Henry Hudson

From New World Encyclopedia


" No portrait of Hudson is known to be in existence. What has passed with the uncritical for his portrait — a dapper-looking man wearing a ruffed collar — frequently has been, and continues to be, reproduced. Who that man was is unknown. That he was not Hudson is certain." - Thomas A. Janvier, biographer of Henry Hudson. The illustration featured here comes from the (presumably uncritical) Cyclopaedia of Universal History, 1885

Henry Hudson (September 12, 1570s – (1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. He was born in London, England, and he presumably died 1611 in Hudson Bay, Canada.

Early Life

Much of Hudson's early life is an unknown, but, considering his eventual position as ship's captain, he assuredly spent many of of those early years at sea. He is said to have begun as a cabin boy at 16 and gradually worked his way up to ship's captain.

Expeditions

Henry Hudson captained four separate, recorded voyages to the New World between 1607 and 1610.

First Voyage

In 1607, the Muscovy Company of England hired Hudson to find a Northeast Passage to China. Hudson traveled just 577 nautical miles south of the North Pole and discovered what is now known as Jan Mayen Island before turning around and returning home in September. Jan Mayen Island later became part of the Kingdom of Norway.

Second Voyage

In 1608, Hudson made a second attempt to find a Northeast Passage, but was again forced to turn back.

Third Voyage

In 1609 Hudson was again chosen by the Dutch East India Company to find an easterly passage to Asia. He was told to sail around the Arctic Ocean north of Russia, into the Pacific and to the Far East. Hudson could not continue his voyage due to the ice that had plagued his previous voyages, and many others before him. Having heard rumors by way of Jamestown and John Smith, he and his crew decided to try to seek out a Southwest Passage through North America.

After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Halve Maen (Half Moon) sailed around briefly in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, but Hudson concluded that these waterways did not lead to the Pacific. Hudson then moved into New York Harbor and proceeded up what is today the Hudson River. He made it as far as Albany, New York, where the river narrows, before he is forced to turn around, realizing that it was not the Southwest Passage. In fact, no Southwest Passage to the Pacific existed until one was created by the construction of the Panama Canal between 1903 and 1914. The native americans who relayed the information to John Smith were likely referring to the what we today call the Great Lakes.

Along the way Hudson traded with numerous native tribes and obtained different shells, beads and furs. His voyage established Dutch claims to the region and the fur trade that prospered there. New Amsterdam in Manhattan became the capital of New Netherlands in 1625.

The Fourth — and Final — Voyage

In 1610 Hudson obtained the financial backing for yet another voyage, now under the English flag. For this voyage, the Virginia and British East India Companies provided the funding. At the helm of his new ship, the Discovery, he charted a northerly course (some claim that he had deliberately sailed too far south during his voyage for the Dutch), reaching Iceland on May 11 and the south of Greenland on June 4.

At that point, the crew began to think that the ship had finally found a Northwest Passage through the continent. On June 25th, the explorers reached the Hudson Strait at the northern tip of Labrador. Following the southern coast of the strait on August 2, the ship entered Hudson Bay. Hudson spent the following months mapping and exploring the eastern shores. In November, however, the ship became trapped in the frozen waters of James Bay, forcing the crew to move ashore for the winter.

John Collier's painting of Henry Hudson with his son and some crew members after a mutiny on his icebound ship. The boat was set adrift and never heard from again.

When the ice cleared in the spring of 1611, Hudson planned to continue exploring. However, his crew wanted to return home. Matters came to a head and the crew mutinied in June 1611. They set Hudson, his teenage son John, and seven crewmen loyal to Hudson adrift in a small open boat. The castaways were provided with no food, water or weapons and were clearly meant to die. Hudson was never seen again, although some claim that he successfully made his way as far south as the Ottawa River. Only eight of the mutinous crewmen survived to return to Europe, and although arrested, none was ever punished for the mutiny and Hudson's death.

Significance

Henry Hudson never discovered the fabled Northwest Passage across the Canadian expanse, but he did make many important contributions to European navigation and discovery. On his first voyage, for example, Hudson discovered and made note of whale pods off the coast of Spitzbergen Island. England later made commercial use of this discovery. SOURCE

External links


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