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Explorers have existed as long as man has been around. The first explorers that inhabited North America immigrated by the land bridge that connected North America to the Soviet Union. Exploration has always gone on continuously, as it still does today. Marco Polo's trip to China,and the book written about his trip set the imagination of many men. Perhaps the most famous was Christopher Columbus.

Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451 and first went to sea at the age of fourteen. As a young man, he settled in Portugal and married a woman of noble background. After his wife's death in 1485, Columbus and his young son, Diego moved to Spain. Like all learned men of his time, Columbus knew the world was round. He theorized that since the earth was a sphere, a ship could eventually reach the Far East from the opposite direction. He hoped to establish trade routes to Asia in this manner. In the 1400's Europeans were not aware of the South and North American continents. Map makers (scroll down at this link for1482 map) did not show an accurate picture and no one knew there was a Pacific Ocean.

For a decade, Columbus approached the Portuguese king and the Spanish monarchs to obtain a grant to explore possible trade routes to the west. After initially turning him down, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella reconsidered after many years of war in Spain ended in 1492.

Columbus promised to bring back gold, spices, and silks from the Far East, to spread Christianity, and to lead an expedition to China. Here again, the travels of Marco Polo played into the Spanish Exploration of the "New World".

Another important explorer that left from Spain was Amerigo (Americus) Vespucci. As you can see from his name, his importance to exploration is recognized as his name was given to our continent, America.
He worked in the trading business in Seville, Spain and as probably there when Christopher Columbus returned from his first journey to the New World. He then helped Columbus get ships ready for his second and third voyages to the New World.

Vespucci was a skilled navigator. As a trader, he was very interested in finding a quicker way to sail to Asia. He went on at least two, and possibly four, voyages to Central and South America between 1497 and 1504 for Spain and Portugal. He went to many places, including Venezuela and Brazil.

After his explorations in 1501-1502, he was one of the first explorers to come up with the idea that these places he had visited were not part of Asia (as Columbus thought) but rather were part of a "New World." In 1507, a pamphlet was published called "The Four Voyages of Amerigo" and the author suggested that the new land that Amerigo had explored be named in his honor. At first, the name of America was only meant to apply to South America, but later on, both continents of America became known by his name.

One explorer that came through Georgia was Hernando De Soto (1539-1542). In 1539, Hernando de Soto, the Spanish conquistador, landed at what is now Shaw's Point in Bradenton Florida, and began his 4,000 mile search for El Dorado, the legendary lost city of gold. This search covered much of the southeast.

The world wide web has many excellent resources for further study of explorers. Below you will find direct links to the listed explorers, and below many links to even more information about exploration.

Hernando Cortes - Ponce de Leon - Vasco Nunez de Balboa

Web Resources

European Explorers in the "New World" - A 5th Grade Explorer Project - This web site provides links to biographies on a number of European Explorers.

Explorers on the Web - great site for 4th/5th grade classes - list by country and explorer

Expanding Horizons - A very extensive site with pictures and maps. Focus is on expansion of trade, not on individual biographies of explorers.

Spain Comes to America - This lesson introduces some of the first European explorers in the Americas and describes their influence on colonization. Students visit St. Augustine, Florida, site of the first European settlement in America. They visit a Spanish fort and learn about the relationship of the Spanish with both the native Timucuan people and the English who arrived later. Site also has a great list of links

The Columbus Navigation Homepage -Examining the History, Navigation, and Landfall of Christopher Columbus Excellent site with much useful information about Columbus and his exploration.