-
In 1488, a Portuguese explorer known as Bartolomeu Diaz had rounded the southern tip of Africa, opening the way for a sea route from Europe to Asia. This led to increased trade with India and other Asia powers. -
Christopher Columbus was a navigator who was in charge of exploring the Americas under the flag of Spain. His voyages across the Atlantic allowed European colonization. He first set foot on the land on 10/12/1492. At first, he was setting out to find a water route from Europe to Asia but instead found the Americas. -
Vasco De Gama was the first European to set out a sea-based trade route to India. This allowed the spice trade to become later profitable to counties. Because of this route, competition was introduced for European powers.
-
In 1947 he set out on a voyage to the Coast of North America. This is the earliest known exploration of that region of America in history. During this time John Cabot was able to discover new land and was later instrumental in the creation of the transatlantic trading between England and the Americas. -
A Portuguese diplomat had been headed to India and instead had discovered Brazil. They set out large missions to take possession of the land and combat the french. The Portuguese took the land in hopes of minerals and riches. The silver and gold had benefited the Portuguese. -
In 1513, Ponce De Leon led the first European and discovered a piece of land, also known as Florida today. He charted the Atlantic ocean. Ponce de Leon was known for his want for gold and explored various regions in search of this valuable resource.
-
In may, 6,1521, Cortes and his army reached to the Outskirts of the Aztec to siege the city. With his thousands of soldiers, he was able to declare the land on August 13, 1521. Subsequently, Spain benefitted due to this with more land and riches that could be used for trade.
-
After hearing about the riches in Indian civilizations in South America, Pizarro formed an alliance with Diego De Almargo in 1524 and sailed down the west coast from Panama.
-
In January 1524, Verazzano sailed, La Dauphine, to the New World and reached Cape Fear the beginning of March. Verrazzano then sailed northward, exploring the eastern coast of North America. He made several discoveries on the voyage, including the sites of present-day New York Harbor, Block Island, and Narragansett Bay, and was the first European explorer to name newly discovered sites after persons and places in the Old World. -
Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incas and executed the Inca leader Atahualpa. Because of this, he expanded Spain's hold in South America. Pizarro's hunger for wealth and gold made him be one of the best conquistadors in the new world. -
Jacques Cartier was a French mariner whose excursions of the Canadian coast and the St. Lawrence River paved the way for when France claim North America. Cartier is credited with naming Canada—which comes from the Huron-Iroquois kanata. Meaning village or settlement—refering to the region around what is now Quebec City. -
In 1543, the first europeans landed in the southern archipelago Japan. This started the Nan-ban trade period, where both Europeans and Asians used mercantilism.
-
Sir Francis Drake is famous for circumnavigating the globe between 1577 and 1580, preying on Spanish ships along the way. Later, he was credited with defending England by raiding Spain's harbor at Cádiz in 1587 and disrupting the Spanish Armada in the English Channel in 1588 with fire ships. As a result of this, ships could travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans around the bottom of South America (later known as the Cape Horn route). -
The East India Company was established in 1600 as a trading organization for English merchants who wanted to be involved in the East Indian spice trade. Cotton, silk, indigo, saltpeter, tea, and opium were later added to its wares, and it also participated in the slave trade.
-
A trading company found in present-day Netherlands, in 1602, to protect that state’s trade in the Indian Ocean and help the Dutch in the war for independence against Spain. -
Willem Janszoon was a Dutch colonial governor and navigator. On his around-the-world journey from 1605 to 1606 he was the first European to see the coast of Australia. Janszoon's goal was to investigate the new area and assess its potential for trade with the Netherlands. Janszoon commanded the Duifken (Dove) as it sailed across the Torres Strait in March 1606. After that, he and his crew continued for another 200 miles (322 kilometers) along an uncharted coastline.
-
In 1608, Champlain left France to undertake his project—the founding of Quebec. With him, he led 32 colonists. Champlain and eight others survived the first winter at Quebec and greeted more colonists in June. -
Henry Hudson, working for the English, set sail on the Discovery. It was an effort to find a route to Asia via the Arctic, crossing the North Pole. Hudson and others believed at the time that the high Arctic's long summer days would result in an ice-free region at the top of the planet. He discovered an ocean strait that led them through the northern waters of Canada, later called the Hudson Strait. Through the strait and into a wide harbor, Henry and his crew founded the Hudson's Bay.
-
In January 1616, Hartog set sail for Texel, a port near Amsterdam, as part of the Dutch East India Company flotilla. In October 1616 Hartog landed and spent three days exploring an offshore island that came to bear his name. To mark his landing, he left a flattened pewter plate, inscribed with the details of the visit, and nailed it on a post on the northern end of the island, now called Cape Inscription. This vestige of his visit served as a method of communication with later navigators. -
In December 1620, English Separatist Puritans founded Plymouth Colony, America's first permanent Puritan settlement. The Pilgrims emigrated from England in search of religious freedom or simply a better life. -
In1642, Tasman was instructed to explore the Indian Ocean from west to east, south of the ordinary trade route, and, proceeding eastward into the Pacific, to investigate the practicability of a sea passage eastward to Chile, to rediscover the Solomon Islands of the Spaniards, and to explore New Guinea.