Captain James Cook

 Captain James Cook, or more commonly known as Captain Cook, was a famous English explorer active during the Renaissance. Not only was he a captain but he was also a navigator, an explorer, and a cartographer. He worked with maps throughout his whole life. Captain Cook is known for three immense voyages. These voyages helped him become the person that we know today. And also because he went on these voyages they reveal not only a scientifically mined sailor but also a civilized man.

            Captain Cook came from Marton, Yorkshire, England. He was born on October 27, 1728. Unlike most of the other navigators and explorers, Cook did not come from noble blood, which when paraphrased means that  he wasn’t born into a high ranking family. In fact, he was very ordinary. He was born of a farmer and a regular woman from Yorkshire. He was one of 7 children, and he got a regular schooling from the village school. He later attended other schools in other parts of England, but there were in walking distance of Yorkshire.

When Captain Cook was just a teenager, he became fascinated with the sea. He was well versed on the art of seamanship. By well versed, this means that he was really good at seamanship. He was so was good at this that he was offered to command his own ship. But he refused this offer and did something else instead. He joined the Royal Navy as a seaman. But this was the first thing he had to do in order to become a captain.

            He went on three voyages. On his original voyage, he traveled to New Zealand. But unfortunately for him, it was discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642. After that, he spent months there charting the coastline. Then practically a year later, he set sail east, becoming the first known European to sight the Eastern coast of Australia, in April 1770. On his second journey lasted from 1772-1775. He commanded the “Resolution” and the “Adventure” on an expedition to the South Pacific, disproving the rumor of a great southern continent, exploring the Antarctic Ocean, New Hebrides and New Caledonia. Finally on his third voyage he visited and named the Sandwich Islands, now known as Hawaii, and unsuccessfully sought a northwest passage along the coast of North America.

            Cook’s voyages were very treacherous. Often, he would encounter storms on the sea. Miraculously, he wouldn’t get sick from influenza or pneumonia or any other sickness. Sometimes, Cook would lose a couple men to these sicknesses, or they fell overboard. Cook’s 3^rd and final journey resulted in a failure and his death. He was exploring the Hawaiian Islands (then known as the Sandwich Islands) when the natives were celebrating one of the gods. The natives were irritated at him for interrupting there feast and celebration. So as Cook and a few of his crew members were about to leave, the villagers took him by surprise and struck him in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious. They then stabbed him to his unfortunate death.

            Although Cook never returned from his 3^rd voyage, his discoveries were considered a success. This is because some of his original crew members that were with him were all able to document their findings. They all credited Cook with the discoveries. Because of these discoveries, Cook became famous, long after his death. These discoveries eventually lead to the capturing of the Hawaiian Islands during the 1800’s by the U.S. His legacy will by no means be forgotten.