California History
Explorers
Lesson 12
At one time, the Europeans believed the world was flat and that if they traveled far enough, they would fall off the edge of the world. Isaiah 40:22 says, “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, . . “ Maybe if the Europeans had studied their Bible more, they would have realized what the shape of the earth really was. There were many European explorers who helped bring people to California. These included:
Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Hernando Cortés, Ferdinand Magellan, Francisco de Ulloa, Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo, Francis Drake, and Sebastian Vizcaino
Christopher Columbus
During Christopher Columbus’ time, men from Europe had to make long, difficult trips to trade with Asia for things like spices, silk and jade. They had to sail all the way around Africa or travel overland on camels. Christopher Columbus believed he could find a shorter route to Asia by sailing west. He was born in Italy, but the king there would not give him money for an expedition. He then asked the king and queen of Spain who said yes. He left on August 3, 1492 from Barcelona, Spain with three ships. On October 11, the group sighted land and the next day they landed on an island in the Caribbean. Because they thought they were in India, they mistakenly called the people there Indians. Today we call these islands the West Indies. Although Columbus did not find North America or California, he pioneered the way for others.
Date - 1492
Sent from - Spain
Sent to - find a shorter route to Asia
Found - the Caribbean islands
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Amerigo Vespucci
The king of Portugal wanted Vespucci to explore the lands Columbus had found. He found the eastern coast of South America and explored it with his men. He realized this was not Asia, but a new land. He wrote letters to friends back home that were published. Europeans began calling this new land “America” after Vespucci.
Date - 1501
Sent from - Portugal
Sent to - explore the lands found by Columbus
Found - a new land; South America
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Hernando Cortes
Cortes was sent from Spain. He went from Cuba to the Gulf of Mexico to southern Mexico. He met the Aztecs who lived in beautiful cities and who had much silver and gold. Cortes conquered these people and claimed the land for Spain. He then moved on to the west coast of Mexico and sailed north to a group of islands about 100 miles off the coast. There were no riches there, so he returned to Mexico. While passing Lower California, he thought he’d found another island. But it is a peninsula that today we call Baja California which means lower California in Spanish. On May 3, 1535, Cortes entered Lower California bay and took possession of it for Spain. This led to the later exploration of Alta, or upper, California.
Date - 1518
Sent from - Spain
Sent to - explore the New World
Found - Lower California
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1) Make a foldable timeline with picture, map and info about each explorer
Filler
1) Who Discovered America?, Explorer Word Search, p. 32
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Books related to this topic:
Columbus by Ingri D'Aulaire, Edgar Parin D'Aulaire
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