Explorers & Navigators
Which Italian explorer was America named after?
Amerigo Vespucci
In what year did Christopher Columbus first land in the Americas?
1492
What term refers to the rebirth of European interest in the arts and learning of ancient Greece and Rome?
Renaissance
What was the transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old World and New World called?
Columbian Exchange
What epidemic killed approximately one-third of Europe's population in the mid-1300s?
Black Death
Which Portuguese prince was known as "the Navigator" for his support of exploration?
Prince Henry
Which continent was Columbus convinced he could reach by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean?
Asia
Who invented movable type for European printing presses?
Johannes Gutenberg
Why did many Native Americans die following initial contact with European explorers?
They had no immunity to European diseases
Who led the expedition that accomplished the first successful circumnavigation of the globe?
Ferdinand Magellan
Which Italian explorer sailed for England, giving them a claim to land in North America?
John Cabot
What were the names of the three ships in Christopher Columbus's first fleet?
Niña, Pinta, and Santa María
What is the term for money or property used to earn more money?
Capital
Which Native American crop brought back to Europe became a vital global food supply?
Corn (Maize)
What was the boundary established by Pope Alexander VI to divide exploration rights between Spain and Portugal?
Line of Demarcation
Which explorer sailed the St. Lawrence River up to present-day Montreal?
Jacques Cartier
What was the name of the Native American group Columbus encountered on the island of Hispaniola?
Taino
What business model allowed multiple merchants to jointly invest and share in profits and losses?
Joint-stock company
Which country controlled as much as 75 percent of the spice trade between Europe and Asia during the 1500s?
Portugal
Which instrument was used by sailors to determine a ship's position by charting the stars?
Astrolabe
Which French sailor's voyages formed the basis for French claims to Canada?
Samuel de Champlain
What was the name of the Spanish colony established by Columbus on his first voyage that was later destroyed?
La Navidad
What term means having sole economic control over a trade route or market?
Monopoly
Why did European nations search for a Northwest Passage?
To find a direct water route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean
What was the centuries-long struggle that ended with driving the Moors out of Spain?
Reconquista