What is explorer Henry Hudson known for?

Answer 1

Henry Hudson (1570-1611?) was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early seventeenth century. His date and place of birth are unknown, but September 12, 1570 is often given and he is sometimes said to have been born in London. He is presumed to have died in 1611 in Hudson Bay, Canada, after he had been set adrift by mutinous crewmen.

Hudson's early life is an unknown, but he obviously must have spent many years at sea. He is said to have begun as a cabin boy at 16 and gradually worked his way up to captain.

In 1607, Hudson set sail on the Hopewell to find a hoped for northeast passage to Asia through the Arctic Ocean below of the North Pole. The voyage was paid for by the Muscovy Company, one of a small number of corporations given Royal Charters. In early June, he reached the eastern shore of Greenland and started sailing northward, mapping as he went. On June 20th his expedition started out for Svalbard, eventually reaching an island on the northern end of the group on the 17th of July. At this point the ship was only 577 nautical miles south of the pole, but it was clear there was no way to go any further due to the frozen sea, and on the 31st Hudson decided to return to England. On the return voyage Hudson discovered what is now known as Jan Mayen Island before reaching home in September.

In 1608 he tried again, this time sailing farther to the east along the northern coast of Norway. Once again, all northern routes were blocked by ice and he ended up reaching Novaya Zemlya before turning back. This point had been reached by several ships in the past and was considered the end of the line, which convinced the Muscovy Company that there was no point in funding further Arctic voyages.

Hudson wished to continue his explorations and turned to the Dutch East India Company for funding. They were particularly interested in shorter routes to the east, and commissioned a new ship for his use, the Halve Maen (Half Moon). His ship headed north in May 1609, but was forced to turn back before reaching Novaya Zemlya. Instead, the expedition sailed west and eventually reached the Grand Banks, off Newfoundland, by early July. They spent the next four months exploring the eastern coast of North America. He discovered Manhattan on September 11, 1609 and explored Maine and Cape Cod –the first Europeans to write descriptions of these locations (though Giovanni da Verrazano had explored the same coast in 1524)– and sailing some distance up the Hudson River, which now bears his name. The Dutch would later claim this area and establish a colony as New Amsterdam, though it is said that Hudson himself gave the name Staten Island (Dutch: Staaten Eylandt) to that part of what is now New York, in honor of the States-General or parliament of the Netherlands.

Upon his return to Europe in November, the explorer made port at Dartmouth, where Hudson was arrested for sailing under another country's flag. This was part of the Navigation Acts, a set of mercantilist laws England had enacted to protect its trade routes from the Dutch. However, he was soon released.

In 1610 Hudson managed to get the backing for yet another voyage, now under the English flag. This time the funding came from the Virginia Company and the British East India Company. At the helm of his new ship, the Discovery, he stayed to the north (some claim he deliberately went too far south with the Dutch), reaching Iceland on May 11, the south of Greenland on June 4, and then managing to turn around the southern tip of Greenland and continue on west.

Excitement was high due to the expectation that the ship had finally found the Northwest Passage. 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 ice in James Bay, and the crew moved ashore for the winter.
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 or water 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 were ever punished for the mutiny and Hudson's death.

The reports by Hudson of his voyage for the Dutch apparently have been lost, but an account was given by Johannes de Laet in his work Nieuwe Wereldt ofte beschrijvinghe van West-Indien (New World or the description of West India) from 1625. The same situation applies to the voyage of Adriaen Block.

In 2005 The History Channel did a four part mini-series called Conquest of America. Hudson was the featured explorer on Episode Three: The Conquest of the Northeast.

Answer 2

He is known for discovering the Hudson Bay and the Hudson River. He discovered them while on a expedition to find the Northwest Passage, a water way connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Answer 3

I live in NYC, the Hudson river was named after him

Answer 4

sailing up the Hudson river, to upstate ny

Answer 5

hmmm..gee...I dunno.....discovering the HUDSON river maybe!?