Category Social Sciences

               Cabral’s fleet set out from South America on 2nd May 1500, and sailed along the east coast of South America. On 5th May, the fleet veered eastwards towards Africa. A terrible storm hit the ships on 24th May, in South Atlantic. The fleet lost four ships, and the remaining ships were greatly damaged by the rough weather.

               On 26th May, the expedition reached Kilwa Kisiwani, where Cabral made an unsuccessful attempt to negotiate a treaty with its king. Further, on the way to India, they reached Malindi. Sailors were recruited from Malindi for the last leg to India. Later, they reached their destination, Calicut.

               After a few days, the expedition sailed to the Kingdom of Cochin, where Cabral befriended its ruler and collected so many varieties of spices and gems to take back home.

               Despite the loss of human lives and ships, the profit raked in by selling the rare spices was great. The voyage also helped in demonstrating the power of the Portuguese Empire to the whole world. Colonies were set up from Americas to the Far East. 

            Pedro Alvares Cabral was the first European to discover Brazil. He also established a successful commercial link with India. Cabral is regarded as the first captain to lead an expedition that united Europe, Africa, America, and Asia.

            Pedro was the third son of Fernao Cabral, the Governor of Beria and Belmonte. In 1499, Cabral was appointed chief captain of a fleet bound for the Malabar Coast of southern India. The expedition was intended to establish trading outposts. The fleet left Lisbon on March 9th, 1500, with 13 ships and 1,000 men. Cabral decided not to follow Dias’ route around the west coast of Africa. Instead, he followed Vasco da Gama’s route.

            On the way, he made landfall on a large landmass, which was probably a continent. He claimed it for Portugal. The continent was South America, and the land he had claimed for Portugal later came to be known as Brazil. This led to Portuguese monopoly in the South American continent. His discovery of Brazil made Pedro Cabral popular, and he was regarded as a prominent figure in the Age of Discovery. 

               Amerigo Vespucci’s first two voyages were for the Spanish crown and the third and fourth voyages were for the Portuguese crown. On May 14th, 1501, Vespucci departed on his third voyage, this time for Portugal. This voyage is largely considered a successful one.

               Departing from Lisbon in 1501, the fleet sailed first to Cape Verde, where they encountered two ships of Pedro Alvares Cabral, returning from India.

               In a letter from Cape Verde, Vespucci wrote that he hoped to visit the same lands that Pedro Alvares Cabral had explored, suggesting that his intention was to sail west to Asia. On reaching the coast of Brazil, they sailed south along the coast of South America to Rio de Janeiro’s bay.

               After the first half of the expedition, Vespucci mapped the constellations Alpha and Beta Centauri.

               Vespucci’s fourth voyage was another expedition for the Portuguese crown down the eastern coast of Brazil. The voyage began in May 1503, and returned to Portugal in 1504.

               When the expedition did not make any new discoveries, the fleet was disbanded. However, it has never been confirmed that Vespucci was aboard on this voyage. 

               Scholars had always been very sceptical about the reality of Amerigo Vespucci’s first voyage, which is said to have taken place in 1499. An account of Vespucci’s initial expedition to the American continent was published in 1504. However, scholars considered this account a forgery.

               In 1499, Vespucci joined an expedition in the service of Spain. Alonso de Ojeda was the fleet commander. Their intention was to sail around the southern end of the African mainland into the Indian Ocean. The two took different routes from the coast of what is now Guyana.

               Vespucci sailed southwards, discovering the mouth of the Amazon River. From there, he took a turn, and sailed through Orinoco River, and then made for Haiti. Vespucci thought he had sailed along the coast of the extreme easterly peninsula of Asia. Vespucci called the tip of this peninsula Cape of Cattigara.

               Vespucci is often credited with many findings. He determined the longitude celestially on August 23rd, 1499, while on this voyage.

               Amerigo Vespucci was born on 9th March 1454, in Italy. America was named after Vespucci, as he played a prominent role in exploring this land. He voyaged from Spain around the late 15th century.

               By this time, the Vikings had established settlements in present day North America as early as 1000 AD, and Columbus had already discovered several Caribbean and Central American islands.

               However, Vespucci was the first navigator to establish that Brazil and the West Indies were not parts of Asia as claimed by Columbus, and many others. He found that those places constituted an entirely separate landmass, which was unknown to the Europeans. Vespucci had chronicled two accounts of his journey. He became popular all over Europe after the publication of his accounts between 1502 and 1505.

               Amerigo Vespucci was a pioneer of Atlantic exploration, and was a great contributor to travel literature. The name of Vespucci is often remembered with the name of the American continents. 

            Sebastian Cabot, son of John Cabot, was a navigator, explorer and cartographer. He had served both the English and Spanish crowns. There are no official documents to prove Sebastian’s voyages. However, it is said that in 1508, Cabot led an expedition to find a North-West Passage through North America.

            He had supposedly narrated stories about encountering fields of icebergs, and reported an open passage of water. Some historians suggest that he might have reached Hudson Bay, but could not find the North-West Passage.

            After two decades, he set out on another voyage, intending to circumnavigate the world. However, he changed his plan later, as he was lured to finding silver in Argentina.

            He built two forts during his journey. Later, Sebastian claimed that the discoveries said to be made by his father were in fact made by him. Historians have denounced him as an unreliable source of information.