Exploration

By anosb376@wcsmail.org
  • Jan 14, 1300

    The Story Continues

    People in europe read of Marco Polo travels to China and other Asian lands.
  • Aug 18, 1347

    New routes

    By the late middle ages, 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 worldon risky voyages, spices were costly.
  • Jan 14, 1400

    Europeans branch out

    People in europe begin to look to the seas and beyond. Some longed for adventure. Others wanted to spread christianity far and wide.
  • Nov 19, 1492

    New Routes 3

    Columbus led his first expedition westward. He landed in the Bahama's, island that he believed to be near Asia.
  • Mar 1, 1497

    The NorthWest Passage

    King Henry 7th sent Cabot on a voyage to the west.
  • Jun 2, 1497

    New Routes

    1497-1498
    Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama found such a route and sailed all the way to India.
  • Oct 19, 1498

    New Routes

    Columbus reached South America. Later a mapmaker labeled this new continent "America" for another explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. The name stuck.
  • Aug 20, 1500

    Columbian Exchange

    A great interaction between the "New World" and "Old World" took place.
  • Nov 4, 1500

    Spanish Exploration

    Spain was taking control of much of south and central america and many carribbean islands, including cuba and hispaniola.
  • Dec 17, 1508

    Spanish Exploration

    1508-1509
    Juan Ponce de Leon explored and settled the island of Puerto Rico.
  • Sep 16, 1513

    Spanish Exploration

    Ponce de Leon set out with ships and crew.
  • Mar 7, 1520

    Spaniards come to North Carolina

    One Spanish official who ha his eyes on the mainland north of Florida was Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon. He had seen some of the Atlantic Coast line of this region on an expedition in 1520. Ayllon intended to plant a strong colony for Spain along that coast.
  • Nov 20, 1520

    The Story Continues

    Spain was the most powerful Spanish explorers had claimed huge tracts of land in the New World. They had begun selling gold and silver back to spain.
  • Oct 26, 1524

    Varrazano's expedition

    King Francis 1 of France sent Italian navigator Giovanni da Varrazano westward.
  • May 31, 1526

    Rio Jordan colony

    In July 1526, Ayllon led a group of over 500 men, women, and children to a river he called "Jordan" (for the Jordan River in ancient Palestine). Historians today believe that it was actually North Carolina's Cape Fear River.
  • Oct 22, 1526

    Rio Jordan Colony

    Disease and starvation overwhelmed the settlers. Ayllon himself died there. In October 1526, the 150 remaining colonists returned to Hispaniola.
  • Nov 4, 1539

    De Soto's expedition

    In 1539 Hernando de Soto sailed with a military expedition from Havana, Cuba, to the west coast of Florida. From there, de Soto's soldiers marched northward to a site near present-day Tallahassee, Florida.
  • Dec 22, 1539

    De Soto's expedition

    There they spent the winter of 1539-1540. In spring, de Soto crossed Georgia and South Carolina and passed through the western tip of North Carolina.
  • Sep 19, 1562

    France and Spain fight for land

    In 1562 France sent a colony under the command of Jean Ribault to North Carolina.