In Anther Person's Shoes: Jacques Cartier

     Cartier was a Canadian explorer and was born in 1491 and died September 1st 1557. Throughout his career he was considered a good explorer, until his career slowly came to an end after the French were not interested in exploring North America for half a century. Within his career he was a part of three major North American exploration trips. He sailed with many great explorers such as Henry Hudson and Lewis & Clark, guiding them and helping them with their many expeditions. 

     In 1534 which was his first solo expedition, as a captain not a guide. King Francis of France funded his journey to search for gold and other riches such as, spices and a route to Asia. When exploring the west coast of Newfoundland he discovered what we now call today Prince Edward Island and sailed through the gulf of St. Lawrence. Upon returning to France, King Francis was very much impressed with Cartier's findings and sent him back the next year. While on his first trip he had captured two First Nations that would now serve him as guides. The second trip was more focused on establishing a base, after navigating the St. Lawrence.

     During the fall, Cartier travelled down the river which is now referred to as Montreal and was greeted by the Iroquois who at the time controlled the area. They told him about the rivers that led farther west where all the gold, silver, copper, and spices were found. After a cold winter in Canada for Cartier and his men, Cartier then captured more Iroquois men in the spring when the ice on the river was gone. This only made the Iroquois mad, so Cartier quickly sailed back to France. He then reported to the king of all the untold riches in the west and about the 2,000 mile long river that supposedly led to Asia. 

     May of 1541 Cartier departed on his third and final voyage a total of five ships. His mission was to establish a permanent settlement along the St. Lawrence river for the French. He set up camp near Quebec, finding a great abundance of what was perceived to be gold and diamonds. They were discovered as not real as he soon found out upon his arrival. 

     Cartier's exploring overall greatly effected France, even today. He helped to secure settlements, as well as brought back resources to benefit the French  and mapped out different areas of Canada. The work that he did with settlements was greatly appreciated by the British when they took over the French land in Canada. By capturing Iroquois men, as well as taking over their land and their resources Cartier did not have the best first impression with the First Nations. From my stand point with a few bumps in the road Cartier very much impacted Canada and our future as well as our history

Jacques Cartier.(2014)Marcel Trudel. Available online at http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cartier_jacques_1491_1557_1E.html