This presentation covers Virginia SOL USI,4a, which is European exploration. The student will demonstrate knowledge of European explorations in North America and West Africa by describing the motivations for, obstacles to, and accomplishments of the Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English explorations.

1. EUROPEAN
EXPLORATION
Mr. Barnett

2. EXPLORATION OF THE NEW
WORLD
Warm up:
1. List a goal that you have had and
accomplished.
2. What motivated you to complete this
goal?
3. What are some obstacles you faced?
4. What did you accomplish after
completing this goal?

3. Card Sort:
Motivation Obstacle Accomplishment

4. Definitions
• Motivation- a feeling that causes one to do
something
• Obstacle- something that gets in your way.
• Accomplishment- the completion of
something. A successful achievement.

5. Think-Pair-Share
• Why do you think Europeans wanted to
leave their country to come to America?
•
•
•
•

6. Motivations for Exploration
• Marco Polo and the printing press
influenced Europeans to want to Explore.

7. Motivations for Explorations
• Economic:
• Gold
• Natural resources
• Trade
• Religious- spread Christianity
• Competition for empire and belief in
superiority of own culture

8. Obstacles of Exploration
• Poor maps and navigational tools
• Disease / starvation
• Fear of unknown “?”
• Lack of adequate supplies

9. Accomplishments of Exploration
• Exchanged goods and ideas
• Improved ships (such as the caravels:
smaller and faster)
• Claimed territories (Map)
• Improved navigational tools such as the
compass.

12. European Nation’s
Race of Exploration
Mr. Barnett

13. Warm-up
• Name 1 accomplishment European
Explorers experienced.
• Name 2 obstacles they faced on their
journey.
• Name 3 motivations of European Explorers
to travel North America.

14. Video Hook: Google Earth.
• http://vimeo.com/15566561

15. England: John Cabot
• Giovanni Caboto was an Italian sailor who shared Columbus’s
ideas about westward route to Asia but no one in Italy or Spain
would pay for his trip.
• He decided to move to England and changed his name to John
Cabot, and eventually got the king to fund him. Cabot set sail
under England’s flag in 1497 with one ship and a crew of 18
men.
• John Cabot explored eastern Canada

16. England: John Cabot’s Route

17. Spain: Coronado
• By 1540 Spain had a large colony in
what is now Mexico.
• Francisco Coronado took 300
soldiers and 1,000 enslaved Indians
and headed to what is today the
American Southwest in search of
the Seven Cities of Gold.
• Francisco Coronado was a
Conquistador- the conquerors.
Conquered and enslaved American
Indians
• Brought Christianity to the New
World

18. Francisco Coronado
What American Indian group did Coronado conquer?

19. France: Champlain
• By 1600 the French wanted to
start colonies in North America,
so the king of France sent veteran
sea captain Samuel Champlain
to find a suitable spot.
• For the next few years he
explored much of what is now
southeastern Canada.
• He sailed along the St.
Lawrence River to an
Algonquin settlement called
Quebec which means “the
Narrows.”

20. France: Salle
• Being a successful fur trader in Canada was not enough
glory for Robert La Salle.
• He wanted more, so he set off to explorer the Great Lakes.
Later, he led a group down the Mississippi River.
• His men paddled for two months until they reach the Gulf of
Mexico.
• He claimed a HUGE area for France. All of the land from
the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains.

21. Portugal
• The Portuguese made
voyages of discovery along
the coast of West Africa.