Ascent to Greatness - Chapter Four - Raymond F McNair - 1976

Raymond F McNair

When and how did the English first become interested in North America? Only five years after Columbus had discovered America, John Cabot — a Genoese navigator sailing in the name of Henry VIII of England — came to North America. He was, in fact, the first European to set foot upon the North American continent since the days of the Viking explorers, about A.D. 1000. In 1497 he discovered Cape Breton Island (which he — thought was the mainland of China). In 1498he sailed again, and touched Greenland. Another Englishmen, Martin Frobisher (c. 1535-94), a powerful, cantankerous Yorkshireman, sailed in 1576 in search of the Northwest passage to China (Cathay). He visited Labrador, and Frobisher Bay in Baffin Land. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library