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Why did Europeans look for the Northwest Passage?
In 1609, the merchants of the Dutch East India Company hired English explorer Henry Hudson to find the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Hudson navigated along the North American coast looking for a more southern, ice-free route across the North American continent to the Pacific Ocean.
Who looked for the Northwest Passage?
Sir John Franklin
In May 1845 a celebrated British explorer and naval officer, Sir John Franklin, took up the quest to find a route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Arctic waters. With orders from the British Admiralty, Franklin and a crew of 133 sailed out from the Thames in two massive naval vessels, H.M.S.
Who was the first European explorer to discover a western sea route to the Americas?
The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he stumbled upon the Americas.
What is the Northwest Passage that European explorers searched for from the sixteenth until the twentieth century?
The Northwest Passage – a water route through the islands of northern Canada connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans – a treasure that explorers had sought for centuries. The quest began as a search for a shorter shipping route between Europe and Asia.
Who explored North America and the Arctic voyages of exploration?
Henry Hudson made four voyages in search of a water route to the Far East. His first two voyages were through Arctic waters and proved to be unsuccessful due to ice. His third and fourth voyages were to North America where he discovered and sailed the Hudson River, Hudson Strait, and Hudson Bay.
Why was the Northwest Passage important to explorers?
The various islands of the archipelago are separated from one another and from Mainland Canada by a series of Arctic waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passages or Northwestern Passages. For centuries, European explorers sought a navigable passage as a possible trade route to Asia, but were blocked by ice.
Where did the first explorers enter the Atlantic Ocean?
From east to west, the direction of most early exploration attempts, expeditions entered the passage from the Atlantic Ocean via the Davis Strait and through Baffin Bay, both of which are in Canada.
Who sought the Northwest Passage in 1497?
John Cabot, a Venetian navigator living in England, became the first European to explore the Northwest Passage in 1497. He sailed from Bristol, England, in May with a small crew of 18 men and made landfall somewhere in the Canadian Maritime islands the following month.
Who was the English explorer who explored the New World?
England: John Cabot and Sir Walter Raleigh In 1497 Henry VII of England sponsored an expedition to the New World headed by John Cabot, who explored a part of Newfoundland and reported an abundance of fish.