The king and people pay honor to Cabot
How John Cabot was treated by the king and people of England when he came back is seen in an old letter written from England by a citizen of Venice to his friends at home. "The king has promised that in the spring our countryman shall have ten ships, armed to his order. The king has also given him money wherewith to amuse himself till then, and he is now at Bristol with his wife, who is also a Venetian, and with his sons. His name is John Cabot, and he is called the great admiral. Vast honor is paid to him; he dresses in silk, and the English run after him like mad people, so that he can enlist as many of them as he pleases, and a number of our own rogues besides. The discoverer of these places planted on his new-found land a large cross, with one flag of England and another of St. Mark, by reason of his being a Venetian."
THE FINDING OF AMERICA
The first voyages of Columbus, the discoverer of the New World, and of Cabot, the first man to reach the mainland of North America
Cabot's second voyage
Again, in May, 1498, John Cabot started for India by sailing toward the northwest. This time the fleet was larger, and filled with eager English sailors. But Cabot could not find a way to India, so he altered his course and coasted southward as far as the region now called North Carolina.
Now because of these two voyages of Cabot, England later claimed a large part of North America, for he had really seen the mainland of America before Columbus. Spain also claimed the same region, but we have seen how Mexico and Peru drew Spaniards to those countries.
Why England was slow in settling America
If England had been quick to act and had made settlements where Cabot explored, she would have had little trouble in getting a hold in North America. But she did not do so. Henry VII was old and stingy. Cabot had twice failed to find India with its treasures of gold and silver, so little attention was given to the new lands.