Who Was Giovanni Da Verrazano?

Giovanni Da Verrazzano was an Italian explorer who charted the Atlantic coast of North America between the Carolinas and Newfoundland, including New York Harbor in 1524.
Giovanni was born around the year of 1485 in Val di Greve, 30 miles south of Florence, Italy. He began to pursue his maritime career in about 1506 or 1507 and in the 1520’s he was sent by
King Francis I of France to explore the East Coast of North America for a route to the Pacific. After returning to Europe from discovered New York Harbor, Verrazzano made two more voyages to the Americas. Giovanni Da Verrazzano, and many others explorers, can be remembered for exploration or exploitation based on their voyages. Exploration is the action of traveling in or through an unfamiliar
He landed near present day Cape Fear, North Carolina in March 1524. He was met and welcomed by Native Americans who offered him and his crew food. He explored further inland and recorded the lush vegetation and landscape of the area before continuing his journey. He sailed south for almost 200 miles, reaching the top of the Florida coast. However, he found no suitable harbor, so he turned around and headed back north to Cape Fear. The expedition continued up the coastline in search of passage to Asia. Verrazzano became excited when he encountered a narrow strip of land a large stretch of open water. He was convinced that this large body of water was the South Sea, today known as the Pacific Ocean. He proceeded up the coast expecting at any moment to find a passage that lead to the open sea. However, no such passage existed. What we know today, that Verrazzano did not know then, was that he was in the Pamlico Sound. This is a large lagoon off the coast of North Carolina near the Outer Banks. Verrazzano sailed onward, continuing his search for the Northwest Passage. In mid-April 1524, Verrazzano and his crew became the first known Europeans to sail into New York Bay. Once again they were greeted peacefully by the Native Americans and treated well, he continued sailing along Long Island Sound in New York, and then on to Block Island and Narragansett Bay in present day Rhode Island. He anchored at Newport Harbor and spent 15 days exploring the Rhode Island area. Verrazzano and his men continued sailing up the coast to Maine where they had a much different experience with the natives. He was not able to explore the coastland because he was driven off by the local Native