John Cabot was a merchant that traded spices with other Mediterranean ports.
It is believed he became interested in the riches and spices that a more direct route to Asia would afford. He moved to Valencia, Spain to be closer to the action, but once Columbus returned believing he had found the most direct route, Cabot's monarch was not interested in sending him. So John Cabot turned to Henry VII and moved his family to England. Cabot sold Britain's king on a shorter route than Columbus' southern one. Cabot felt that by sailing straight west across the Atlantic Ocean, he could reach the goods faster than Columbus. His plan was to start from a northerly latitude where the longitudes are much closer together and subsequently, the voyage would be much shorter.
In 1497, Cabot made his first voyage with one ship and landed on a new world. Where his first landfall was is the source of some inter-provincial debate. On his second voyage he was given 6 ships, one returned after being damaged in a storm. The whereabouts of John Cabot remain a mystery. He nor his 5 ships ever returned to England. He is believed to have killed during or after a shipwreck.
