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James Cook
James Cook was a British explorer who achieved the first European contact with the Hawaiian Islands and the eastern coastline of Australia. He also holds the record for being the first person to circumnavigate New Zealand.
915 Questions
How long was Captain Cook's ship?
Captain James Cook commanded three ships. The best known of these was the HM Bark Endeavour. The Endeavour had a length of 109'3" (33.3 m).
The HMS Resolution was the longest of James Cook's ship, with a length of 110'8" (33.73 m).
Who was the explorer who came to Australia before colonization?
The first known Europeans to live in Australia were the British convicts, officers and marines of the First Fleet.
However, there is considerable evidence to indicate that the first Europeans to live in Australia were survivors of Dutch shipwrecks on the Western coast.
What was the name of Captain James Cook's boat on the third voyage?
James Cook commanded three ships, the HM Bark Endeavour,the Resolution and the Adventure.
Cook's best known ship was the 'Endeavour', which departed Plymouth, England, on 26 August 1768 on Cook's expedition to observe the transit of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti. It was on this journey that Cook circumnavigated New Zealandand the eastern coast of Australia.
On Cook's second and third journeys, he commanded the 'Resolution' and the 'Adventure'.
Where did captain James cook go to school?
Like many young farming lads of his time, James Cook had just a basic education at his local school, the village school of Marton, Yorkshire. He did not attend any specialist or trade school, or university.
Young James was expected to help out on the farm where his father was employed, but had no great ambitions to continue in farming. Cook was not particularly ambitious as a youngster, and despite his father being a farm labourer, Cook did not follow him into this line of work. At age 16 he was apprenticed to a grocer/ haberdashery, but he had no aptitude in even this basic trade. His employer introduced the young James Cook to local shipowners, who took him on as a merchant apprentice on coal ships, and from there he became familiar with shipping and ships. Here he was educated in algebra, trigonometry, navigation, and astronomy.
He spent 9 years doing this, as well as considerable service as ship's master, then joined the royal navy as an ordinary sailor. His experience on the coal ships and his education stood him in good stead, setting him up to command his own ship, and he soon assumed positions of authority in the Royal Navy.
Who traveled with James cook on his first voyage?
Apart from the usual ship's crew, Captain Cook also had the botanist Sir Joseph Banks with him. Banks classified and named many new species of plants in Australia and New Zealand, and the unique Australian species known as the banksia is named after him. The Swedish botanist Daniel Solander and Finnish scientist Dr. Herman Spöring also travelled with Cook, being employed by Joseph Banks.
At Tahiti, Cook was also joined on his voyage by a Tahitian chief named Tupaia, who wanted to travel, together with his boy-servant Tayeto.
What were James Cook's first impressions of the aboriginals?
Diaries and journals of the first fleeters labeled the indigenous as Barbaric, Native, Primitive and even stupid.
Addition:
However, James Cook was not one of the First Fleeters. James Cook charted Australia's east coast 18 years before the First Fleet came.
Cook's first encounters with the Aborigines of Australia were simple communications in which the indigenous people indicated to Cook that a kangaroo's name was gangurru. Cook did regard the Aborigines as simple, primitive savages, but he did not call them barbaric. He also did not recognise their claim to the land, referring to the continent as "terra nullius", or "no-man's land".
What animals did James Cook find in Australia?
Cook's botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, was the one who observed the animals, but Cook naturally made notes in his journals. His notes included observations on what he called "birds of the Parrot kind such as Lorryquets and Pigeons, Doves, Quailes, and several sorts of smaller birds." he mentioned waterbirds such as "Herons, Boobies, Noddies, Gulls, Curlews, Ducks and Pelicans". He made mention of lizards, snakes and scorpions. There was also, of course, the "kanguru", or kangaroo.
Why was Abel Janszoon Tasman sent to new zealand?
Abel Janszoon Tasman was sent to New Zealand on an exploration expedition. His trip from Tasmania to New Zealand was treacherous, and he noted in his diary that the only reason he lived through it was because he had a good compass.
Was Captain James Cook born into a rich family?
James Cook was the son of a merchant farmer, so as a child he would have been poor. After he embarked upon a successful career, this would not have changed a great deal, as the funds he was given were to support his voyages and exploration, not for personal use.
What were Captain James Cook's reasons for exploration?
James Cook was chosen to explore. With his experience and skills, he was an ideal candidate for the scientific and exploration missions upon which he set out. His explorations were simply him following orders.
Cook's original mission was to observe the transit of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti.
Cook was then under secret orders to try to find the great unknown southern continent, and claim it for Britain. In so doing, he charted the eastern coastline of what he called "New South Wales" (now Australia), making extensive notes on the people, flora, fauna and prospective suitability for colonisation, and reported back to England.
It is significant that, contrary to popular belief, James Cook did not discover Australia. The continent he explored had been discovered over 150 years before, by the Dutch and possibly even the Portuguese before then.
It was upon the success of this first mission which then caused Cook to be selected for later, specific missions.
Why is Captain Cook so important to the world today?
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.
Unfortunately, Cook was also the one who declared Australia to be terra nullius - a land without ownership, and he did not recognise the indigenous people as the true "owners" of the land. Upon European settlement, and for many generations afterwards, the indigenous people were wrongly regarded as an inferior species. As a result, they suffered terrible injustices, displacement and loss of culture. To this day, the indigenous people see Cook as an invader.
How old is Captain Cook's wife?
If alive, he would be 282 years old. However he died in Hawaii aged 50.
Was James Cook a British navigator?
Cook's original mission was to observe the transit of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti. He was certainly successful in completing this.
Cook was then under secret orders to try to find the great unknown southern continent, and claim it for Britain. In so doing, he charted the eastern coastline of what he called "New South Wales" (now Australia), making extensive notes on the people, flora, fauna and prospective suitability for colonisation, and reported back to England. Thus, he was successful in this mission also, although Australia was not the "Great southern land" that legend had made it out to be.
One Contributors Opinion
Captain Cook lied, stole & murdered natives but Captain Cook was not the only villain. He was under orders to explore and chart new lands, and to make honest evaluations of the usefulness of those lands to the English authorities.
A Rebuttal
Cook went out of his way to treat the indigenous natives with respect. I suggest you read one of the many excellent books available about him, and come back and change your answer.
Who was James Cook and why is he important?
James Cook was an English sea captain. He is remembered for his contribution to exploration of the southern hemisphere, and his significant contributions to the charting of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, neither of which he actually discovered (contrary to popular opinion).
It was upon Cook's recommendation that places such as New Zealand and Australia were colonised by the British, resulting in European settlement and the expansion of the British empire.
On his first journey, departing in 1768, he commanded the 'Endeavour' on an expedition to chart the transit of Venus. Cook went on to search for Terra Australis Incognita, the great continent which some believed to extend round the pole. He first came across New Zealand, which had already been discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642. Cook spent some months there, charting the coastline. Nearly a year later, he set sail east, becoming the first known European to sight the Eastern coast of Australia, in April 1770. He continued north, charting the coast in some detail, before returning a favourable report to England. It was this report which convinced the authorities to colonise the Australian continent with convicts.
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. This was a tragic end to the career of a noble and courageous explorer who contributed much to the knowledge of the continents and islands of the world.
Where did James Cook live in England?
James Cook was born on 27 October 1728. He was the second of eight children. His father was James Cook, a farmer and his mother was Grace Pace, a locally born girl. He was born in Marton, Yorkshire and in 1736 they moved to Airy Holme farm in Great Ayton. His father's boss paid for young James to attend the local school. In 1741 he started to work for his father. When he was 16 he moved to the fishing village of Staithes where he was apprenticed to a grocer. After that, he took to the sea after deciding that the shop life wasn't for him.
Did Captain James Cook encounter Indians on Australia?
No, James Cook did not discover Australia. Australian Aborigines made it to Australia between 30,000 and 50,000 years ago. Various Dutch and Portuguese explorers found Western Australia in the late 1500s and early 1600s, but the Asian people visited the northern coast regularly before that, to collect sea-slugs, a valued delicacy in Asia. The first Englishman to visit Australia was William Dampier, in 1688. Captain Cook charted the eastern coast and claimed it in the name of Britain in 1770.
What was the ship that Captain James Cook used?
James Cook commanded three ships: the Endeavour, the Resolution and the Adventure.
Cook's best known ship was the 'Endeavour', which departed Plymouth, England, on 26 August 1768 on Cook's expedition to observe the transit of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti. It was on this journey that Cook circumnavigated New Zealandand the eastern coast of Australia.
On Cook's second and third journeys, he commanded the 'Resolution' and the 'Adventure'. On his third journey, Cook also had a consort ship, the Discovery, which was commanded by Charles Clerke, not by Cook himself.
Was Captain James Cook was the first landing in Australia?
No. James Cook came to Australia in 1770. He was preceded by English pirate, explorer and naturalist William Dampier, who explored northwestern Australia in 1688, and again in 1699.
Dampier was most unimpressed by the flat, barren countryside of the northwest, and his negative reports deterred further English exploration for another 70 years.
When did Captain Cook discover Australia?
Captain Cook did not discover Australia.
James Cook, who was not yet a captain when he reached Australia, did not discover Australia. He was the first known European to sight the eastern coast, and he did so in April 1770, first sighting the southeast corner which he named Point Hicks.
He claimed the eastern half of the Australian continent for England, under the name of New South Wales, in August 1770.
What were the reasons for Captain Cook's travels?
For James Cook's first voyage, he was sent to observe the transit of Venus across the sun from the vantage point of Tahiti. Cook's ship, the 'Endeavour', departed England, on 25 August 1768. Cook reached Tahiti and observed the transit which occurred on 3 June 1769.
After observing the transit of Venus, Cook was under secret orders to search for Terra Australis Incognita, the great continent which some believed to extend round the pole. His mission was to make extensive notes and report of the nature of the land.
What were some of the obsticles that James cook faced?
Despite his strong diplomatic skills, Navigator James Cook was not able to avoid problems with the natives of the places he explored. In particular, the natives often stole his food and equipment, impeding his travels.
He was killed by some native Hawaiians whilst trying to recover some stolen property.
Cook travelled via the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) as he returned to England on his third voyage of exploration, but this was where he made a major mistake. He had already visited Hawaii on his outward journey where, due to an unusual combination of circumstances, he was perceived to be a certain god returning from across the sea. The natives revered him and treated him exceptionally well, and when they saw him off, it was with all the ceremonial pomp they reserved for their most highly honoured gods.
When he returned, in the perception of the Hawaiian natives his 'god' persona was not supposed to return, and his return caused some suspicions among the natives that he was perhaps not who they had thought he was. In trying to recover one of the ship's boats, which had been stolen by Polynesian islanders, or possibly while they were trying to send his boats away from the island again, Cook was attacked and killed by the natives, using spears, on the beach at Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii. The date of Cook's death was 14 February 1779.
Did Captain James Cook share the land with the aboriginals?
It may be that James Cook was the first to have direct communication with the Aborigines, but he was not the first to meet them.
Willem Jansz/Janszoon was a Dutchman who was seeking new trade routes and trade associates. Commanding the Duyfken, he became the first recorded European to step foot on Australia's shores on the western shore of Cape York Peninsula, on 26 February 1606. However, during hostilities with the local indigenous people, Jansz lost ten of his crewmen.
Another explorer also had negative encounters with the Aborigines. When English pirate William Dampier landed on Australia's far northwest coast in 1688, he made quite a few rather derogatory comments about Australia and its people, referring to the Aborigines as "the miserablest people in the world". They were apparently rather hostile to Dampier and his crew.
