Henry Hudson

England and the Netherlands 1607 - 1611

Henry Hudson was born in England. His grandfather sailed with the famous explorer Sebastian Cabot. They started the Muscovy Company to trade with Russia. Three generations of Hudsons had been sea men. Henry’s son, John, started sailing with his father when he was thirteen. Many trading companies took the long route around Africa to India to buy spices and other products from the Orient. Henry Hudson’s company wanted to find a shorter route north of Europe.

They sailed from England on May 1, 1607. John (Henry’s son) was one of eleven crew members on board. As they approached Greenland, the weather changed. Strong winds tossed the ship. They had to avoid icebergs that could have wrecked Hudson’s ship named the “Hopewell”. Henry decided to change direction. They sailed to a group of islands near Norway (in northern Europe) where the water was calmer. There were many whales and walruses there. Henry Hudson named the area “Whale’s Bay”. As they headed back to England, they still had hopes for a shorter route to China, but they knew there was no way their ship could sail across the frozen North Pole. So they sailed back to England for the winter.

John and his father, Henry, studied sailing charts all during the winter to try and find another route. Their ship the “Hopewell” had to have its hull made stronger to be able to go through icebergs. The masts (sails) were replaced with stronger ones. Arrangements had to be made for storing more food on the ship for the longer voyage the next summer.

They left London, England on the Hopewell in April 1608 to sail around the northern tip of Norway. Huge icebergs made sailing that route impossible. Henry realized they could not sail any further north. Henry did not find a shorter passage to the northeast going around Europe to get to Asia again. The Muscovy Company was not happy with Henry Hudson. The company had paid for two voyages that had not found a new passage to China. So Henry decided to sail for the Dutch East India Company out of Amsterdam (the Netherlands).

Hudson and his crew made two voyages in 1609 and 1610 to find a water route across Canada to the Pacific Ocean. He claimed much of what is now the state of New York for the Netherlands. The Dutch called this area “New Netherland”. They built a Dutch settlement on an island at the end of the Hudson River. The Dutch named this settlement “New Amsterdam”. They named it this because there is a city in the Netherlands called Amsterdam. “New Amsterdam” became a fur trading settlement. New Amsterdam is now called New York City.

The sailors did not always agree with him. But the maps that Hudson made were very good, so they kept sailing the coasts of Maine, Cape Cod, and the Chesapeake Bay. He also sailed the Delaware and Hudson rivers. In 1610, Hudson was the first man to ever sail through a strait separating Labrador and Baffin. The strait was 450 miles long! He sailed into a bay. That bay is now named “Hudson Bay”. Hudson made his crew spend the whole winter in the icy bay. Instead of spending the whole winter in the cold, cold bay, the crew set Henry Hudson and his son John Hudson adrift in the icy waters. Henry and John were never seen ever again!

Information taken from:

Explorers Cooperative Learning Activities

by Mary Strohl and Susan Schneck

Scholastic 1999

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