Captain Cook Biography Essay Example

European exploration led to the discovery of many lands that are nations today, but the explorers themselves have become scrutinized overtime for their tactics. During this time of exploration, many of the explorers are and have been identified or presented as heroes or founders for their discoveries and their claims to territory in the name of their homeland. As time has progressed and the places that were once conquered turned to nations the view of these explorers has been everchanging just as the nations have.  James Cook was an extraordinary explorer and captain that rose through the ranks to become one of the most renowned explorers ever, but like other explorers, James Cook’s fame has been investigated due to ever-changing social ideals. In many ways, Cook’s posthumous story is becoming a negative one too many people.  This paper is intended to expose the changing perceptions of European explorers but with a focus on Captain James Cook.

In his time Captain Cook made a name for himself by being an excellent navigator. Cook is a wonderful example of someone who came from mediocre societal standing to someone who became a hero in a society that had allowed only little class movement for many years. Before becoming a world-renowned adventurer, James Cook was born to a farmer and his homemaker wife in a village in Yorkshire on November 7th, 1728.  As a child, his father’s boss paid for him to go to school for five years, and though he did not have much education Cook was very bright. After school Cook began to work under his father as most young men did, and after he became an apprentice grocer under William Sanderson. During his time as an apprentice grocer, Cook found himself mesmerized by the local sailors that came into the store and their stories. Soon after Sanderson realized that James did not want to be a grocer, it is not clear if Cook ran away or if Sanderson released him. Cook was released as an apprentice grocer so that he could pursue his dream career as a sailor.

After Cook’s apprenticeship as a grocer was done, he joined the crew of the Freelove, a collier ship that was used to transport coal.  During this time Cook presumably learned many useful techniques that aided his process of becoming a world-renowned explorer.  Cook worked aboard the Freelove for nine years where he gained valuable knowledge and gained respect from other sailors, but overall, most of Cook’s personal life details during this time are lost.  By the end of his tenure under the Walker brothers, Cook was well versed in understanding the harsh realities that came with sailing, after all the North Sea that the Freelove was in could be treacherous. When the French war broke out Cook, at the age of twenty-seven, volunteered as a member of the H.M.S. Eagle.  

Like other explorers Cook’s identity is ever changing and as people are taught to find evidence for themselves, from the poor son of an immigrant to a world-renowned sailor, in modern times there are thought to be many different versions of who Cook really was. The idea of questioning these explorers has become more commonplace in recent times. In the United States, many people have begun to scrutinize the role that Columbus played in discovering America. These adventurers were not usually on the higher end of the societies that they lived in but they were relentless and sometimes ruthless in their efforts to discover and claim land. Both men as well as other explorers like Cortes, de Soto, are seen as key factors at the beginning of the spread of globalization.

The scrutinization of the roles that these great explorers played in the creation of the modern world is commonly based on the impact that their discovery had on the original people of the lands that became claimed by these explorers. For instance, Columbus, and other Spanish explorers or Conquistadors seriously affected the day-to-day life of Native Americans in North America and Mesoamerica. Captain Cook on the other hand affected the Aboriginal people of Australia and Hawaiian tribes that he encountered. In all cases, whether intentional or not, these discoveries eventually led to serious illness and chaos among these groups that had been encountered. Still, there is some hope for Cook as the legacy he left behind was one of a man that was paid to explore the territory, he did not set up empires or personally control any land outside of his own, but similar to other explorers some groups of people, like many Hawaiians, see Cook as a Devil of western imperialism and globalization.  

In modern-day Australia, Captain Cook’s role differs depending on who is asked. Some still see cook as the man who found the Eastern Side of Australia, and not as the guy who took Aboriginal land and set up a penal colony, Cook simply found the place. Others believe that Cook was a major player in these charges of stealing land and murder.