European Exploration

By jumcg527
  • Oct 1, 1300

    Marco Polo's travels

    People in europe read of Marco Polo's travels to China and other exciting Asian lands. The Adventures Polo wrote about led many Europeans to think about the riches of Asia.
  • May 1, 1400

    The Age of Exploration

    People in Europe began to look to the seas and boyond. Some longed for adventure. Others wanted to spread Christianity far and wide. Most of all, though, people wanted to find riches.
  • Sep 15, 1400

    Spices of Asia

    Europeans had developed a taste for spices in their diets. Most spices came from islands in asia. Because they had to be shipped halfway around the world on risky voyages, spices were costly. For hundreds of years, the Italian port city of Venice controlled this trade.
  • Aug 31, 1492

    Christopher Columbus's first expedition

    He led his first expedition westward. He landed in the Bahamas, islands that he believed to be near Asia.
  • Period: Jan 1, 1497 to Jan 12, 1498

    Vasco da Gama

    Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama found such a route and sailed all the way to India.
  • Nov 18, 1497

    The Northwest passage

    In 1497, King Henery VII sent Cabot on a voyage to the west. The english thought that there might be a water route throught the Americas that would lead north and west to Asia
  • Dec 17, 1498

    Christopher Columbus reached South America

    Columbus reached South America. A mapmaker labeled this new continent "America" for another explorer, Amerigo Vepucci. The name stuck.
  • Mar 14, 1500

    Spanish Exploration

    Powerful Spain claimed many of the New World lands. In the early 1500's Spain was taking control of much of South and Central America and many Caribbean island, including Cuba and Hispaniola.
  • Period: Oct 27, 1508 to Dec 30, 1509

    Juan Ponce de Leon

    Juan Ponce de Leon was a spanish offical in the New world. In 1508-1509, he explored and settled the island of Puerto Rico. Taking notice back in spain, King Ferinand authorized Ponce de Leon to explore lands north of Cuba.
  • Jan 2, 1513

    Ponce de Leon set out with ships and crew.

    His expedition dition landed on the east coast of Flordia, a name Ponce de Leon derived from the spanish word for "flowers." The ships sailed down the east Florida coast and through the Florida keys.
  • Sep 16, 1520

    Spain was the most powerful nation in the world

  • Dec 19, 1524

    Verrazano's expedition

    In 1524 King Francis 1 of France sent Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazano westward. Verrazano first reached land at North Carolina's Outer Banks.
  • Jul 16, 1526

    Rio Jordan colony

    Ayllon led a group of over 500 men, women, and children to a river he called "Jordan" (for the Jordan river in ancient Palestine.)
  • Sep 16, 1539

    Hernando de Soto

    Hernando sailed with a military expedition from Havana, Cuba, to the west coast of Florida. From there, de Soto's solldiers marched northern to a site near present-day Tallahassee, Florida.
  • Sep 16, 1562

    France and spain fight for land

    Soon other European nations were challenging spain. In 1562, France sent a colony under the command of Jean Ribault to North America.
  • Sep 16, 1562

    Port Royal

    Ribault's Huguenots attempted to settle near present-day Port Royal, South Carolina, in April 156. IN his report to France, Jean Ribault told why the coloniusts had chosen Port Royal.
  • Sep 16, 1564

    The colonist gave up

  • Sep 16, 1565

    St. Augustine

    To spanish officails, the French fort seemed a direct threat.
  • Dec 22, 1566

    Juan Pardo and Hernando Boyano led a small group of men to the South Carolina coast.