John Cabot the Explorer
By: Keagan Terry
Early life
Cabot was born in Genoa, Italy around 1450. His family moved to Venice where he met a girl named Mattea and in 1474 they got married. They had three sons named Ludovico, Sancto, and Sebastiano, who followed in his fathers footsteps becoming a famous explorer.
In 1476 Cabot started conducting trade on the eastern Mediterranean causing him financial trouble. Cabot left Venice because he was in debt. He became inspired by Christopher Columbus and wanted to follow in his foot steps. He moved to London in hopes of getting a grant to sail to the new world. King Henry VII gave him a grant to sail to the new world to claim land for England.
Cabots discoveries
In May of 1497 Cabot left England on the Matthew with a crew of eighteen. On June 24, 1497 Cabot landed on the east coast of America around Maine. According to his unfinished logs he took a small party to shore and claimed the land for England. Cabot left in July of 1497 and arrived back in Bristol on August 6, 1497. He was rewarded with £20 and another voyage to North America in February of 1498.
Cabot's death
In May of 1498 Cabot, a fleet of five ships, and three hundred men left Bristol. It is unknown what happened from this point on and no one knows when or how they died or if they ever made it to America. But resently historians have found evidence that puts Cabot in London in the 1500's and proof that Cabot and his crew may have made it to and explored Canada's east coast. We may never know what really happened to Cabot and his crew.