A. Early Exploration

From HCO Jr

Part 2. Explorers of Canada → A. Early Exploration → B. Contact and Conquest → C. First Explorers →D. Cartier & Champlain →E. The Fur Traders → E. Later Explorers

Who Discovered North America?

Today we know that Columbus was not the first person to discover North America. The very first people here were the First Nations. They entered North America tens of thousands of years before Columbus. People spread across North America, into Central America, and all the way down to the tip of South America. Native peoples such as the Arawak and Carib tribes lived in the Caribbean islands.

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Irish Monks

There are stories of Irish monks travelling to a new land. Irish monks travelled to Scotland and other islands north of Scotland. When the Vikings landed in Iceland in the 800s AD they found Irish monks already living there. It is clear that these monks travelled far and wide.

St. Brendan and His Monks

There is a story of a monk named Saint Brendan who reached a new land sometime in the 500s AD. Brendan's story tells how he and 17 other monks sailed around the North Atlantic for seven years. Finally they landed in a new land. They brought back fruit and precious stones.

Did Brendan land in Newfoundland? Historians are not sure. It is possible since the monks could travel from island to island (like the Vikings) until they reached Newfoundland. In 1977 an adventurer named Tim Severin built a boat just like the one used by Brendan. It is called a curragh. It is a small boat made of wood and ox skins. Severin sailed from Ireland to Newfoundland in this boat. This proved that a simple boat could make the trip.

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The Vikings

Norse Discoveries in North America

Vikings is a name given to a people who lived in Scandinavia (the countries of Norway, Sweden and Finland). They are also called the Norse. Over 1000 years ago the Vikings were spreading into new territory. Unlike the story of St. Brendan historians have proof that the Norse landed in Newfoundland.

It is hard to believe that the Norse could sail all the way from Scandinavia to Newfoundland. Their boats were very simple. The Vikings did not sail in one long trip from Norway to Canada. Instead, the Vikings sailed short distances, created settlements, and then sailed further west.

Leif Eriksson Sights Newfoundland

Vikings first settled in northern Scotland and Ireland. Then they sailed west to Iceland and built settlements there. Vikings were brave explorers. They continued west and settled in southern Greenland in 985 AD. Finally, in 1000 AD, they created a settlement in Newfoundland.

Leif Eriksson and his brother Thorvald were the leaders of the Viking settlement in Labrador. Eriksson was looking for a place to repair his ships, and he found a good harbour in Newfoundland. A small group of Vikings built a few huts and a ship repair shop at a place called L'Anse aux Meadows. Eriksson called the area Vinland because of wild grapes growing there.

Norse Battle with the Skraelings

L'Anse aux Meadows only lasted for one year. Viking stories called sagas tell how people living in Vinland attacked the Vikings and drove them out. Vikings called these people Skraelings. We do not know exactly why the Vikings and Skraelings fought. Vikings were aggressive people who loved to fight. The Skraelings wanted their metal weapons and tools. The Vikings attacked the Skraelings and drove them off. But it was too dangerous to stay. After only a year the Vikings left Vinland and did not return.

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Excavating L'Anse aux Meadows

The Ingstads at Anse aux Meadows

For many years people did not believe the Viking sagas. Historians thought they were simple stories. In 1960 a Norwegian archaeologist Helge Ingstad and his wife Anne discovered the Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows. They excavated (carefully dug up) artefacts. They found that the settlement was created around 1000 AD.

L'Anse aux Meadows was a very simple settlement. Houses were built of sod (very thick grass), logs and stone. Only eight buildings existed. Historians think that 75 Norse lived here. Both men and women lived in the settlement. Historians believe this because they found tools that both men and women used.

Replica Sod Houses at Anse aux Meadows Historic Site

Today L'Anse aux Meadows is a national historic site.

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Why Did the Europeans Start Exploring?

People explore for many different reasons. Today people explore to learn about nature, animals, or the universe. Exploration today is concerned more with learning more about the world around us.

In the past people explored for different reasons. Some people explored to learn new things, but there were other reasons too. These different reasons are explained below.

Trade

Marco Polo in China

Europeans did not explore the world to discover new things. Today people explore space or the oceans to learn about the environment or to further science. Five hundred years ago explorers in Europe looked for new lands to become rich. They wanted to bring back valuable resources and sell them for gold or silver.

Map of the Silk Road Travelled by Marco Polo

All of the explorers were looking for Asia: China, India and Japan. In the 1271 an Italian trader named Marco Polo travelled to China with his father and uncle (who had been there once before). It took them 3.5 years to reach China. When Marco Polo returned to Italy he brought back valuable silk and spices.

Marco Polo discovered an important trade route that led to China called the Silk Road. It was called this because of the valuable and beautiful silk cloth that the Chinese produced. For many years Italian ships sailed to eastern cities like Constantinople. Traders from the Middle East brought silk, exotic wood, spices and other things to Constantinople over the Silk Road.

Vasco da Gama

In 1453 this trade stopped. People called the Turks conquered the city of Constantinople. They closed off the Silk Road. People in Europe still wanted many things from Asia. Traders needed to find another route to Asia.

Vasco da Gama from Portugal was the first to sail around Africa to get to India. This was a very long and dangerous route. To sail from Portugal to India and back again took one year. Quite often ships sank and never made it back home.

Some traders thought they could sail west across the Atlantic Ocean and reach Asia. They thought this would be a faster route than sailing around Africa. When Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492 he thought he would arrive in Asia in a few months. Instead he arrived in the Caribbean.

Some people think Columbus was trying to prove the world was round by sailing across the world. This is not true. Over 1000 years before Columbus the ancient Greeks proved the world was round. Sailors did not think they would sail off the edge of the world if they went too far across the Atlantic Ocean.

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Religion

A Picture of Christian Missionary Jacques Marquette

A Missionary talks to an Aboriginal Person

Once Europeans found the Americas (North, Central and South) other people began to arrive. Some people who came were priests and ministers from different Christian religions. They came to convert First Nations to Christianity. These people are called missionaries.

First Nations people in the New World (which is what Europeans called the Americas) already had their own religious beliefs. Christian missionaries, however, did not think that First Nations' beliefs were correct. Missionaries thought that Christianity was the only true religion. They tried to convert First Nations to Christianity. This means they tried to convince First Nations to give up their beliefs and become Christian.

Missionaries thought that they were helping First Nations. They believed that if someone did not become Christian their souls would not go to heaven when they died. Missionaries did not always have a good impact on First Nations. They brought diseases such as smallpox and influenze to them by accident. Many First Nations died from these diseases.

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Route to Asia

Explorers, for a very long time, were looking for a trade route to Asia. All of the early explorers hoped they would find a river or large lake that would let them sail through North America and find the Pacific Ocean. Obviously they never found this.

Today we have large maps of Canada and the United States. We know how big these countries are. You have to remember that only a few hundred years ago these maps did not exist. Early explorers did not know how big North America is.

Sanson's Atlas of 1650 showing the unknown parts of the Arctic

For hundreds of years many different explorers kept looking for a route to Asia. Eventually they even started to look in the arctic. Some people believed that there was an ice-free water route through the Arctic Ocean. They called this the Northwest Passage. It was never found because it doesn't exist. Parts of the Arctic Ocean are ice-free for only a short period of time each year. Until modern ships and ice-breakers were invented sailing ships could not travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic Ocean.

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Claiming Land

A Portuguese Ship

European kings also wanted to claim land. They hoped that the lands they found would provide them with great wealth: gold, silver, spices and exotic materials. These were the things Europeans traded for in Asia.

None of the land found by Europeans was uninhabited. People lived all through the Americas. The land was already claimed by different people. Europeans, however, did not think that First Nations could claim land. They created various laws and rules stating that non-Christian people could not own land. Since none of the First Nations were Christian the Europeans took their land. Sometimes they did so violently (often in the case of Spain), or it happened slowly over time (in the case of France and England).

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The Cod Fishery

After Columbus' discovery other European countries began to send explorers across the Atlantic. They were all looking for a route to Asia. Today we know there the only natural route is to sail around South America. However, 500 years ago Europeans knew very little geography and did not know how big North, Central and South America are.

The Grand Banks, where the cold Labrador Current (blue) meets the warm Gulf Stream (yellow)

Some countries thought that a route to Asia might be further north. They sent ships across the north Atlantic. Eventually these ships ended up on an area of Canada known as the Grand Banks. This region of the ocean is close to Newfoundland. Water in the Grand Banks is shallower than other parts of the Atlantic Ocean. This allows many fish to live there. The most important fish the Europeans found was cod.

Fish was a very important source of food in Europe at this time. People did not have very much money. Buying beef, chicken, pork, lamb and other types of meat was expensive. Fish was a cheaper source of protein for people.

To keep fish from going bad people salted it. When it was caught the fish was cut open and covered with salt. This dried out the fish and kept it fresh. People could buy fish and keep it for days.

The Atlantic Cod

There was one more important reason why fish was important: people ate it for religious reasons. Many people in Europe at this time were part of the Catholic religion. On certain days Catholics are not allowed to eat meat, but fish is not considered meat. At this time in Europe there were over 100 days that were 'meatless.'

John Cabot on the Matthew

The first European to discover the Grand Banks and the cod was an Italian sailor named Giovanni Caboto. Caboto was exploring for England. That is why he is also called John Cabot.

Cabot wrote in his diary that one day his ship became stuck in the water because there were so many cod fish. His sailors lowered buckets on ropes into the water. When they pulled the buckets back up they were filled with cod.

Cabot returned and reported what he found. Within a few years fishing ships from Spain, England, France and Portugal were on the Grand Banks fishing for cod. Every spring dozens of ships travelled to Canada to catch fish.

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Fishing Fleets on the Grand Banks

The Green Fishery

There were two different ways to catch and prepare cod fish. Sailors could not just catch fish and bring them back to Europe. By the time they sailed back (which took at least 3 weeks) the fish spoiled. Something had to be done to preserve the fish. Green fishing was the easiest way. When fish were caught they were brought on to the ship. Men split the fish open, cleaned them out, and packed them into barrels filled with salt.

This was called the "green fishery" because the fish were not dried before salting. Some fish went bad before the ship arrived back in Europe. However, this was a faster way to fish. French and Spanish fishing ships used the green method more often than other ships.
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Picture of the Dry Fishery in Newfoundland

The Dry Fishery

Many English fishing ships used the dry fishing method. In this method the fish were caught, but brought on shore. Men built shelter for the spring and summer and lived on shore for many weeks. Fish were cleaned, and placed on racks in the air to dry. Salt was placed on them too. When the fish were dry the men placed them in barrels with more salt. This was called the "dry fishery" because the fish were dried before the men put them in barrels to bring back to Europe.