Explorers
Leaders of Kingdoms, Tribes, or Churches
Things That Enabled Colonialism
Settlements and Voyagers
Random
100

Italian explorer who led the English expedition in 1497 that discovered the mainland of North America and explored the coast from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland (ca. 1450-1498)

Who is John Cabot?

100

Protestant Queen of England, whose forty-five year reign from 1558 to 1603 firmly secured the Anglican Church and inaugurated a period of maritime exploration and conquest. Never having married, she was dubbed the "Virgin Queen" by her contemporaries.

Who is Elizabeth I?

100

Legal document granted by a government to some group or agency to implement a stated purpose, and spelling out the attending rights and obligations. British colonial charters guaranteed inhabitants all the rights of Englishmen, which helped solidify colonists' ties to Britain during the early years of settlement.

What is a charter?

100

Translated as "runners of the woods," they were French fur-trappers, also known as "voyageurs" (travelers), who established trading posts throughout North America. The fur trade wreaked havoc on the health and folkways of their Native American trading partners.

Who were the coureurs de bois?

100

Bound together 5 tribes-- the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas--- in the Mohawk Valley of what is now New York state.

What was the Iroquois Confederacy?

200

English courtier and adventurer who sponsored the failed settlements of North Carolina's Roanoke Island in 1585 and 1587. Once a favorite of Elizabeth I, he fell out of favor with the Virgin Queen after secretly marrying one of her maids of honor. He continued his colonial pursuits until 1618, when he was executed for treason.

Who is Sir Walter Raleigh?

200

Aztec emperor defeated and killed by the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes.

Who is Moctezuma?

200

Legal principle that the oldest son inherits all family property or land. Landowner's younger sons, forced to seek their fortunes elsewhere, pioneered early exploration and settlement of the Americas.

What was Primogeniture?

200

First permanent English settlement in North America founded by the Virginia Company.

What is Jamestown?

200

Movement to reform the Catholic Church launched in Germany by Martin Luther. Reformers questioned the authority of the Pope, sought to eliminate the selling of indulgences, and encouraged the translation of the Bible from Latin, which few could read at the time. Spread to England in the 1530s when Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church.

What was the Protestant Reformation?

300

Frenchman who followed the Mississippi River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, claiming the region for France and naming it Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV

Who is Robert La Salle?

300

Franciscan priest who established a chain of missions along the California coast, beginning in San Diego in 1769, with the aim of Christianizing and civilizing native peoples.

Who is Father Junipero Serra?

300

English joint-stock company that received a charter from King James I that allowed it to found the Virginia colony.

What was the Virginia Company?

300

Sir Walter Raleigh's failed colonial settlement off the coast of North Carolina

What was Roanoke Island?

300

Last-ditch effort by the Indians to dislodge Virginia settlements. The resulting peace treaty formally separated white and Indian areas of settlement.

What was the second Anglo-Powhatan War?

400

English adventurer who took control of Jamestown in 1608 and ensured the survival of the colony by directing gold-hungry colonists toward more productive tasks. He also established ties with the Powhatan Indians through the Chief's daughter, Pocahontas, who had "saved" him from a mock execution the previous year.

Who is Captain John Smith?

400

Absolute monarch: Also the King of Scotland; highly religious; became King England in 1603 when Queen Elizabeth I died; he supported overseas colonization, granting a charter to the Virginia Company in 1606 for a settlement in the New World. He also cracked down on both Catholics and Puritan Separatists, prompting the latter to flee to Holland, and later North America.

Who is James I of England?

400

Decree issued by the French crown granting limited toleration to French Protestants. Ended religious wars in France and inaugurated a period of French preeminence in Europe and across the Atlantic. Its repeal in 1685 prompted a fresh migration of Protestant Huguenots to North America.

What was the Edict of Nantes 1598?

400

The Dutch colony, located along the Hudson River area, that was established by the Dutch West India Company.

What was the New Netherland?

400

French Protestant dissenters, they were granted limited toleration under the Edict of Nantes. After King Louis XIV outlawed Protestantism in 1685, many fled elsewhere, including to British North America.

Who were the Huguenots?

500

English sea captain who completed his circumnavigation of the globe in 1580, plundering Spanish ships and settlements along the way.

Who is Sir Francis Drake?

500

Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy and father to Pocahontas. At the time of the English settlement of Jamestown in 1607, he was a friend to John Smith and John Rolfe. When Smith was captured by Indians, he left Smith's fate in the hands of his warriors. His daughter saved John Smith, and the Jamestown colony. Pocahontas and John Rolfe were wed, and there was a time of peace between the Indians and English until his death.

Who is Powhatan?

500

Short-term partnership between multiple investors to fund a commercial enterprise; such arrangements were used to fund England's early colonial ventures.

What was a joint-stock company?

500

Spanish fleet defeated in the English Channel in 1588. The defeat of the Armada marked the beginning of the decline of the Spanish Empire.

What was the Spanish Armada?

500

Series of clashes between the Powhatan Confederacy and English settlers in Virginia. English colonists torched and pillaged Indian villages, applying tactics used in England's campaigns against the Irish.

What was the first Anglo-Powhatan War?

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