1. Explorers

2. Vikings The Vikings sailed from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Vikings sailed west and built settlements in Iceland and Greenland. 1000 AD, a Viking named Lief Eriksson hired a crew and set sail from Greenland, heading west. Eriksson found what is now Canada. They called this new land “Vineland”

3. Vikings (Continued) In Vineland many grapevines grew there. The Vikings used Vineland as a base for hunting and fishing. Lief’s brother led one trip to Vineland. They were later attacked by people who lived there. Lief’s brother was killed, and the Vikings stopped traveling to Vineland.

4. Map

5. Vikings

6. Viking Ship Viking Ship

7. Explorers and Exploration Nearly 500 years have passed before the Europeans returned to the Americas. During these years most Europeans did not want to travel to unknown places because it was too dangerous. Some thought horrible sea monsters would eat them or the sea would boil into fire.

8. Myths of the Ocean

9. Marco Polo In 1271, Marco Polo (17 yrs. old) left his home in Venice, Italy to go to Asia with father and uncle to trade and explore. Marco Polo reached China, India, and Persia and explored and learned from each country. 24 years later after leaving he returned to Venice full of jewels and stories of the east. His stories of adventure were later written in a book.

10. Marco Polo

11. Trade Routes to the East For hundreds of years Europeans traded with people from Asia. Europeans wanted gold, jewels, silk, and spices from Asia. They used spices to make their food taste better. Traveling to Asia was hard and it took a long time to reach it. Constantinople was captured by the Turks and took control of the Middle East and stopped all trade.

12. Renaissance Europeans began to make great advances in science and technology (printing press). Europeans entered a new age of thought, learning, art, and science. This period lasted from about 1400 to 1600, and it is called the Renaissance Period. Renaissance is a French word that means “Rebirth”

13. Renaissance

14. Portugal Leads the Way Portugal lead the way to search for the first water route to Asia. Prince Henry (Portugal) set up the first European school to train sailors in navigation. Navigation is the study of how to plan and control the course of a ship. Prince Henry thought the best way to reach Asia was sailing south around Africa.

15. Africa

16. Portugal (Prince Henry) Portuguese ships found nuts, fruit, gold, and slaves down the African coast. Many other Europeans found a profit in placing Africans into slavery and selling them as servants.

17. Vasco da Gama In the late 1400’s Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to India and later sailed back to Portugal with spices. De Gama finally found a sea route to Asia, showing the way for future explorers.

18. Routes of Da Gama Routes of Da Gama

19. Christopher Columbus Columbus had been a sailor almost all of his life. Columbus believed that sailing west would be a quicker route to Asia. In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (Spain) supported Columbus on his voyage. On August 3, 1492, Columbus set forth with 89 sailors and three ships.

20. Columbus

21. Columbus (Continued) Columbus (Continued) On October 12, 1492, Columbus sited the “New World” (somewhere in the Bahamas) Columbus made a total of four voyages to the new world. Columbus died on May 20, 1506, and always believed that reached Asia. He thought he reached the Indies, and called the people he met “Indians.”

22. Vespucci Challenges Columbus In 1499, Amerigo Vespucci (Spain) sailed to the place where Columbus first landed. He then sailed on his 2 nd voyage to present day Argentina (South America). Vespucci knew that he had not reached Asia, and proved Columbus wrong. Vespucci formed a conclusion that the land they found must be another continent known as the “New World”

23. Vespucci

24. Balboa Reaches the Pacific Ocean On September 27, 1513, a group of explorers lead by Vasco Nunez de Balboa climbed up a mountain. It was the west coast of what today is called the Isthmus of Panama. An Isthmus is a narrow strip of land that connects two larger land areas. The Isthmus of Panama connects North and South America.

25. Balboa (Continued) As Balboa reached the top of the mountain he fell to his knees, he saw a huge sea of blue. The sea was later known as the Pacific Ocean, and Balboa said it now belonged to Spain.

26. Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean

27. Ferdinand Magellan’s In 1519, a Portuguese explorer (Magellan) convinced the king of Spain to pay for his expedition. An expedition is a journey taken for a special reason. Magellan sailed through what is now called the Strait of Magellan, near the southern tip of South American. The sailors found themselves in the same ocean Balboa had seen.

28. Magellan Magellan named it Pacific, which means “peaceful” because the water seemed so still and quiet compared to the Atlantic Ocean. In 1521, Magellan reached the Philippine Islands (but died there). It was now proved that Europeans could sail west and reach Asia.

29. Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan