Biographies of the New World

Biographies of the New World — page 3 — INTRODUCTION he New World refers to the Western Hemisphere namely what is now North and South America At the time the name originated these regions were first being explored by European navigators such as Christopher Columbus John Cabot and Amerigo Vespucci Peter Martyr d Anghiera an Italian scholar of the era used the term New World in his chronicles of Columbus's voyages and other early Spanish explora tions Vespucci and Giovanni da Verrazzano also used the term when referring to their voyages across the Atlantic These early explorations of the New World beginning with Columbus s voyage of 1492 came during a great period of explora tion known as the Age of Discovery It was a time of great economic expansion for Europe which along with Asia and Africa came to be known as the Old World In the 15th and 16th centuries explorers from Spain Portugal France England and the Netherlands among other powers charted these territories largely in search of new trade routes In addi tion to Columbus and Vespucci some of the most notable names of this era included Juan Ponce de Leon Ferdinand Magellan Hernán

Biographies of the New World — page 4 — INTRODUCTION Cortés and Hernando de Soto Though they were all in search of something in their explo rations the New World offered different opportunities to each of them While many sought new lands and trade routes for their countries others had more personal motives such as wealth and fame Cortés de Soto and others followed reports of civilizations rich in gold for instance Ponce de Leon sought the fabled Fountain of Youth In the course of their expeditions many New World explorers mapped the regions they covered and documented their findings giving those back home a picture of these newly found lands and the notion that the world was far more vast than they had ever imagined In the late 18th century James Cook an explorer and skilled mapmaker surveyed much of the Pacific including the coastline of northwestern North America Between 1804 and 1806 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark charted the newly pur chased Louisiana Territory for the United States In addition to mapping the land Lewis and Clark documented the native peo ples and described 178 plants and 122 animals previously unknown to science Around the

Biographies of the New World — page 5 — BIOGRAPHIES OF THE NEW WORLD LEIF ERIKsson same time Alexander von Humboldt traveled extensively in Central and South America returning home with valuable information on the weather geology and plants and animals of those regions Another scientist whose work was inspired by a New World expedi tion was Charles Darwin His observations of the natural world during his voyage around South America in the 1830s were pivotal to his formulation of the theory of evolution Before the 15th century the New World was a place of great unknowns The explor ers profiled in this book though motivated by different goals all played a role in filling those gaps in knowledge They opened the eyes of the Old World to new lands peoples cultures and plants and animals and a bet ter understanding of the world in general 10

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