Spanish Colonization
Spanish soldiers who accompanied ship captains and merchants in the Americas. These soldiers took land and resources from the Indigenous people of Mexico and Peru, usually by violent means.
Conquistadors
French explorers Marquette and Joliet traveled the Mississippi River in search of a Northwest Passage. Later, Robert Cavelier de La Salle claimed all the land west of the Mississippi for France and named it this, in honor of King Louis XIV.
Louisiana
In 1607, English colonists settled on a swampy peninsula called Jamestown in Virginia. They faced hunger, disease, and conflicts with the Pamunkey, part of the Powhatan nation, while trying to survive.
Jamestown
The land along the Hudson River claimed by the Dutch became a colony called this, which included areas around present-day Albany and Manhattan.
New Netherland
This period of European history, meaning “rebirth,” was marked by a renewed interest in learning, art, and exploration.
Renaissance
people who travel to a territory or community in order to convert people to their religion
Missionaries
French fur trappers, called coureurs de bois, traveled west from Quebec to claim land and trade for beaver pelts. They often lived with Indigenous groups and relied on their knowledge to survive in the wilderness.
coureurs de bois
This island off the coast of present-day North Carolina was the site of an English colony that mysteriously disappeared, leaving only the word "CROATOAN" behind.
Roanoke Island
This English sailor explored the northern coastline of North America in 1609 for the Netherlands and claimed land along a river that was later named after him.
Henry Hudson
This Italian explorer, inspired by Marco Polo’s book, believed he could reach the Indies by sailing west across the Atlantic.
Christopher Columbus
Spanish explorers searched for these cities, said to be full of gold. Coronado traveled far north but only found villages of the Pueblo people.
The Seven Cities of Cíbola (Seven Cities of Gold)
Champlain allied the French with this Indigenous group against their enemies, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy. Fighting alongside them, the French helped gain land and resources, but exposed the Natives to deadly European diseases.
Wyandot
This leader took control of Jamestown in 1608, making the rule “If any would not work, neither should he eat.” He helped the colony survive during hunger and disease and was saved from execution by Pocahontas.
John Smith
This Dutch settlement on Manhattan Island grew to over 1,000 people and was later renamed New York after the English took control in 1664.
New Amsterdam
This term describes the transfer of people, plants, animals, and diseases between Europe and the Americas following Columbus’s voyages.
Columbian Exchange
What was the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States, established by Spain in 1565?
St. Augustine
In 1534, this French explorer sailed along the Atlantic coast of North America, hoping to find a Northwest Passage to Asia. While he did not find the passage, he claimed land for France in what is now Canada and traded for valuable beaver fur.
Jacques Cartier
This Italian explorer, living in England, sailed west in 1497 hoping to reach Asia. He landed on what is now Newfoundland, claimed land for England, and inspired later English colonization of North America.
John Cabot
The Dutch formed an alliance with this powerful Indigenous group in New Netherland, which helped them trade for furs and fight their rivals, the Wyandot.
Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois)
This Spanish conquistador conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico after smallpox weakened the Aztec population.
Hernán Cortés
This Spanish explorer sailed with Columbus and landed in 1513 on a peninsula in North America. He named it La Florida and was searching for a legendary "fountain of youth."
Juan Ponce de León
This French explorer founded the first European settlement in New France in 1608. He built a trading post called Quebec, which became a base for fur traders, missionaries, and soldiers for the next 150 years.
Samuel de Champlain
This widower helped Jamestown survive by growing a profitable crop that could be sold in England. He later married Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan, to ease tensions with the local Indigenous people.
John Rolfe
This Dutch governor bought Manhattan Island from the Lenape people in 1626 by trading items like beads, blankets, and iron pots.
Peter Minuit
This Spanish conquistador conquered the Inca Empire in present-day Peru after taking the Inca ruler Atahualpa hostage.
Francisco Pizarro