European Explorers

By trtea953
  • Jan 1, 1400

    The Dawn of Exploration

    European people began looking to the sea. Some longed for adventure, others wanted to spread Christianity, and others wanted to look for riches.
  • Period: Jan 1, 1400 to

    Europeans Arrive in North Carolina

  • Sep 1, 1400

    Henry the Navigator

    Price Henry encorages people to try to find new, more convenient routes along the coast of Africa to break the Indian spice trade.
  • Sep 15, 1492

    Columbuses First Westward Expedition

    Columbus landed in the Bahama's, thinking it to be an island near Asia
  • Sep 15, 1497

    Vasco da Gama

    Vasco da Gama found a relitivly fast and safe route around Africa.
  • Sep 15, 1497

    John Cabot

    John Cabot was sent by King Henry VII of England to look for a water route. It was called the nourthwest passage. The Europeans eventualy gave up on looking the passage.
  • Sep 15, 1498

    Columbus Sails Again

    Columbus reached South America. Later, a mapmaker named the continent Americ, after after Amerigo Vespucci.
  • Sep 16, 1509

    Juan Ponce de Leon

    Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish official who explored and settled Porto Rico. He was sent by King Ferdinand of Spain, who authorized him to explore lands north of Cuba.
  • Sep 16, 1513

    Juan Ponce de Leon's Second Expedition

    Ponce de Leon takes his ships and crew to sea and lands on the east coast of Flotida. They sailed down Florida and then back up it.
  • Sep 16, 1520

    Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon

    Ayllon wanted to plant a strong colony for spain along the coast above Forida.
  • Sep 15, 1524

    Giovanni da Verrazzano

    King Francis I sent the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazano west. He reached the Outer Banks. He thought he saw the Pacific, but it was really the Pamlico Sound.
  • Sep 16, 1526

    Ayllon's Failer

    Ayllon led the collony to the Cape Ferar River. There, the colony died of because of diease and starvation. Ayllon died, and only 150 came back alive.
  • Sep 16, 1539

    Hernando de Soto

    Soto sailed with a military expidition from Cuba to Forida. They marched through florida, gorgia, South Carolina, and the tip of North Carolina. The Cheroke treated them with generosity.
  • Sep 16, 1560

    Spanish Conquistadors

    By the 1560's, the Spanish had taken control of much of the mineral rich lands of Mexico and Puru. This made Spain a righ country. Cuba and Porto Rico produced valuble crops for the Spanish. The Spanish kept their grip on Florida and continued south.
  • Sep 16, 1562

    Jean Ribault

    France sent a colony under the comand of Ribaut to North America. The colonists were Huguenots (French Protestants). They atempted to setle in Port Royal, SC. The colonist gave up and returned in 1564.
  • Sep 16, 1564

    Rene de Laudonniere

    In the same year that Jean Ribault left, Laudonniere setlled at Fort Caroline. Ribault left supplies.
  • Sep 16, 1565

    Pedro Menendez de Aviles

    Aviles was sent by spain and established a fort at St. Augustine. He captured Fort Caroline and Built forts throughout Florida.
  • Sep 16, 1566

    Pedro de Coronas

    Coronas went on a mission, which is the equivilent of a Catholic mission trip, and wanted to land in Chessapeke Bay. The winds prevented it, so he landed on Albemarle Sound. After a brief exploration, they tried again to reach Chessapeke Bay. When winds held them back, the returned to the West Indies.
  • Sep 16, 1566

    Jaun Pardo and Hernando Boyano

    Pardo and Boyano led a group of men to the South Carolina Coast. From there, they pushed inland on the same route de Soto had taken. The soliders built a fort in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Over the next few years, the Spanish abandoned these forts.