Tools & Technology of Exploration
Navigators used this ancient brass instrument to calculate their latitude at sea by measuring the angle of the sun or stars above the horizon.
What is an astrolabe?
Sponsored by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, his transatlantic voyage initiated sustained European contact with the Americas.
Who is Christopher Columbus?
This general term refers to Spanish conquerors of the Americas, such as Hernán Cortés or Francisco Pizarro.
What is a conquistador?
This prevailing economic doctrine held that a nation's power depended on accumulating gold and silver by maximizing exports and restricting colonial trade.
What is mercantilism?
The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, populations, and lethal diseases across the Atlantic following 1492.
What is the Columbian Exchange?
Developed by the Portuguese, this fast, highly maneuverable ship featured triangular lateen sails that allowed sailors to tack into the wind.
What is a caravel?
In 1488, this Portuguese explorer became the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.
Who is Bartolomeu Dias?
Between 1519 and 1521, this conquistador conquered the Aztec Empire and overthrew Emperor Moctezuma II.
Who is Hernán Cortés?
This transatlantic trade network connected Europe, West Africa, and the Americas with goods, raw materials, and enslaved people.
What is the Triangular Trade?
This Spanish colonial labor grant gave settlers indigenous labor and tribute in exchange for ostensibly converting them to Catholicism.
What is the encomienda system?
First accomplished by Ferdinand Magellan's expedition (and later Francis Drake), this term means to sail completely around the globe.
What is to circumnavigate?
America is named after this Italian navigator whose published voyages convinced Europeans that Columbus had reached a distinct "New World," not Asia.
Who is Amerigo Vespucci?
In the 1530s, this Spanish conquistador led the expedition that captured Atahualpa and conquered the Inca Empire in South America.
Who is Francisco Pizarro?
The brutal middle leg of the Triangular Trade that carried millions of kidnapped, enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas.
What is the Middle Passage?
This term describes the blending of religious beliefs and cultural practices, seen in traditions like Santería or the Day of the Dead.
What is syncretism (or religious syncretism)?
In the 15th century, Europeans sought direct ocean routes to Asia primarily to bypass these intermediaries who controlled overland Eastern spice routes.
Who are Muslim (or Ottoman/Arab) merchants/intermediaries?
This Italian explorer sailed for England in 1497, landing in Newfoundland and establishing early English claims to North America
Who is John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto)?
Searching for the mythical "Seven Cities of Gold," this explorer led an expedition through the American Southwest and became one of the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyon.
Who is Francisco Vázquez de Coronado?
Under mercantilist policies, colonies were primarily expected to provide cheap raw materials to the mother country and serve as this.
What is an exclusive/captive market for manufactured goods?
This Dominican friar and former encomendero wrote A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, passionately advocating for native rights.
Who is Bartolomé de las Casas?
Beyond the caravel and astrolabe, explain how two other navigational innovations (such as the magnetic compass, sternpost rudder, or wind pattern mapping) enabled transoceanic travel.
What are the magnetic compass (giving directional heading away from coastlines) and the sternpost rudder/volta do mar (offering steering control in rough seas and utilizing ocean gyres)?
This French explorer navigated the St. Lawrence River in the 1530s, claiming the territory for France and laying the foundation for New France.
Who is Jacques Cartier?
Led by the religious leader Popé in 1680, this successful indigenous uprising temporarily drove Spanish colonists out of present-day New Mexico.
What is the Pueblo Revolt?
Contrast the primary colonial economic motivations of Spain (precious metals, silver mines, large plantations) with France (fur trade, small trade posts, cooperation with native groups).
What is Spain focused on extracting mineral wealth and plantation agriculture, while France focused on the fur trade and network alliances?
Spanish colonial society enforced a strict racial and social hierarchy based on heritage and birthplace known by this name.
What is the casta system?