Cook, James (1728-1779)

Cook, James (1728-1779)

English explorer

James Cook was one of the foremost figures of the Age of Exploration. During his career, Cook circumnavigated the globe twice, and captained three voyages of discovery for England. Cook made significant contributions to the fields of surveying, cartography , advanced mathematics, astronomy , and navigation. The detailed records of his voyages and contacts with various native peoples are considered the first anthropological survey of the Pacific islands, Australia , and New Zealand. Cook's voyages sparked European and American interest in Pacific colonization.

James Cook was born in Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, England. As a youth, he received a modest education, but was a dedicated self-study of mathematics, surveying, and cartography. Cook was apprenticed to a small shop owner, but later left his apprenticeship to join a merchant collier fleet at Whitby. Cook earned his mate's certificate, but his merchant career was cut short by his decision to enlist with the Royal Navy in 1755 at the outbreak of the Seven Year's War (also known as the French and Indian War, 1756–1763).

Cook was sent to America in 1756 as not only seaman, but as a cartographer. His first charge was to conduct soundings and draw charts of the St. Lawrence River. Cook's charts were later used by British forces for their attack on Quebec. He was next named surveyor of New Foundland and carried out that project until 1767. Cook's maps were so precise that many were used for a century.

As the Cook gained renown for his cartography, he also submitted papers to the Royal Academy on astronomical observation and navigation. His work on determining location using the moon commanded the attention of not only scholars, but also the British government. In 1766, Cook was appointed to command an expedition to the Pacific, the first of three great voyages. The stated purpose of Cook's Pacific expedition was to observe and document the transit of Venus across the Sun during an eclipse on June 3, 1779, as part of a scientific endeavor to calculate the distance from Earth to the Sun. At the completion of that task, Cook continued to record significant discoveries. In the South Pacific, he discovered and named the Society Islands. Cook then sailed to New Zealand, which he reported upon favorably as a potential site for British colonization despite the lack of domesticated animals. Venturing from New Zealand, Cook sailed to the eastern coast of Australia and charted the coastline before claiming the land for Britain. On the return voyage, Cook's crew was stricken with disease, a common occurrence at sea then. One-third of his crew died from malarial fever, scurvy, and dysentery.

Cook was scarcely back in Britain for a year before he received his next appointment. He was granted two ships, the Adventure and the Resolution, and sent back to the Pacific to further complete the exploration of the Southern Hemisphere. Cook was charged with finding a southern continent, which was thought to exist in the extreme South Pacific; the mysterious continent was supposed to be temperate with fertile land. Cook left Britain in 1772 and sailed for the extreme southern Atlantic. Pushing his way through freezing temperatures and ice flows, cook sailed along the edge of Antarctica . The frozen Antarctic was certainly not the fabled southern continent. Cook's circumnavigation of the southern Pole put an end to the legend. Cook again stopped in New Zealand, this time introducing some European plants and domestic animals into the indigenous landscape. He discovered, charted, and named several more islands as he finished his journey.

On his second voyage, Cook also made pioneering provisions for his crew. To avoid the scourge of disease that had plagued the second half of his first voyage, Cook brought an ample supply of lemons aboard and served sauerkraut to the crew in an attempt to ward off scurvy and fevers. The experiment worked; Cook lost only one crewman to disease.

Cook embarked on his third and final voyage in 1776. Instead of returning to the South Pacific, Cook turned his efforts to the Pacific coast of North America in search of a northern passage that connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . He created detailed maps of the Pacific Coast that were used on later expeditions, including the Lewis and Clark expedition. However, Cook failed to locate the Columbia River and thought that Victoria Island was part of the mainland. Despite these flaws in his cartography, Cook's expedition, and his records of contact with various native peoples who possessed great natural resources, created a new interest in trade and settlement in the Pacific Northwest.

As Cook ventured to the North American Coast, he discovered present-day Hawaii, which he dubbed the Sandwich Islands, in March of 1778. Cook enjoyed a record of very amicable relationships with the native peoples he encountered on his expeditions. His initial contact with the peoples of the Sandwich Islands were no exception; after a time however, Cook felt that relations were beginning to sour so he pulled up anchor and sailed away. Two days later, the foremast of the Resolution snapped and Cook returned to the Sandwich Islands. The native population grew increasingly hostile and stole one of Cook's cutters. In retaliation, Cook took the tribal chief hostage in order to facilitate an exchange. In the ensuing commotion, a shot was fired and the natives threw stones, attacking Cook and his crew. Cook died in the altercation at the age of 51.