European Exploration of America
By the year 1000 (A.D), millions of American Indians lived in America. At the same time, other groups of people lived in Europe. The peoples of the Americas and of Europe knew nothing about each other.
After the year 1000; all this changes.
1 Vikings from Norway sailed from settlements in Greenland and landed on eastern edge of North America, probably in Newfoundland
2 Then in 1492, an Italian named Christopher Columbus led three shiploads of Spaniards to an island off the tip of Florida
3 During the next 250 years, thousands of Europeans explored and settled in North America.
THE VIKINGS
About the year 1000, a man from Norway, Leif Eriksson, decided to see if an old story told by his father was true. The history was this:
A Norseman, Bjarni Herjolsson, set out to sail from iceland to Grennland. This were two island in the North Atlantic Ocean, that the belonged to the Norse. Herjolsson lost his way. When he finally sighted land, he knew it was not his goal. So, he turned North and finally found his way to Greenland.
Leif Ericksson wanted to learn if this old story was true. He sailed with his crew west and South from Greenland. This old Norse story describes what happened when Ericksson and his crew sighted land:
At ebb tide the ship went a ground. They were so curious to go ashare that they couldn´t wait until high water floated their ship, but hurried to the land where a river flowed from a lake into the sea.
The decided to stay for the winter and they built a large house.
The qualities of the surroundding country were so good that they belived there would be no shortoge a cattle fodder in the winter time. No frost came in winter and the grass withered only a little.
When they had built their house Leif said to his
1) This part shall remain at home
2) " " goes exploring
One evening a man was missing from one of the parties. This was Tyrker the southerner.
Leif gave Tyker´s companions an order to made an expedition in search of him by twelve men.
They had gone only a short was from the hall, when Tyrker came to meet them.
Tyrker said: "I have walked not much farther than here but I have something interesting to relate". " I have found vines and grapes"
Then they called this land Vinland.For a long time, people thought this story was a folktale . But now the archeologists have studied the land of Newfoundland. That´s the land where many belive Eriksson landed.
Columbus: Admiral of the Ocean sea
In 1492, Christopher Columbus, an Italian mapmarker and sailor, wanted to prove a point.
He wanted to show the people of Europe that they could get the riches of Chine and Japan in quick easy way.
The Europeans placed great value on the gold, silk and spices of China an Japan.
In the 1400´s, merchants brought these riches over a long, dangerous route.
The route wound throught thousands of miles of Asian mountains and desserts.
Columbus anted to sail west on the Atlantic Ocean
He belived he would go around to world and reach Asia. Others believed the world was far too large to mak such a trip worthwhile
