University of Calgary
European Voyages of Exploration: 15th & 16th Centuries
This award-winning website from the University of Calgary's History Department is both impressive and extensive. It focuses on Portuguese and Spanish expeditions of the 15th and 16th centuries (the sitemap provides a good outline of...
British Library
British Library:northwest Passage: Early Approaches, a Historical Account
Read about the early attempts to find a way through the Northwest Passage. Included are portraits and early maps of the explorers.
Library of Congress
Loc: 1492: An Ongoing Voyage
An exhibit by the Library of Congress supplies diverse facts on the famous 1492 voyage. The exhibition first examines the encounter between the European explorers and the native people. They explore five geographical areas: The Caribbean...
Curated OER
Etc: Early Discoveries and Explorations, 1497 1621
A map of the eastern coast of North America showing early European exploration from the voyages of Cabot (1497 and 1498) to the founding of New Netherlands in 1621. The map shows voyage routes, coastal features, rivers, and settlements...
PBS
Pbs: Empire of the Bay: The Story of the Hudson's Bay Company
The story of the shrewd merchants and courageous explorers of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Library of Congress
Loc: Map Collections 1500 2002
This collection provides maps dating back to 1500 up to the present. The collection includes: cities, towns, discovery and exploration, conservation and environment, military battles, cultural landscapes, transportation, communication,...
Library of Congress
Loc: Mediterranean World on the Eve of Conquest
The Library of Congress provides an essay on the reasons for exploration during the 15th century.
British Library
British Library: The Search for the Northwest Passage
Detailed third grade lessons help students understand what skills and knowledge were required in order to become an explorer. Includes specific lessons on John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, and Henry Hudson.
Curated OER
Etc: Dev of Colonies and Early Western Explorations, 1700 1775
A map of eastern North America showing the early development of the European colonies and westward exploration to the Mississippi River. The map shows the routes of several early explorers with dates of exploration, including La Salle,...
Other
The Map as History: Europe's Colonial Expanision 1820 1939
European countries began exploring and seeking to dominate the rest of the world during the 15th and 16th centuries, thanks to their ability to control sea routes and to the discovery of the American continent. In the 19th century,...
Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company: Radisson and Des Groseilliers
French adventurers Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Medard Chouart, Sieur des Groseilliers were the first Europeans to explore the forests of the north, negotiate treaties with the Cree, explore the Mississippi and Missouri and establish...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Bartolomeu Dias
Bartolomeu Dias, Dias also spelled Diaz (born c. 1450-died May 29, 1500, at sea, near Cape of Good Hope), Portuguese navigator and explorer who led the first European expedition to round the Cape of Good Hope (1488), opening the sea...