De Soto leads the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States (through Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and most likely Arkansas)
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After two failed attempts to reach East Asia by circumnavigatingSiberia,Henry Hudson sailed west in 1609 under theDutch East India Company. He, too, passedCape Cod, Chesapeake Bay and theDelaware Bay, instead sailing up theHudson River on September 11, 1609 in search of a fabled connection to the Pacific via what was actually theGreat Lakes. In Hudson's fourth and final voyage, he discovered, mapped, and explored theHudson Strait,Hudson Bay andJames Bay.
Other major sea-based explorers were CaptainJames Cook,George Vancouver, andCharles Wilkes.
There were numerous Spanish explorers andconquistadors who explored the Southwest of North America (including present-day west and central United States) and crossed the continent (east to west) in its southern regions, mainly from the second quarter to the middle of the 16th century, such asÁlvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca andFrancisco Vázquez de Coronado, but also the North American Southeast and south-central regions.While Spain'sJuan Rodríguez Cabrillo laid claim to the Pacific Coast of California in the mid 1500s, the earliest land expedition by thePortolà expedition two hundred years later established Catholic missions from Spanish-controlled Baja California northward.
In 1608Samuel de Champlain founded what is nowQuebec City, which would become the first permanent settlement and the capital ofNew France. He took personal administration over the city and its affairs, and sent out expeditions to explore the interior. Champlain himself discoveredLake Champlain in 1609. By 1615, he had travelled by canoe up theOttawa River throughLake Nipissing andGeorgian Bay to the centre ofHuron country nearLake Simcoe. During these voyages, Champlain aided the Wendat (aka 'Hurons') in their battles against the Iroquois Confederacy. As a result, the Iroquois would become enemies of the French and be involved in multiple conflicts.
From 1679 to 1682René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle explored theGreat Lakes region of theUnited States andCanada, and the entire course ofMississippi River to theGulf of Mexico.
From 1697 to 1702Eusebio Kino explored theSonoran Desert and on his journey to theColorado River Delta discovered an overland route toBaja California that was then commonly believed to be an island. In 1683 Kino led the first European overland crossing ofBaja California.
European exploration ofwestern Canada was largely motivated by the fur trade and the search for the elusiveNorthwest Passage.Hudson's Bay Company explorerHenry Kelsey has the distinction of being the first European to see the northernGreat Plains in 1690.
Anthony Henday was the first European to have seen theRocky Mountains, in 1754, but curiously did not mention it in his journals. From his westernmost geographic position (roughly near the town ofOlds, Alberta, halfway betweenCalgary andRed Deer, Alberta) the Rockies should have been quite conspicuous, but he was likely trying to disguise the disappointing fact that an unknown range of seemingly impassible mountains now stood between the Hudson's Bay Company and the Pacific.Samuel Hearne found theCoppermine River in 1769–71 in his failed search for copper ore deposits. Disillusioned by these shortfalls, the HBC largely quit exploration.
TheNorth West Company, on the other hand, used a business model that required constant expansion into untapped areas. Under the auspices of the NWC,Alexander Mackenzie discovered theMackenzie River in 1789 and was the first European to reach the North-American Pacific overland, via theBella Coola River, in 1793.Simon Fraser reached the Pacific in 1808 via theFraser River.
David Thompson, widely regarded as the greatest land geographer that ever lived, traveled over 90,000 km during his lifetime. In 1797, Thompson was sent south by his employers to survey part of the Canada-U.S. boundary along the water routes fromLake Superior toLake of the Woods to satisfy unresolved questions of territory arising from theJay Treaty betweenGreat Britain and theUnited States. By 1798 Thompson had completed a survey of 6,750 km (4,190 mi) fromGrand Portage, throughLake Winnipeg, to theheadwaters of theAssiniboine andMississippi Rivers, as well as two sides ofLake Superior.[6] In 1798, the company sent him toRed Deer Lake (in present-dayAlberta) to establish a trading post. The English translation ofLac La Biche-Red Deer Lake-first appeared on the Mackenzie map of 1793.[7] Thompson spent the next few seasons trading based in Fort George (now inAlberta), and during this time led several expeditions into theRocky Mountains. In 1811/1812 he followed theColumbia River to the Pacific, and in 1814 used his notes and measurements to draft the first European-style map ofwestern Canada, covering 3.9 million square kilometres.
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Lewis and Clark were the first Americans to venture into the newly acquired territory of theLouisiana Purchase, at the order of PresidentThomas Jefferson. They discovered many new geographical features, Indian tribes, and animal and plant species.John Colter was a member of the expedition who subsequently became a guide for others in the 'Old West,' and did some explorations of his own.
John C. Frémont led many important explorations in theGreat Plains,Great Basin,Oregon territory, and MexicanAlta California.
Joseph Reddeford Walker was one of the most prominent of the explorers, and charted many new paths through the West, which often were then utilized by emigrants crossing to settle in Western towns and communities. In 1833, his exploring party discovered a route along theHumboldt River across present-dayNevada, ascending theSierra Nevada following theCarson River and descending viaStanislaus River drainages toMonterey. His return route across the southern Sierra was viaWalker Pass, named after Walker byJohn Charles Fremont. The approach of the Sierra via the Carson River route later became known as theCalifornia Trail, the primary route for the emigrants to thegold fields during theCalifornia gold rush.
As the American population of the West increased, the US government launched ongoing official explorations mainly through theUS Army Corps of Topographical Engineers. One of the main officers and explorers in this unit wasGeorge Wheeler. In 1872, theUS Congress authorized an ambitious plan to map the portion of the United States west of the100th meridian at a scale of 8 miles to the inch. This plan necessitated what became known as theWheeler Survey, along with theClarence King andJohn Wesley Powell Surveys, and expeditions byFerdinand Vandeveer Hayden. In 1879, all such efforts were reorganized as theUnited States Geological Survey.
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{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)conclusion((in the year 1292 famous italian explorer discoverd america(the new world) on his trip to india to trade spices.but he thought america was india and thats why he thought the native americans are indians.))
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