James Cook Research Paper

James Cook was a Naval Captain Navigator in the mid 1700’s. He commanded many ships throughout his life. James was credited with discovering New Zealand and many other places around the world as we know them today. Cook was a very skillful sailor, mapmaker and explorer who had many great accomplishments in his lifetime.

James Cook was born on October 27, 1728 in Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, England. His father was a Scottish farm hand and worked with him until he was 18 years old. At age 18, he was signed on as a deckhand taking coal to London. In late 1762, James decided to marry Elizabeth Batts and was married to her until he died on February 14, 1779. Elizabeth and James had six children together: Elizabeth, Nathaniel, George, Hugh,

Some of those include the Pembroke and the Endeavour. While on the Pembroke, he had to chart the waters of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada. The ship Endeavour left England in 1768. This is the ship that Cook discovered New Zealand on and claimed it for Great Britain. It also took scientists to the Pacific Ocean to observe Venus.

During the Seven Years War he commanded a ship for the Royal Navy that had been captured. This war lasted from 1756 to 1763. Another thing James accomplished was being chosen to circumnavigate and explore Antarctica for Great Britain. He also charted present day Tonga, the Easter Islands, New Caledonia, the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia. Cook was the first one to come up with an accurate map of the Pacific Ocean. Great Britain looked very highly of James Cook because he discovered so much for them.

James went on three very important voyages. The first voyage, from 1768-1771, was on the ship Endeavour. This was the first European ship to reach the east coast of Australia. They landed near modern day Sydney. For the second voyage, he used the ship Resolution from 1772-1775. While aboard this ship, Cook had to chart the Great Southern Continent. On this journey, he became the first man to circumnavigate the world in both directions. The last voyage was on the Resolution as well. This trip lasted from 1776-1780. The purpose of the journey was to look for an exit to the Northwest

Scurvy was a disease that was formed by a vitamin C deficiency. He came up with a very strict diet for everyone aboard the ship to avoid getting it. Their diet included watercress, sauerkraut, and orange extract. It wasn’t the best diet, but it prevented the people on the ship from getting sick so they all stuck to it. Getting everyone to eat the sauerkraut was a struggle. Cook tricked them into eating it by showing everyone that the superiors were eating it. Because the lower classmen looked up to the superiors and their superiors ate the food, they thought it was amazing and continued to eat every bit of