English Explorer: John Cabot Placard

One of the main motivating factors for European exploration was to trade with the Indies.  England, Spain, and France were in competition with each other for this trade.  In 1497, England’s King Henry hired John Cabot to find a quick route to the Indies to beat out Spain and France.

Like Christopher Columbus (which you studied in elementary school), Cabot felt he could reach the Indies by selling west.  Columbus had already discovered islands, which he thought, was off the coast of China.  Cabot’s plan was to reach the mainland.  He planned to sail further north.

Cabot set sail in May 1497 with a crew of 18 men.  Because ships depended on the wind for power it took several weeks before they spotted land.  When Cabot reached the shore, he claimed the land for England.  Cabot called the land Newfoundland, which he thought, was in northeast Asia. 

Cabot and his crew sailed south along the coastline.  While exploring he discovered that this area was abundant with codfish.  Cabot and his crew returned to England on in August 1497 to report their discoveries. 

In 1498 Cabot left England once again with five ships.  This voyage is still a mystery today.  Only one ship returned to England.  No one knows what happened to the other four ships or to John Cabot.  Was it a storm, a pirate raid, the mystery still remains.

Like Columbus, John Cabot believed he had reached the Indies.  Both explorers had landed on a new continent, North America.  The importance of John Cabot’s travels is that he actually explored eastern Canada.