Europe Encounters America Flashcards
Was Columbus the first European to arrive in America?
No
When did Christopher Columbus lead 90 sailors on a voyage into the unknown?
1492
Who were the first Europeans in the Americas?
Strong archaeological evidence credits that accomplishment to the Norse, or Vikings, a people who came from Scandinavia
Beginning in when were Viking ships able to venture outward from their homeland?
Beginning in AD 700
Who was Leif Ericsson
Someone who might have been a Viking, who explored the coast of Labrador and might have stayed the winter if Newfoundland with 35 other Vikings.
When was Europe’s interest renewed in world geography?
The mid-1400s, and because of the Renaissance.
What was Christopher Columbus?
An Italian Navigator interested in sailing across the Atlantic westward
When did most educated Europeans know that the world was round?
The 1400s
Who was Cladius Ptolemy and what did he do?
A Greek-educated Egyptian geographer and astronomer.
He drew maps of a round world, complete with 360 lines of longitude, one degree apart on a flat surface.
When was Ptolemy’s geography discovered and published?
Published in 1475
Rediscovered in 1406
Was Ptolemy’s geography all the way correct??
No, it had seriously underestimated the distance that each Degree of longitude represented
How long did Columbus spend trying to persuade king Ferdinand and queen Isabel of Spain to fund him?
Six years
What were the names of Columbus’ 3 ships?
The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria
Did the Arawak Indians have an intense spiritual life?
Yes, but Columbus thought they didn’t.
When did Columbus head back to Spain for the second time?
1496
