The Europeans Come to North America 4

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Figure 4.9 This painting, The Ambassadors, was painted in 1533 by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543). The objects in thepainting show some of the advances made during the Renaissance. Inventions include a sextant and astrolabe, navigationinstruments that allowed sailors to travel the world’s oceans. Books show how new ideas could be spread to everyone. Theglobes show how knowledge of the world was growing. The carpets on the floor and table reflect the ongoing trade betweenEurope and East Asia.The power of the ChurchIn the mid-1500s, most Europeans followedone of two Christian traditions. RomanCatholics followed the traditional teachingsof the Roman Catholic Church. In the early1500s, some people had disagreed with theCatholic Church and formed their owngroup, known as the Protestants (becausethey had protested some of the CatholicChurch’s main teachings). This was importantto exploration, because the Catholicpopes made decisions about who couldclaim what lands in the New World.Throughout Europe, countries such asFrance, Spain, and Portugal remained Catholic.Other countries such as England and theNetherlands followed the Protestant faith.The Europeans Come to North America 59
The EmpiresDuring the Renaissance, kings and queenshired explorers and crews to expand theirempires, or the lands they controlled allover the world. They competed for newlands, slaves, trade routes, and preciousgoods like spices and gold. They also wantedto spread their religions to people in newlands. The public loved to hear about exoticplaces, and many explorers wrote storiesbased on their experiences. Becausesensational stories sold, some explorerseven altered their adventures to includestories of fantastical people.Sometimes, explorers made their tripssound more successful than they were. Bydoing this, many got sponsors to fund theirexpeditions. One explorer, for example,reported that the Aboriginal peoples ofNorth America were Chinese. Others wrotethat they had found a river in North Americathat would take them to the Pacific andacross Asia. In truth, no one had any ideahow wide North America was, and theearliest maps often show coastline witha rather skinny strip of land (see p. 64).Figure 4.10 Christopher Columbus travelled to Spain to findbacking for his travels. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabellawere eager to find a way to the riches of Asia and so fundedColumbus’s expeditions to search for a passage to Asia.At first, the search for a NorthwestPassage was the reason for much of earlyNorth American exploration. Soon, however,explorers began to realize the enormous sizeof North America. They knew it would beboth costly and difficult to find a way aroundor through the continent. At about the sametime, they also discovered new riches onthe lands that they were exploring. Gold andsilver from South and Central America, andluxurious furs from North America would bevaluable goods in Europe.Explorers began claiming more andmore land for the rulers of the countriessponsoring their expeditions. In turn, therulers started to plan colonies in thesenewly claimed lands. They wanted to makesure they could control both the peopleand the riches they found there.Some of the countries that exploredduring this period of exploration arediscussed below.PortugalOne of the first people to finance explorationsduring this time was Henry the Navigator,the king of Portugal. During the 1430s,he founded a court to which he invitedEurope’s best cartographers (mapmakers),shipbuilders, astronomers, instrumentmakers, and sailors. Portugal, located onthe Atlantic Ocean, was active in explorationduring the 1400s and 1500s.SpainEager to find a way to the riches of Asia,the royal court of Spain sponsored manyexpeditions to search for a passage to the East.When the Spaniards found gold and silver inSouth America and Central America, they60 People and Stories of Canada to 1867 • Chapter 4
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The Europeans Come to North America 4

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