francis drake was the first explorer sailing under the flag of england to reach the new world.
francis drake was the first explorer sailing under the flag of england to reach the new world.
who was the first explorer sailing under the flag of england to reach the new world?
francis drake
the early european explorers were responsible for charting much of what would become the east and west coasts of canada as well as the arctic. john cabot, the italian explorer sailing under the english flag made two voyages to north america in 1497 and 1498 along the coast of what is now called newfoundland. gaspar corte-real, the portuguese explorer, is thought to have explored the area along the newfoundland, labrador and greenland coasts in 1500 and 1501. in 1524, giovanni da verrazzano sailing under the french flag, explored the east coast of north america from cape fear to newfoundland. during voyages of exploration in 1534 and 1535–1536, the french explorer jacques cartier "discovered" and mapped the st. lawrence river as far inland as hochelaga (montreal). samuel de champlain is well known for his explorations of the st lawrence and acadia, in 1603 and 1604.
natural scientific research in canada
the governor of guatemala also determined to build a pacific fleet on the west coast of guatemala, for use in an attempt to cross the pacific to asia. ferdinand magellan, the portuguese explorer sailing for spain, had shown in 1521 that the pacific ocean could be crossed from south america. hence, beginning in 1536, using hardware from spain (such as anchors) hauled across the isthmus of central america, and local hardwoods, a flotilla of some thirteen ships was built over the next four years. after much difficulty, the larger number of these ships (under the command of ruy lópez de villalobos) was ordered to make the first crossing of the pacific ocean from north america to the philippines. a smaller number was placed under the command of juan rodríguez cabrillo, a portuguese navigator sailing for the spanish crown. cabrillo was ordered north along the west coast of north america to explore the expected coastal route to reach the asian mainland, as well as attempt to find the strait of anián.
history of the west coast of north america