Religion and Motivation
This motive combined desire to spread Christianity and to weaken the influence of Islam in trade and territory.
Spread Christianity / weaken Islam
Two navigational tools mentioned that allowed sailors to travel further from land and return safely.
Astrolabe and compass
Who sailed in 1492 believing he had reached Asia but actually landed in Hispaniola?
Christopher Columbus
Which country hired Francis Drake to attack Spanish treasure ships and colonies?
England
Name one disease brought from Europe that devastated Indigenous populations.
Smallpx, Measles
Name the treaty or policy (used by Spanish explorers) that demanded Indigenous peoples accept Christianity or face enslavement and seizure of property.
The Requirement
Name the Portuguese ship innovation with triangular sails that allowed sailing closer to the wind.
Caravel
Which explorer circumnavigated the globe beginning in 1520 (though he died before returning to Spain)?
Ferdinand Magellan
What event involved demanding ransom in gold from an Indigenous leader, then executing him anyway (example in the notes)?
Ransom for Atahualpa
According to the notes, approximately what percentage of the Andean Indigenous population died from disease after contact?
About 93%
Which two Spanish monarchs sponsored Columbus’s 1492 voyage in hopes of gaining riches and converts?
Ferdinand and Isabella
Which Portuguese prince founded a navigation school and sponsored voyages?
Prince Henry the Navigator
Name the explorer who sailed around Africa to reach India in 1498.
Vasco de Gama
Name one economic reason European countries wanted new trade routes to Asia.
High demand for Asian spices
Give two specific human costs (not including disease) that resulted from European conquest and colonization listed in the notes.
Enslavelemt, forced conversion to Christianity, execution, loss of land and wealth
Explain briefly how “curiosity” served as a motivation for exploration, citing one example from the notes.
Example: Marco Polo's teavel stories inspired exploration.
How did improved mapmaking change Europeans’ worldview about the Americas and other lands?
Old belief that Americas and Asia were same corrected; myth that crossing equator would burn ships
Which two conquistadors conquered great native empires in the Americas (one conquered the Aztec, the other the Inca)? Give names and the empire each conquered.
Hernan Cortes-Aztec
Francisco Pizarro-Inca
Provide one example from the notes showing how explorers or conquistadors treated Indigenous people when they demanded gold or labor.
Columbus chopped off hands for lack of gold; "Requirement" threatened enslavement
Out of approximately 3 million Taino before Columbus, what percent died or were killed? Explain one factor besides disease that contributed to this loss.
84% of Taino died--Factors include forced labor, violence and brutality
“I and my companions suffer from a disease of the heart which can be cured only with gold.” Who said this and what does this reveal about motives?
Cortes quote shows greed for gold driving conquest and extreme exploitation
Describe two technological or navigational changes together and explain how they made long-distance exploration financially possible.
Example: Astrolabe + better maps allowed safe ocean routes enabling profitable trade
Name the major event that happened in each of these years: 1488, 1497, 1535
1488 — Bartolomeu Dias; 1497 — John Cabot;
1535 — Jacques Cartier
Explain how competition among Spain, Portugal, England, and France led to claims in North and South America. Include one explorer from each of two countries as examples.
Competition led to territorial claims; e.g., Spain (Cortes/Pizarro), Portugal (Da Gama/Dias), England (Cabot/Drake), France (Cartier)
Using the Aztec, compare pre-contact population estimates with later totals and explain the combined effects (disease, violence, slavery, forced labor, and extraction of wealth) on those populations.
The population was 25 million pre-contact and dropped to 2 million by 1580. Combined effects include disease, violent conquest, ransom/killing of leaders, enslavement, stealing gold