(female narrator)
The Vikings were
the first Europeans
to reach North America,
but they left no known records
of their explorations.
Five hundred years
after the Vikings landed,
Giovanni Caboto, a 15th century
Italian seafarer,
was the first known European
to reach the mainland
of North America.
Why did this Italian
change his name to John Cabot?
How did he set the stage
for English
to become
America's dominant language?
♪
(Describer) Titles: PBS Education. World Explorers: John Cabot. The pointer on a timeline goes to 1450 as a map zooms in on Italy.
Born in Venice around 1450,
Giovanni Caboto learned
to navigate the seas
while working
for a Venetian trading company.
He honed his skills,
sailing far across
the Mediterranean Sea
to reach its eastern ports,
where the rich spices
and silks of Asia
were available for purchase.
After Columbus's voyage
to the West Indies,
Caboto decided to also try to
find a westerly route to Asia,
believing, like Columbus,
that lands across the Atlantic
were part of Asia.
However, Caboto thought that
by taking a northerly route,
his trip would be shorter
than Columbus's southerly one.
In 1494,
Caboto moved to Seville
and offered to sail
a transatlantic expedition
for King Ferdinand of Spain.
But Ferdinand gave
all of Spain's expeditions
to rival explorer
Christopher Columbus.
In 1496, using
the English version of his name,
John Cabot, he petitioned
King Henry VII of Britain
for a charter to navigate
a northerly route to Asia.
At the time, England was
a weak European kingdom
compared to
the Mediterranean kingdoms
of Spain, Portugal,
and France.
Henry VII envied the profits
those countries had made
through settlement and trade
in the New World.
He eagerly financed the voyage,
hoping to make England
a seafaring powerhouse.
Henry specified that Cabot
must give him a portion
of any treasure he found.
In May, 1497,
aboard the ship Matthew,
Cabot and his crew of 18,
including his son, Sebastian,
set sail
from Bristol, England.
Fifty days later, he spotted
the coast of an uncharted land.
Cabot named it New Found Land,
known today as Newfoundland
in Canada.
(Describer) It's shown on its east end.
He was the first
known European
to reach
the North American mainland.
Cabot's journey was 20 days
shorter than Columbus's.
He had found a quicker route
to Asia.
Of course,
he was not in Asia
and there was
no treasure in sight.
However, Cabot did report
seas teeming with codfish.
The cod were so plentiful,
the crew just dipped baskets
into the water
and the fish
would fill them.
Cabot claimed the land
for the king of England.
Upon his return to Bristol,
Henry VII awarded Cabot
the modest sum of £10,
or a year's salary,
for discovering
what was believed to be
an island off China's coast.
He also awarded Cabot a grant
to revisit Newfoundland.
In May of 1498,
Cabot set sail
with 300 settlers
on five ships,
planning to start a colony.
For nearly 500 years,
no records were found
about this second voyage.
John Cabot was believed
to have died at sea,
but documents
recently have emerged
that might place Cabot
and his crew back in England,
suggesting that he successfully
completed the journey.
Whatever the outcome
of this second voyage,
all historians agree
that John Cabot is responsible
for the first English claims
in the New World.
His shorter, northerly route
across the Atlantic
became a fast path
for British colonization
and opened the Canadian shores
to a huge trade in cod,
which kept Europe fed
for centuries.
The British monarchy
dominated the cod industry,
garnering
more power and wealth
than Cabot could have
ever imagined,
and set the stage
for England's domination
of North America.
Accessibility provided by the
U.S. Department of Education.
(Describer) Titles: PBS Education. World Explorers: John Cabot.
Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.
