Henry Hudson

Exploring the Hudson River for the Netherlands in 1609.

Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.

What children learn in Level 36

Henry Hudson was an English sea captain. He tried again and again to find a water route to Asia across the cold north.
In 1609, a trading company from the Netherlands hired him. That's why we say he sailed for the Netherlands. His ship was the Half Moon.
Hudson sailed into a wide river in what is now New York, and followed it north about 150 miles. Then it grew too shallow and narrow. It wasn't a route to Asia after all!
Along the river, Lenape and Mahican people traded furs and food with the crew for knives and beads. But there were fights too, and people on both sides were killed.
Today it's called the Hudson River. Hudson's voyage gave the Netherlands a claim to the land. The Dutch started a colony, New Netherland, with a town called New Amsterdam: today's New York City!
In 1611, exploring a huge bay in Canada for England, Hudson's hungry, angry crew set him adrift in a small boat. He was never seen again. That bay is now called Hudson Bay.

Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:

SS3H2.b — Describe the accomplishments of: John Cabot (England), Vasco Núñez de Balboa (Spain), Hernando de Soto (Spain), Christopher Columbus (Spain), Henry Hudson (The Netherlands), and Jacques Cartier (France).