Explorers

Who was known for heading west in 1492 to find a trade route to Asia and landed in the Bahamas. He thought he was in India and it would later be known that it was actually new land. He claimed the land he explored for Spain.

• Hernando de Soto

• Christopher Columbus

• Amerigo Vespucci

• Hernando Cortes

When he came across the Aztec's and viewed their religious rituals, he thought they were savages. He is known for conquering the Aztec's and taking their cities and claiming them for Spain.

• Daniel Boone

• Vasco Da Gama

• Lewis and Clark

• Hernando Cortes

This explorer was looking for the Fountain of Youth in Florida. Although he never found it, he claimed all the land he explored for Spain.

• Ferdinand Megellan

• Jacques Cartier

• Ponce de Leon

• John Cabot

These explorers were known for mapping out the Louisiana Territory, west of the Mississippi River, that was purchased by President Thomas Jefferson, at that time, for $15 million.

• Lewis and Clark

• Marquette and Joliet

• John Cabot

• George Vancouver

This was the first explorer to set foot on North America. He created a settlement called Vinland, which eventually failed for unknown reasons.

• Amerigo Vespucci

• Leif Ericksson

• James Cook

• Christopher Columbus

This explorer was known for mapping out the Pacific Ocean. Along the way, he discovered New Zealand and Australia. He was killed by the Natives living in Hawaii.

• Hernando de Soto

• Robert Peary

• Francisco Vasquez de Coronado

• James Cook

This explorer was known for figuring out that Christopher Columbus found new land instead of making it to India. This is why this "new" land was named after him.

• Christopher Columbus

• Amerigo Vespucci

• Hernano Cortes

• Leif Ericksson

This explorer is given the credit for being the first person to circumnavigate, or travel all the way around the world, even though he died along the way. His crew finished the journey for him.

• Christopher Columbus

• Henry Hudson

• David Livingstone

• Ferdinand Magellan

Who was known for founding Jamestown settlement in the British Colonies in the U.S. and governing the settlement?

• Sir John Franklin

• Sir Walter Raleigh

• John Smith

• Robert Peary

In 1513, who was the 1st European to see the Pacific Ocean while standing in the Americas?

• Vasco Nunez de Balboa

• Roald Amundsen

• Juan Ponce de Leon

• Henry Morton Stanley