Storms and more!!!

            People are sailing all around the world. Well, we might not know how to without Sir Francis Drake.  He was born in 1545. He lived in Plymouth and spoke English. He had 11 bothers and he was the oldest.  Some of his brothers were also explorers. He sailed right around the continents.  He was poor but could still read and write.  He died in 1596 near Panama from a fever.

            He got permission from Queen Elizabeth.  He explored to learn how to get around the world. He explored from 1577-1580. He was a slave trader.  He lead the second expedition around the world. The exploration took 3 years!  He explored in a ship. While he explored the natives gave him food and water. He claimed nova Albion.

            He learned a way to get around the world. He also traded food and slaves. So now you know you can thank Sir Francis Drake for some food, and how to know how to go around the world, and for Nova Albion and Drake Island.

he also killed spain people and he is a pirate.

Hernando de Soto

By: Ryan Mobley

Did Hernando de Soto find gold in Florida?  If so, how much did he get?  Find out!  Hernando de Soto, a Spanish explorer, was born in Extremadura, Spain in the year 1500.  His family was so rich, that they could buy 2 enormous houses.  His mom wanted him to be a lawyer or a priest, but he wanted to be a soldier for an explorer.  He was home schooled until age 14.  Wait until you hear about his exploration!

When he turned 14, he was hired as a soldier for another explorer.  He went down from Florida, up to North Carolina, all the way to Central America.  He explored to get gold to hire an army that would explore with him.  On his first exploration, he explored for 25 years.  He got a lot of gold in South America!  On his second exploration, he hired an army that explored Florida with him, but they didn’t find any gold there.  Creek Indians helped him by giving him grain.  He died at the Mississippi River on May 21, 1542.  He died of Malaria or Dysentery, which are diseases.  There is still so much more that you will learn about him!

He learned that there was a lot of gold in South America, but there hadn’t been any in Florida.  He also learned that there were millions of Indians in South America and Florida.  He had fights with the Indians, too.  De Soto’s weapons were much better than the Indians’.  He tried to get the Indians to be Christian, but he failed.  He became extremely rich with gold. He was even the first European to see the Mississippi River! There may be so much more about him.  I can’t know it all!  You can research him too!

Have you ever wondered who the first person to go to North America was?  It was the Viking explorer: Leif Eriksson.  He was born in Iceland in 970, grew up in Greenland, was the son of Eric the Red (who was a explorer too), and the oldest of 3 brothers.  At the age of 8 he left home (which was traditional for Viking boys) he was sent away from home.  Thyckrer (a German) taught him how to read and write.

He came back home at the age of 12 (the age a Viking boy became a man).  Before his exploration he heard a story about a new continent that people had seen but not set foot in. He made his father be captain of the journey. He set out at about the year of 1000.  After about a year his ship hit land in Vinland.                                                                                                        

          Once he walked ashore he created a Viking settlement of what is now Newfoundland in Canada. He was nicknamed Leif the lucky because he was so lucky on his first try He died at age of 55.  He may not have realized it; he was the first person to go to North America.