England, Spain, and France More explorers

John Cabot John Cabot, in 1497, sailed from England to explore the New World. In his first voyage, he explored the coast of what is now Canada and New England. In his second voyage, in 1498, he explored the coast as far south as present day South Carolina (some experts think even Florida). England claimed that, since Cabot represented England, everything he sailed past belonged to England!

The Argument Is it enough to simply sail past some land, or stick a flag in the sand, to claim a territory? The countries of Europe agreed that, in order to actually claim a land as territory, the land must be colonized.

Results of Cabot’s exploration Established England’s claim to the New World The idea of “colonization” began

Juan Ponce de León In 1513, Ponce de León landed on the Eastern coast of present day Florida. He thought he had landed on a large island, and he named it “La Florida” in honor of Easter. He was in search of two things that were rumored to be there: A city of gold A fountain that would make people young, the “fountain of youth.”

A Quick Message from Florida Yes, there really IS a “Fountain of Youth” in Florida.

Ponce (continued) Instead of a fabled “Fountain of Youth” with magical powers, Ponce de León found a smelly spring of water flowing from the earth with no magical properties (except the ability to rake in money from tourists a few hundred years later!) He never found a city of gold.

Trip #2 to La Florida In 1521, he led an expedition to colonize the west coast of Florida. Taking two ships with 50 horses and 200 men, the group landed on Florida’s west coast and met immediate resistance from the natives. Ponce was wounded by an arrow and he, along with his entire force, withdrew to Havana, Cuba, where he died. Juan Ponce de León is credited with being “the first Spaniard to step foot on the continent of North America.”

Results of Ponce de Leon’s exploration 1st Spaniard to set foot on the North American mainland Named Florida Did not find the fountain of youth Click here for a short film about Ponce de Leon.

Giovanni de Verrazano Even though Verrazzano was born in what is now present-day Italy, he was raised in France and served in the French naval service. He set out in 1524 to find a passage to Asia that would go north of the North American continent. Since no one had really explored farther north, he had no idea of what he faced.

After he reached the Caribbean Islands, he then sailed on to the coast of North America. He arrived first at present-day North Carolina, then headed north all the way in to present-day New York Harbor. He sailed up the Hudson River (realized it was a dead end), and the voyage continued north Cape Cod, Maine, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. To the French, this voyage established a French claim to these lands, but at the time it was regarded as a failure because the passage to the East was not found. He was later killed in a confrontation with Natives off the coast of South America.

Results of Verrazzano’s exploration Established France’s claim to the New World