Pedro Cabral

In 1513, Spain sponsored an explorer named Vasco Núñez de Balboa. He was the first European to find the Pacific Ocean. Knowledge of the Pacific gave evidence that the land was not the East Indies. This inspired further exploration.

Spain paid Christopher Columbus to sail across the Atlantic in 1492. Columbus hoped to reach India by sailing west. Instead, his ships landed in the Caribbean. There, Columbus met the Taíno people. Columbus’s voyage increased Europe’s interest in exploration and led to many other voyages and colonies.

France hoped to find a northwest passage to reach the Pacific Ocean through North America. In 1534, France paid for Jacques Cartier to search. Cartier sailed up rivers in what is now Canada. He didn’t find a route to the Pacific, but he did meet the Mi’kmaq people and the powerful Iroquois Confederacy. Cartier’s trips started French trade in North America.

Learning from Columbus, John Cabot became interested in finding a shorter route across the ocean. England sponsored Cabot to sail through the North Atlantic in 1497. Cabot thought he had landed in Asia, but it was actually what is now Canada. His voyage proved a northern route to the Americas could work. He met the Eastern Woodland American Indians.

In 1500, Portugal paid for Pedro Cabral to take 13 ships to India for trade. Cabral’s plan was to sail around Africa but on the way, his ships sailed far into the Atlantic. This misdirection caused Cabral to land on the coast of South America. He met the Tupiniquim people. Cabral and his ships then sailed east across the Atlantic and around the southern tip of Africa to India.