Early Explorers to Canada

The 3 C’sCabot, Cartier, Champlain

What is an explorer?

• What is your definition?

• A person who seeks new knowledge and the opportunities that it will bring

• Motivations– New knowledge of what the world and universe

are like and how things work– Commercial interests; new opportunities to

produce, buy, sell, and make profit– National or political; knowledge that will provide

power

The 3 C’s of Canada Exploration

• After the Vikings the next explorers to make contact in North America were

• John Cabot• Jacques Cartier• Samuel de Champlain

These explorers were motivated by

• Curiosity• Religious fervor and the desire to convert the

infidels• Economic gain• Fame• The quest for accomplishment

DANGERS!

• Real and imagined• Little was known outside of the immediate area around

Europe• Fear of the unknown fed by mythology – monsters,

giant whirlpools, “the edge of the world”• Poor navigational techniques• Inability to store food and little understanding of

nutrition• Ships weren’t strong enough to weather bad storms

• Which motivator do you think was strong enough for them to overcome their fears?

Leading up to Exploration

• Late 15th and early 16th century, there were great advances in global knowledge and improvement to technology that could allow for lengthy voyages.

• Ultimately, these advances led to the circumnavigation of the globe

John Cabot

http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10122

Giovanni Caboto (aka John Cabot)

• Born in Genoa, Italy in 1449/1450. • Died off the coast of

Newfoundland circa 1498/1499• He and his 3 sons were given

permission (Letters Patent) by King Henry VII of England, to explore, conquer, and take over new lands.

• Cabot wanted, expected, to find China or Japan by sailing westward across the Atlantic Ocean

The First Voyage• Cabot sailed from Bristol,

England in May 1497 with 18 men upon the Matthew

• In June of that year he landed somewhere on the North American Coast; most likely Labrador, Newfoundland, or Cape Breton Island

• Cabot claimed the land for England and returned back.

The Second trip:Sequels are always a bigger production

• 1498 Henry VII gave Cabot permission to return, this time with 5 ships and 300 men.

• He landed in Greenland, then sailed southward, going probably as far as Chesapeake Bay (current day Maryland)

• Unable to find the rich lands he was looking for (fish only makes a king happy for so long), he turned back to England

• However, he never arrived in England. Likely, he was shipwrecked off of the coast of Newfoundland.

Cabot’s Contribution

• The news of Cabot’s discovery of a new continent reached Europe, even though he didn’t

• For this reason, it is said that he made the “intellectual discovery of America”

• Cabot’s voyages provided the basis for England’s claim to North America and led to the opening of the rich northwest Atlantic fishery.