Extractions: Major Explorers of New York State In 1493, Christopher Columbus returned to Spain from America with tales of his voyage to the islands he had discovered off the coast of what he thought was India. Soon other countries in Europe began sending ships to explore these new lands seeking the riches they might provide. One of their primary goals was also to try to find a quicker trade route to Asia, the land of silks and spices. This search for the Northwest Passage lead to many new discoveries and claims. By the early 16 th century (1500âs) France, Italy, and England had begun their explorations. John Cabot John Cabot, like Columbus, believed that Asia could be reached by sailing westward. Cabot, an Italian ship captain, made two voyages to the new world. In 1497, he sailed for the King of England. He reached the northern coast of North America in what today is part of Canada. He sailed southward, exploring possibly as far as New York.
Extractions: In the House of Representatives, Montpelier, Vermont. Mr. President, Members of the Vermont Historical Society, Ladies and Gentlemen: The discovery of America awakened deep interest in European nations, and was followed in the sixteenth century by several trans-Atlantic voyages by Spanish, Portuguese, English and Dutch navigators. French colonization was early directed toward Canada, and in 1535 Jacques Cartier took possession of the northeasterly part of North America under the name of New France. One of the first colonies under M. de Roberval, suffered from the cold, damp climate, famine and disease, and was abandoned. Civil and religious discord obtained in the mother country, and not until Henry of Navarre became Henry IV, and a reign of peace ensued after a century of storm, did the French seriously turn their attention to the colonization of Canada.
