2.2 | Key European Explorers and Their Impact

Prince Henry the Navigator

Funded exploration schools and voyages along Africa’s coast.

Bartolomeu Dias

First European to reach the southern tip of Africa (Cape of Good Hope) in 1488.

Vasco da Gama

First European to reach India by sea in 1498, creating a direct trade route.

Christopher Columbus

Sponsored by Spain in 1492, he landed in the Caribbean believing he was in India.

Ferdinand Magellan

Led the first expedition to sail around the world (1519-1522) but died before completion.

Hernán Cortés

Conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico in 1519 using superior weapons and alliances.

Francisco Pizarro

Conquered the Inca Empire in Peru in 1532 by capturing emperor Atahualpa.

John Cabot

Claimed Newfoundland for England in 1497.

Jacques Cartier

Explored the St. Lawrence River in Canada in 1534.

Henry Hudson

Explored the Hudson River and Hudson Bay in the early 1600s for both Dutch and English.

European exploration

Led to the claiming of new lands, establishment of trade routes, and colonization of the Americas.

Impact of exploration

Changed history forever by opening the Americas to European colonization.