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In 1609, the merchants of the Dutch East India Company hired English explorer Henry Hudson to find the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Hudson navigated along the North American coast looking for a more southern, ice-free route across the North American continent to the Pacific Ocean. [links]
He sailed from Bristol, England, in May with a small crew of 18 men and made landfall somewhere in the Canadian Maritime islands the following month. Like Christopher Columbus five years before him, Cabot thought he had reached the shores of Asia. more
The Northwest Passage is a famed sea route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through a group of sparsely populated Canadian islands known as the Arctic Archipelago. European explorers first began to search for the Northwest Passage in the fifteenth century, but treacherous conditions and sea ice cover made the route impassible, foiling many expeditions. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage in 1906. Climate change has caused Arctic ice cover to thin in recent years, opening the passage to marine shipping. In summer 2007, the route was entirely ice-free for the first time in recorded history.
King Henry VII authorized a second, larger expedition for Cabot in 1498. This expedition included five ships and 200 men. Cabot and his crew never returned. They are thought to have been shipwrecked in a severe storm in the North Atlantic. more
The Spanish referred to The Northwest Passage as the "Straight of Anián." In 1539, Spanish explorer Francisco de Ulloa, funded by Hernán Cortés, set sail from Acapulco, Mexico, in search of a Pacific route to the Northwest Passage. He sailed North up the California Coast as far as the Gulf of California, but turned around when he was unable to find the fabled Straight of Anián. He is credited with proving that California is a peninsula, not an island–a popular misconception at the time. [links]
The Northwest Passage spans roughly 900 miles from the North Atlantic north of Canada’s Baffin Island in the east to the Beaufort Sea north of the U.S. state of Alaska in the west. It’s located entirely within the Arctic Circle, less than 1,200 miles from the North [JR1] .
Sir John Franklin and his crew, illustrated for the London News, circa 1845.
It was a quest that had consumed some of Europe’s most accomplished mariners for almost four centuries, a generations-spanning obsession that chipped away at European understanding of North America’s high latitudes, sometimes at great cost to both vessels and lives.
Rescue expeditions turned up tantalizing clues: A trio of graves at one site. A note at another site, dated April 1848 and indicating that Franklin and 23 others were dead, the ships had been trapped in the ice for 18 months, and the survivors were abandoning ship and striking out across land.
Ever since the Crusades, the Italian merchants had had a monopoly on trade routes coming out of the Middle East. So trade routes were established between Asia and the Middle East, the Middle East and Italy, and Italy and the rest of Europe. These were highly profitable and allowed the Italian city states to become very rich, allowing them to invest in the Renaissance. But while Italy was sitting fat and happy with its nice, established routes and its monopoly on trade and all the money that it made, the other European countries took notice and they wanted to trade, too. So what do they do? They start looking at water routes or waterways, water passages, that connect Europe to Asia. Now Portugal was very successful in establishing water routes around Africa and Spain was very successful establishing water routes around the tip of South America. But England and France and the Netherlands, they still needed their own proprietary water routes. So these northern European countries, they sent out explorers all throughout North America, like Henry Hudson, who found the Hudson Bay. And these explorers tried to find the connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific. And do you know if they found a waterway that connects the Atlantic to the Pacific? Unfortunately for them, no such thing exists. The Northwest Passage is just a theoretical waterway that connects the two oceans. here
So why is the Northwest Passage important to U.S. history? The Northwest Passage is important because those European explorers explored all the lands of North America. They sailed down the St. Lawrence River, through the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi. They established trading posts with Native Americans and they scouted and mapped the terrain. While these explorers were not successful in establishing trade with Asia, they were very successful establishing trade with the Native Americans, which furthered European colonization in North America. Additionally, these explorers would end up laying claim to North American lands for their home countries. Sieur de la Salle claimed a lot of land along the Mississippi for France, Henry Hudson and John Cabot claimed a lot of land in Canada for England. It is this exploration which laid the foundation for further colonization by the French and the English. [links]
Do you know which North American waterway the French and the English used to connect the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans? Do you know how this Northwest Passage changed the course of United States history? Let’s take a look together and find out. more
In 1494, the Pope splits the world between Spain and Portugal in the Treaty of Tordesillas. This treaty said that Spain gets all the land in America, except for a little sliver in Brazil, and that Portugal gets all the land east of America, except for that little sliver in Brazil. This effectively gives Spain the monopoly on the water routes between the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, and it gives Portugal a monopoly on all African trade routes between Europe and Asia. However, this treaty wouldn’t prove very enforceable and by 1519, England and France and the Netherlands largely ignored it. And while the Treaty of Tordesillas was largely ignored by these European countries, what they could not ignore was the strong hold Spain had in South America with its colonies and its dominant Armada and the strong hold that Portugal had on the African trade routes. So what did these northern European countries do? Did they sit around together in a cry circle and whine about how life was so unfair? Absolutely not. They did what any self-respecting, semi-rich monarchy in Europe would do in the 16th century. They fought over the scraps of North America. Now when I say water route or trade route, do you know what I mean? I’m mainly talking about the water routes between Europe and the trading in Asia, whether around Africa or around South America. You see, in the 15th, 16th and 17th century, European powers didn’t care about colonizing the New World as much as they cared about establishing trade routes between Europe and Asia.
The Northwest Passage, while unsuccessful at first, did lay a solid foundation for further exploration and colonization in North America. And the exploration for the Northwest Passage laid the groundwork for further colonizations of North America by European countries. What are your thoughts on the Northwest Passage and this video? Let me know in the comments below.
The list of necessary kit is as endless as it is essential. Sunscreen, hiking boots, cameras and Merino wool underwear are all musts. Tony Soper, author of The Northwest Passage, recommends 10x42 binoculars, as viewers need extra magnification when spotting from a boat. “Watch all beaches for polar bears,” says the guidebook writer, “but don’t go ashore to get closer.” Explorer Ray Mears carries the lightweight Zeiss Victory 8x32 (around £1,700), which has a wider range more suitable for birdwatching while on dry land. more
In a story lucidly told by Michael Palin in the recently published Erebus: The Story of a Ship, both expedition vessels were discovered in 2014 and 2016, near-perfectly preserved on the frigid seabed. Remnants of the Franklin expedition remain the passage’s historical must-see.
The Inuit don’t expect gifts. Rather, as Robynn Pavia, from the Travel Nunavut Industry Association, explains, “Visitors to Nunavut should research the Inuit culture before they visit.” This includes throat-singing, film-making and having a deep respect for wildlife. “Asuujutit” means “hello”. (Hopefully sailors won’t have to utter “qanimmaliqpunga”, which translates as “I feel sick”). “Other things that should be researched are the cost of airfares as [Nunavut has] no roads,” continues Pavia. In Canada the term “Eskimo” is wildly outdated and politically incorrect.
For larger yachts, a helicopter is not essential, but a wonderful accoutrement. A fixed-wing air tour from an icy regional airport, over shifting glaciers and migrating whales, could be a more cost-effective option. The most essential kit is a simple Zodiac tender. Far from glamorous, they’re a compact, trusted and tested tool for exploring extreme environments. more
Why did so many explorers look for the Northwest Passage?
Group of answer choices
A. They thought it was a direct water route to Asia through North America.
B. It would shorten the return trip from the Americas to Europe.
C. They hoped it was the route leading to the golden cities in North America.
D. It was a major trade route from Lima to Mexico City. more