The definition of the verb "to explore" contains: To seek for or after,
to search through or into, or to penetrate into or range over for purposes
of geographical discovery. (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)
The explorers of the age of exploration met this definition, they were
the reason it was made. All explorers sought to discover certain things,
this was their motive.
One reason some explorers explored was to escape something undesirable.
Eric the red fled Norway with his family, including Leif Ericsson, to escape
punishments for manslaughter. He wouldn't have left if he wouldn't be punished.
He chose to leave Norway and explore instead of punishments for crime.
Jaques Cartier faced something undesirable as well. In France and most
of Europe, a son took the trade of his father. Carrier father was a weaver.
That was the job society offered for him. He decided to explore and sail
instead of weaving. I think neither choice was desirable to him, but it
was either one or the other. Another motive was for wealth and power. This
started Spanish exploration. Cortex, Pizzaro, and Columbus sailed to the
west to find gold and spices, they wanted wealth for themselves and Spain.
Cortex set up the Spanish Empire in Newfoundland. Pizzaro made a settlement
in Peru. As it still is today, the more land a country owns, the more powerful
it is. Other explorers were dying with curiosity. They had many theories
they wanted to prove. But most of all they wanted fame, and a title. Samuel
DeChamplain believed there was a North West passage to China. He wound
up claiming land for France in Canada. He is a well known explorer of the
time. He had a lake named for him, Lake Champlain. The most famous case
of an explorer wanting a title is Columbus. He demanded that he be called
the "admiral of the ocean sea". He was, and still is. Today there are many
places name for him, like Columbus Ohio.
All the explorers searched through their discoveries, they don't just
find land and leave. Leif Ericsson explored the lands he found. Once he
even found indian canoes. Henry Hudson found real natives. He tried to
make peace with them.
Some lands were indeed penetrated and ranged over for the purpose of
geographical discovery. When Cortex settled Newfoundland, he destroyed
the Indian's culture by trying to convert them to christianity. Eventually
the natives died from disease brought by the Europeans. The Spanish did
this to attempt to make a good christian environment.
Leif Ericsson and his father wouldn't have found all these different
places if they didn't have their type of ships. The technology in the ships
is the bare minimum for that distance of sailing. The boats were like half
ovals that swerve down in the middle. They received most of their power
from the wind caught in the one large sail in the near center of the boat.
If the winds were low, the Vikings could paddle the boat with long oars
at the sides. During later years of exploration, around the 1500's, such
devices and tools as, the compass,the astrolabe, the caravels, and the
telescope were invented. They led to greater exploration.
When Eric the Red fled Norway, he had heard rumors of land in the West.
There was no point in going East. He could be found. West seemed like the
best choice. These factors led to his discovery of Greenland.
There are some bad, and some good effects to exploration. After Leif
Ericsson settled Vinland, in fourteen years his brother was killed. They
were forced to leave. As I mentioned before the tribe Cortex found died
out. Champlain got stuck in a huge indian war, Hudson was killed by his
crew, and Cabot disappeared on his second voyage. The good effects were
that we received a full world view, and have been able to settle the Americas.
The explorers each found something valuable, yet got something totally
different than what they expected. Eric The Red only wanted a place for
refuge. He got that. He probably feared Natives or fierce storms as well.
Columbus thought he had reached India by sailing West when he reached America.
Instead of India he found Native Americans and unclaimed land. If he knew
what he actually found he would be shocked.
Even though some explorers failed, others succeeded. Every discovery
made then was a step toward today.
