Where in the World Are We Going?
This historical period began in the 1400s when Europeans increasingly explored the rest of the world.
What is the Age of Exploration (Age of Discovery)?
This Portuguese prince established a school for navigation and helped make Portugal a leader in exploration.
Who is Prince Henry?
In 1492, this Italian explorer sailed west for Spain believing he could reach Asia.
Who is Christopher Columbus?
Spanish soldiers and explorers who claimed land in the Americas for Spain were known by this name.
What are conquistadors?
European explorers hoped to find this all-water route through North America to Asia.
What is the Northwest Passage?
European countries wanted new sea routes partly so they could bypass these merchants who controlled much of the existing trade.
Who are Italian merchants?
In 1488, this Portuguese explorer rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
Who is Bartolomeu Dias?
Columbus believed he had reached this continent when he actually arrived in the Americas.
What is Asia?
This three-part phrase summarized the motivations of many Spanish conquistadors.
What is “God, Glory, and Gold”?
This Italian sailed for France in 1524 and explored the eastern coast of North America while searching for the Northwest Passage.
Who is Giovanni da Verrazzano?
This Portuguese three-masted ship was faster, carried supplies, and could travel in shallow water.
What is the caravel?
This explorer's 1498 voyage opened trade with India and helped Portugal dominate the Indian trade.
Who is Vasco da Gama?
This term describes the transfer of plants, animals, diseases, ideas, and other goods between the Old and New Worlds.
What is the Columbian Exchange?
These three famous civilizations lived in Mexico, Central America, and Peru before Spanish conquest.
Who are the Aztec, Maya, and Inca?
This explorer sailed for both England and the Netherlands and traveled up the river that now bears his name.
Who is Henry Hudson?
Unlike a magnetic compass, this navigation device helped sailors determine their latitude using the stars.
What is an astrolabe?
Around the year 1000, this Viking explored lands in present-day northeastern Canada.
Who is Leif Eriksson?
Native Americans had little natural immunity to this deadly European disease that killed millions.
What is smallpox?
Horses, disease, confusion among Native peoples, and this military advantage helped small groups of Spanish soldiers defeat much larger empires.
What is superior weaponry?
This French explorer established Port Royal and later Quebec, helping France establish a permanent presence in North America.
Who is Samuel de Champlain?
Improvements in these four areas helped make the Age of Exploration possible.
What are mapmaking, shipbuilding, rigging, and navigation?
His expedition became the first to circumnavigate the Earth, although he was killed in the Philippines before completing the journey himself.
Who is Ferdinand Magellan?
This Italian explorer sailed for Spain and Portugal, and his first name eventually became the inspiration for the name “America.”
Who is Amerigo Vespucci?
Under this Spanish system, colonists were given the right to demand labor or tribute from Native Americans.
What is the encomienda system?
In 1626, this Dutch leader purchased Manhattan and helped establish the settlement of New Amsterdam.
Who is Peter Minuit?