Praxis II Citizenship and Social Sciences (5511) Practice Test

This question tests your knowledge of early exploration and the search for a northwest passage to Asia. The explorer who sailed along the Canadian coast in pursuit of that route under English sponsorship was John Cabot. Born Giovanni Caboto in Genoa around 1450, he sailed from England in 1497 aboard the Matthew and reached what is now Newfoundland, claiming land for England. His voyage is a landmark in the history of European exploration of North America and the quest for a northwest passage. The other explorers listed came to the region at different times and for different destinations: Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence for France in the 1530s, Amerigo Vespucci explored areas of South America in the early 1500s, and Hernán Cortés led the conquest of the Aztec Empire in Mexico.