Colonization, Disease, Museums: A Global Story
List of Expeditions
“Kalicho, an Inuk from Frobisher bay; wearing sealskin suit, holding a bow” and “Arnaq and Nutaaq, Inuit from Frobisher Bay; woman in sealskin parka with baby in hood. Drawings by John White, 1585 - 1593. Illustrations of Indigenous inhabitants of Frobisher Bay, an inlet of the Davis Strait in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada, roughly a decade after the English navigator, Sir Martin Frobisher became the first European to visit it in 1576, during his search for the Northwest Passage. Kalicho, Arnaq and Nutaaq were brought to England against their will with Frobisher’s second voyage, and all three died within a month of arrival, Kalicho from an infection related to broken ribs that he probably broke resisting being captured, and Arnaq and Nutaaq died, most likely, of measles, to which they had no resistance and to which they were exposed upon arrival in England (Vaughan 2009: 8 – 9). Image: 1906,0509.1.29 and 1906,0509.1.30, The British Museum CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
11th c Viking explorer Leif Ericson established the short-lived settlement at L’Anse al Meadows in Vinland (Newfoundland) in the 11th century.
1497, Venetian mariner Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) undertook an expedition for the British crown along what is now the Canadian Maritimes and New England coast.
1524, sailing in the service of the king of France, Florentine Giovani da Verrazano explored the Atlantic coast of North America from the Carolinas north to New Brunswick.
1524 In the same year, Portuguese Estevan Gomez (sailing under the Spanish crown) explored the Atlantic coast between New York and Nova Scotia.
1576 Early expedition on the west coast of North America included Martin Frobisher’s 1576 Northwest Passage expedition;
1579 Sir Francis Drake’s California expedition.
In Southeastern North America, Spanish explorers and colonists were seeking riches and founding early settlements.
1513 Ponce De León’s 1513 expedition to Florida,
1528 Cabeza de Vaca’s exploration of the southern portion of North America,
1539 Hernando De Soto’s expedition to southern North America, which moved west of the Mississippi;
1565 Spanish Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine on the northeast coast of Florida
1566 Santa Elena founded by Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés what is now Parris Island, South Carolina, capitol of Spanish Florida from 1566-1587.
1570 Captain Juan Pardo oversaw the creation of a network of short-lived forts from the settlement of Santa Elena, across the Carolina Piedmont and over the Appalachians. Only one, Fort San Juan (Joara) lasted more than a year (Beck et al. 2018).
