Explorers and Their Quest for North America

by Philip J Potter

Overview

On 11 October 1492 the sun set on a clear Atlantic Ocean horizon and the night was cloudless with a late rising moon. As the lookouts high in the riggings of Christopher Columbus’ three ships strained their eyes into the golden light of the moon, near two o’clock in the morning the watchman on the Pinta shouted out, “Land, land” igniting the era of exploration to the New World. The Age of Discovery became an epic adventure sweeping across the continent of North America, as the trailblazers dared to challenge the unknown wilderness to advance mankind’s knowledge of the world.

Explorers and Their Quest for North America traces the history of the discovery, exploration and settlement of the western hemisphere through the comprehensive biographies of fourteen explorers, who had the courage and inquisitiveness to search the limits of the world.

The book features many famous adventurers including Hernan Cortes whose victorious battles against the Aztecs conquered Mexico for Spain, Henry Hudson’s sea voyages in search of the Northwest Passage led to the colonization of New York and exploration of the Hudson Bay in Canada, while Meriwether Lewis’ journey across the Louisiana Purchase began the mass migration of settlers to western America. Among the lesser known explorers discussed in the work are Vitus Bering whose discovery of Alaska established Russia’s claim to the region and Alexander Mackenzie’s 107-day trek across western Canada that opened the frontier to settlement, commerce and development of its natural resources.

From Columbus to Lewis the exploration of the New World became one of humankind’s greatest quests that altered history forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526720535
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	06/01/2018
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	878,754
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Philip J. Potter is a graduate of Furman University with a B. A. degree in humanity studies and earned a Master’s Degree from Georgia State University in Atlanta. His business career of over thirty years was spent in the banking industry where his primary responsibilities were as a financial writer of economic forecast, investment analysis and portfolio strategies. _Explorers Discovering North America_ is his fifth historical book and is the result of over fifty years of reading and interest in the Age of Discovery. He lives with his wife, Joyce, in a northern suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.

Table of Contents

Preface 7

Discoverer of the New World Christopher Columbus 11

First European to Reach and Explore the North American Mainland John Cabot 33

Conqueror of Mexico Herman Cortes 47

Founder of New France Jacques Cartier 67

Explorer of American South-east and Discoverer of the Mississippi River Hernando de Soto 84

Laid the Foundation for the Spanish Colonization of the American South-west Francisco Coronado 108

Father of French Canada Samuel de Champlain 127

Mercenary Soldier, Governor of the Jamestown Colony and Explorer of the American Coastline Captain John Smith 149

Explorer of the Hudson River Valley and Canadian Arctic Henry Hudson 171

Explorer of the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley Robert Cavelier de La Salle 189

Discoverer and Explorer of the Coastline of Alaska Vitus Bering 208

Frontiersman and Pioneer in the Ohio Valley Daniel Boone 228

Pathfinder of Western Canada Sir Alexander Mackenzie 249

Captain of the Corps of Discovery Expedition Across the Louisiana Purchase Meriwether Lewis 268

Conclusion 289

Maps 290

Bibliography 296

Index 300