4. Giovanni da Verrazzano 1524-1528
Giovanni da Verrazzano was an Italian explorer. He identified as a Florentine but sailed for King Francis I of France to explore Florida north to Newfoundland in 1524. His crew sailed from the island of Madeira off the western coast of Africa on January 17, 1524. After six weeks at sea, the party landed near the mouth of the Cape Fear River along the coast of North Carolina on March 1, 1524, claiming the land for the Kingdom of France.
Verrazzano continued north into the Pamlico Sound, which he called the Pacific Ocean. As his party sailed north, they skirted the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay and the mouth of the Delaware River. The group entered into New York Bay and continued their northward journey along the coast to Narragansett Bay and then past Long Island to Cape Cod Bay. Finally, the party reached the southern coast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
As the man that claimed the land for France, Verrazzano named the new territory Francesca. Perhaps in a fit of sibling rivalry, his mapmaking brother changed the name to Nova Gallia or New France. If that blow was not enough, there were two other major events that overshadowed Verrazzano’s accomplishments. The first was the Spanish Conquest of Mexico in 1521, which provided Spain with massive new territories, people, and commodities. The second was the first circumnavigation of the world in 1522 by Ferdinand Magellan’s crew.
Like other explorers of the age, Verrazzano kept detailed accounts of the flora, fauna, waterways, and landscapes that he encountered. His first exploration was short but covered a large distance. The information he provided permitted cartographers in Europe to create new maps of North America that would be essential tools for explorers and historians. Giovanni da Verrazzano returned to North America for a second time in 1528. He sailed along the coasts of Florida, the Bahamas, and the Lesser Antilles. While controversial, it is presumed he was killed and eaten by native Carib people in the Lesser Antilles.
Giovanni da Verrazzano never experienced the fame on the same level of Christopher Columbus and many of the other North American explorers. He was not a central figure in France’s colonization efforts, but his work was invaluable. Fame came late for Verrazzano. In the 20th century, the suspension bridge that connects Staten Island with Brooklyn carries his name and annually, the New York City marathon’s starting line is on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
