Early Explorers

Chinese Empire• Zhu Di had the Great Wall of China built as

protection from enemies.• A silk road developed from China to Europe

because China had a lot of silk. • The silk road was a road used to trade silk,

oranges, horses and gold between China and Europe.

• Zheng He (Chinese) was the first explorer of the Oceans.

• The Chinese invented the magnetic compass.

African Kingdoms• Songhai was a powerful

kingdom in West Africa. It was also a big trading kingdom with Europe.

• There was a lot of gold in Songhai, West Africa.

• Gao was an artist’s paradise because the city was full of art and artists.

• Timbuktu was a scholarly city that had an excellent university.

Picture Credit:

http://www.cultures.com/features/Africa/timbuktu/timbuktu.html

What motivated the earliest European explorers?

• Faster/ safer trade routes

• Spread of Christianity

• Adventure

• Conquest/power

• Wealth (Gold and Silver)

• Spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper)

• Spices were used to preserve food.

Obstacles

• Simple compasses and maps

• Enemies

• Disease/death/starvation

• Fear of falling off the earth

• Lack of food, water etc.

Leading up to Exploration (Marco Polo)

• Marco Polo took the Silk Road and returned 3 years later to Europe with the goods he had brought back from China.

• Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1448.

Picture Credit:

http://shabonee.northbrook27.k12.il.us/Projects/polo.htm

Prince Henry

• Trained and encouraged navigators to reach Cape Verde, southern tip of Africa.

• He employed cartographers who created the most current maps at that time.

Picture Credit:

http://www.mrdowling.com/610-henry.html

Bartholomeu Dias

• The explorer Bartholomeu Dias was the 1st to reach the Cape of Good Hope, the Southern tip of Africa!

• This helped others to see it was possible to reach India by going around Africa!

Vasco Da GamaVasco Da Gama He opened a new

route for trade between Europe and Asia without using the silk rode.

In 1498 Vasco Da Gama went around Africa and reached India.

Picture Credit: http://www.mariner.org/age/images/dagama.gif

Vikings

• Eric the Red was a Viking that led Europeans to Greenland. He started a settlement there.

• Leif Ericson, (a son of Eric the Red) led 35 Vikings about 1000 B.C. to go find a land he had heard about through another sailor.

• He landed on New Foundland and called it Vinland (Wine Land) because they found grapes there that they made into wine.

• On his way back to Greenland, Leif Erickson rescued a ship and its men. As a result, he became rich because the ship gave him all the cargo.

Christopher Columbus• Christopher Columbus

convinced King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to have three ships.

• The three ships were: Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

• He landed in the Bahama Islands on October 12, 1492.

Picture Credit:

http://www.mariner.org/age/columbus.html

Christopher Columbus

• Also named San Salvador meaning “Holy Savior.”

• He saw people and named them “Indians” because he thought that he was in India.

Columbian Exchange

• As a result of Columbus’s voyages to the New Word, an exchange began between the Americas and the rest of the world.

Columbian ExchangeAmericas to Europe Europe to Americas

Potatoes & Tomatoes Sugar, Tea, Coffee

Maize, (Corn) Horses, pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, rats

Tobacco Diseases (smallpox, measles, whooping cough, bubonic plague, malaria, yellow fever )

Chocolate •Asian cockroaches, Japanese beetle

Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese)

• Ferdinand Magellan sailed around the southern tip of South America.

• His crew made the first round trip around the world. His ship the Victoria made it around the world.

• He named the Pacific Ocean because it was so peaceful.

Picture Credit: http://www.mariner.org/age/magellan.html

John Cabot• He was born in Italy. • He loved to watch sailors at

the docks and hear their stories.

• At age 16, he began studying sailing and mapping.

• He moved to England and got the King to support his exploration.

• He is important because his exploration for England gave England the right to the USA.

Picture Credit: http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/cabot.html

Ponce de Leon• He went with Christopher

Columbus on his 2nd voyage in 1493. He stayed there and became the 1st European to live on the mainland of North America.

• He was Looking for the “fountain of youth”

• He found Puerto Rico and became governor there.

• He also found Floridia and named it "Pascua de Florida" (feast of flowers) after a Spanish Easter holiday because he found Floridia on Easter!

Picture Credit: http://multimedia.esuhsd.org/2000/ed_project/135_web/studentprojects/ageexploration/poncedeleon.html

Hernando De Soto

• He Sailed for Spain• His time in the USA

was spent exploring Florida down to Mexico looking for gold.

• He did find the Mississippi River.

Francisco Coronado

• He spent his time looking for the 7 cities of gold!

• He was considered a failure because he didn’t find gold.

http://www.mce.k12tn.net/explorers/spanishexplorers.htm

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

• Vasco Nunez de Balboa shipwrecked in the Bahamas, on the island, Hispaniola.

• He tried to make a living farming but ended up owing a lot of money to people.

• He then hid in a barrel on a ship to escape.

• He discovered the Pacific Ocean.

Picture Credit: http://www.czbrats.com/Photos/Homeagain/two/balboa.JPG

Amerigo Vespucci• Amerigo Vespucci• He wanted to find a

star above the South pole to help sailors navigate.

• He never found the star, but he did help map 3,300 miles of land in South America.

• America was named after him.

Picture Credit:http://www.esd.k12.ca.us/Matsumoto/TM30/history/Explorers/vespmap.html

Hernando Cortes

• Hernando Cortes came to Mexico.

• The Aztecs thought he might be a god since he was the 1st white person they had ever seen.

• Hernando Cortes conquered the Aztecs in 1519.

• The Emperor, Moctesuma was killed in the fighting. Picture Credit:

http://www.pwcs.edu/i-tech/resources/tlcf/EarlyExploration/hernando_cortes.htm

Francisco Pizzarro

• He explored Peru.

• Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incas and stole their gold and silver.

Picture Credit:

http://www.mce.k12tn.net/explorers/spanishexplorers.htm