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Despite popular opinion, Captain Cook neither discovered nor named Australia.

However, he is significant in Australian history for having been the first to map the eastern coast of the continent.

Prior to Cook's arrival in 1770, Australia was known variously as "New Holland" and the "Great Unknown Southern Land" by the Dutch and Portuguese traders who had passed by the continent on their way to Asia. The first English sea captain to visit Australia, William Dampier, was most unimpressed by the barren landscape of the northwest, and returned only negative reports to England.

It was not until James Cook's successful voyage which involved charting the eastern coast of Australia, that New South Wales was seen as a viable proposition for a convict colony. In particular, it was endorsed by Sir Joseph Banks, the influential botanist who travelled with Cook. Banks was one of three botanists aboard Cook's ship "The Endeavour", and he was a passionate advocate of British settlement and colonisation of the Australian continent. It was largely upon Cook's and Banks's recommendation that Australian ultimately was colonised by the British, and not by another power later. Because of Cook's positive report to England was enough to convince the authorities that it was worth colonising the continent - and so the history of white settlement in Australia began.

On Cook's second journey which lasted from 1772-1775, he commanded the 'Resolution' and the 'Adventure' on an expedition to the South Pacific, disproving the rumour of a great southern continent, exploring the Antarctic Ocean, New Hebrides and New Caledonia.

On his third journey, commencing in 1776, Cook visited and named the Sandwich Islands, now known as Hawaii, and unsuccessfully sought a northwest passage along the coast of North America. On his way back to England, he stopped at Hawaii again. After a boat was stolen by natives, he and his crew had an altercation with the Hawaiians. On 14 February 1779, Cook was speared by Hawaiian natives.

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11y ago
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12y ago

Canada was discovered over three centuries before James Cook was born. He did, however, visit the West Coast of Canada in March and April of 1778, which was primarily settled by Native Americans at the time.

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14y ago

Well for starters James Cook tried to take over a French settlement in Canada and he discovered Vancouver Island

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10y ago

because he was told by his master to move to canada

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15y ago

Cook reached Canada in 1778.

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15y ago

He Discovered Vancouver Island

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14y ago

yes cook did

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Q: What did James cook do in Canada?
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