Question/Problem 2: Describe the reasons for and the outcomes of the European explorers between 1492 and 1673.

Giovanni Da Verrazano was born in 1485 in the area of Italy known as Tuscany. His family was wealthy and Verrazano was sent to Florence for his education. He was a good student and had a special interest in mathematics. He later moved to the port city of Dieppe in order to pursue a career as a navigator. He made several voyages to countries east of the Mediterranean sea and gained a reputation as a master mariner.

During this time, Lyons was the center of the French silk industry. A group of Italian bankers and merchants residing in Lyons hired Verrazano to look for a western sea route to Cathay [China]. A western route would drastically lower the cost to ship s ilk over a long land route. The bankers formed a syndicate and in March of 1523 large sums of money were spent to outfit the expedition. The bankers won the support of the French king and Verrazano sailed with a commission from King Francis I to explore the coast of the New Land in search of a passage to the Orient.

Verrazano sailed with four ships under his command and headed for Madeira. Two ships were lost in a storm along the way, a third ship returned to France. Verrazano sailed for the New Land in a single caravel named the Dauphine. The ship was one hundre d tons, carried a crew of fifty and provisions to last for eight months. The only crew member mentioned in his journal was his brother, Girolamo, a map maker. The ship left the Portuguese islands of Madeira on January 17, 1524, and steered westward.

In March 1524, after sailing for forty-nine days, he sighted a low-lying coast we now know as North Carolina. Verrazano sailed south for a distance in order to explore the coast but feared running into hostile Spanish ships. Turning northward again he anchored off shore near Cape Fear, North Carolina. A boat was sent ashore and here he saw Indians. The Indians were very friendly and welcomed them with gifts of food. The expedition continued north gathering information to provide Europe with the firs t known description of the coastline of North America.

Along the way, Verrazano had several contacts with the people living in these regions. At one point, Verrazano captured a young Indian child to show the King when he returned to France. Verrazano sailed up the coast, entered New York Bay, and dropped a nchor. A small boat was launched to row him up as far as the Narrows, where he saw many canoes coming to meet him. Verrazano sailed up the coast past presentąday Block Island and anchored at the present Newport, Rhode Island. This time the Indians were not friendly. They would trade with the ship but would not let the sailors ashore. The Dauphine continued northward along the coast to Narragansett Bay and up the coast of today's Maine. When the expedition reached the area of Newfoundland provisions began to run low. Verrazano decided to return to France and steered east.

The ship made a speedy passage and returned to Dieppe by July 8, 1524. Verrazano believed that the coast between Florida and Newfoundland belonged to a completely new world. He had found a new land which could be of great value to France. He hoped to return to explore further.