Week of April 10-14

Monday

World Explorers Presentations

Ferdinand Magellan

  • Background
    • Born in 480 in Porto or Sabrosa, Portugal
    • Passed away April 27, 1521 in Mactan, Philippines
    • Son of Rui de Magalhases
    • Father was a member of Portuguese nobility
    • He studied map making and navigation as a child
    • At age 10, he became a Paige for a queen 
  • Why He Started Exploring
    • Studied cartography, astronomy, and celestial navigation 
  • Who He Sailed For
    • Sailed for Portugal from 1505-1513
    • Sailed for Spain from 1519-1521
  • Where He Explored
    • Portuguese Sailing
      • He sailed to East Africa
      • Battle of Dui- 1509
      • Explored Malacca and conquered their port
      • Sailed to the Spice Islands 
    • Spain Exploration
      • Used circumnavigation to get a faster route to the Spice Islands across the Atlantic Ocean, around South America, and across the Pacific
      • King Charles sent him with 5 ships
      • Left September 20, 1519
  • What He Found/Accomplished
    • He found that by going through Magellan's Strait you could reach the Spice Islands
    • Considered to be the first person to circumnavigate the globe 
  • Consequences of His Voyages
    • Died in a war with Philippine tribes
    • Lost lots of his crew and boats due to wrecks, famine, and sickness 

Henry Hudson

  • Early Life
    • Very little is known about his early life
    • Studied navigation as a child
    • Born in 1565 and died after June 22, 1611
  • First Voyage
    • Made his first voyage in 1607
    • He was hired to find a shorter route from Europe to Asia through the Arctic Ocean
    • Due to the ice, he attempted this voyage 3 times
  • Second Voyage
    • Started in London
    • Sailed for the British East India Company
    • Ended up in Baffin Island near Canada
  • Interesting Facts
    • It is believed he attended Harvard
    • On his first voyage, ice flow made him return to England
    • His crew turned on him in Hudson Bay and forced him to leave on a small boat, where he later died 
    • Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Hudson River are named after him

Walter Raleigh

  • Early Life
    • Born in 1552
    • When he was young, he lived in a farmhouse near the village of East Budleigh in Devon, England
    • Wast the youngest of 5 children
    • He lived during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I 
    • He lived under persecution by Elizabeth I because he was a devout Protestant
    • Because of this, he grew up hating Roman Catholicism
    • He left England at the age of 17 to go fight for the French Protestants in the "Wars of Religion" 
  • French War of Religion
    • The main combatants were Protestant French and Catholics
    • There were 7 wars that lasted over a total of 36 years
    • Over 3 million people died 

Tuesday-

World Explorer Presentations

Walter Raleigh (continued)

  • Education
    • In 1572, he attended Oriel College, Oxford, and studied law at the Middle Temple Law College
    • During his time in college, he became interested in writing poetry and it would become his passion 
  • Travel
    • In 1578, Walter left with his half brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert on his first real voyage
    • Their goal was to find the Northwest Passage
    • They never found the passage, the mission degenerated into privateering foray against Spanish shipping
    • He was put in jail for doing so 
  • Later Life
    • Between 1579 and 1583, Raleigh found in the service for Queen Elizabeth I in Ireland
    • His victories and ruthlessness at the Siege of Smerwick and establishing English and Scottish Protestants in Munster, Ireland made him a favorite of Elizabeth 
  • Colonization
    • Walter was an early supporter of colonization and wanted to start a colony in North America
    • Even though he was legally allowed to, Elizabeth forbid him to leave her service
    • Between 1585 and 1588 he made many trips to establish a colony near Roanoke, on the coast of what is now North Carolina
    • He would have called it Virginia in honor or the virgin queen, Elizabeth
    • Many delays, quarrels, disorganization, and hostile Indians forced some of the colonists to eventually return to England
    • The settlers did bring back potatoes and tobacco which were unknown in Europe at the time
    • A second voyage was sent in 1590 but they didn't find any trace of the colony
    • The settlement is now remembered as the "Lost Colony of Roanoke Island"
  • Fall of Grace
    • Walter became one of Elizabeth's non-favorites when he married one of Elizabeth's maids-of-honor in 1592
    • In him doing so, she was put into a jealous rage and the couple were briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London
    • Once he was released, he wanted to be one of her favorites again so he set out on a voyage to look for the "land of gold," but the voyage was a failure
    • They only found a little hold, be he was reinstated with the queen with the help of 2 subsequent forays  
  • End of Life
    • At this time, King James I was now the leader
    • Walter's action with the Spanish early on in life didn't sit well with the King
    • Raleigh's enemies were quick to taint his reputation with the new King
    • Because of this, he was charged with treason and condemned to death
    • But, the sentence was commuted to imprisonment in the Tower in 1603
    • Walter and his life lived in the Tower of London and he even wrote his history of the world in 1614
    • The King released him in 1616 to go look for gold in South America
    • While he was there, he invaded and pillaged Spanish territory and was forced back to England
    • Because of his actions, he was arrested and his original death sentence for treason was invoked, and he was executed at Westminster on October 29, 1618

Francisco Vazquez de Coronado

  • Background
    • Born in 1510 in Spain
    • Traveled to New Spain (Mexico) when he was 25
    • Married 12 year old Beatriz de Estrada and had 8 kids
  • Who He Explored For
    • Spain
    • Viceroy of New Spain, Antonia de Mendoza 
  • Why He Explored
    • He sent two men to the North to New Mexico
    • They returned after encountering Zuni native and with tales of a large city made of gold called Cibola 
  • Where He Explored
    • The American Southwest 
  • What He Found/Accomplished
    • They traveled farther North than any Europeans before
    • Found Cibola, however, it wasn't made of gold but instead of pueblos
    • Among the first group of Europeans to see the Grand Canyon 
  • What He Found
    • Arrived at Cibola starving
    • Had to force their entry
    • Learned of a great river to the West
    • Thought they might use it to get supplies from their fleet
    • Couldn't use the river (The Colorado River), so they went East along the Rio Grande
    • Stayed in a village they stole from Tiguex natives during winter, caused a war that killed hundreds of natives 
    • A man told Coronado about Quivira, to the East
    • He met the Apaches and was told to travel North to Quivira
    • He sent most of his expedition back to New Mexico
    • He changed his mission from a conquest to a reconnaissance 
    • They traveled far into the great plains and made it all the way to where Dodge City, Kansas would be today
    • After this, he returned to Spain in 1542
  • Consequences of His Voyages
    • The Pueblo Indians suffered greatly because of Coronado attacking them and demanding food and shelter from them
    • He didn't find any wealth and the Spanish didn't return for 39 years 
    • His exploration was not considered to be successful 

Wednesday-

World Explorer Presentations

Hernan Cortes 

  • Background
    • Born in 1485 in Crown of Castile
    • Died on December 2, 1547 in Castilleja de la Cuesta
    • Nationality: Spanish
    • Spouse: Catalina Suarez Marcaida
    • Kids: Marin Cortes and Leonor Cortes
  • What Did He Do?
    • When he was 19, he began sailing to the Americas with a family aquaintance known as Nicolas de Ovando y Caceres
    • The brand new ship was commanded by a man known as Alonso Quintero
    • The ship members all sailed to Hispaniola where Cortes (now Dominican Republic and Haiti) then became a citizen and farmer 
  • Discoveries
    • Hernan was in charge of exploring the interior of Mexico for the colonization of the Spanish
    • He was told he no longer had to charter sail but he did anyways and ended up having 13 ships, 500 men, 13 horses, and a lot of cannons
    • In 1519, he claimed land for the Spanish Empire
    • As he went through the land, he hired more men and got more horses- making his army larger
    • He ended up winning a battle against Native Americans in Tabasco
    • He didn't discover Mexico but he lead the destruction of the Aztec Empire and claimed certain parts of it for the Spanish Empire 

Sebastian Cabot

  • Background
    • His father was John Cabot
    • He was born in 1476 in Bristol Gloucestershire
    • Died in 1557 in London
    • He was a cartographer 
  • Why He Started Exploring
    • He made a voyage to North America with his father
  • Who He Sailed For 
    • He was a cartographer to King Henry VIII in 1512
  • Where He Explored
    • In 1525, he explored Rio de la Plata
    • He took three ships
    • He was banned to Africa because he didn't find any riches 
  • What He Found
    • Parana and Paraguay Rivers
    • Sancti Spiritus (town)
    • In 1527, they found some silver

Sir Francis Drake

  • Background
    • Born: Travistock, United Kingdom (1540)
    • Died: January 27, 1596
    • Nickname: El Draque (Spanish), Draco (Latin)
    • He was a pirate, illicit slave trader, navigator, politician, and privateer
    • He explored South America in 1577
  • Consequences of Him and His Voyages
    • Spanish Armada was destroyed
    • Spanish treasures were stolen
    • Looked at as a pirate 
  • Information
    • Cirumnavigated the globe from 1577-1580
    • Helped defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588
    • Known as the most renowned seaman of the Elizabethan Era
    • King Phillip II was tired of Drake ruining his ships so he set out $2.3 million to whoever could find and kill him.  No one found and killed him 
    • In 1557, he was sent on a secret mission to South America
    • In 1581, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I
    • In 1582, he traveled to Florida from England
    • In 1585, he picked up some people from Roanoke Island 

Thursday- no school

Friday- no school

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