New Horizons: Early Exploration Efforts Flashcards
Viking adventurer who sailed to America around A.D. 1000
Leif Ericson
Device used to determine navigational location by measuring the angles of celestial bodies above the horizon
An astrolabe
Son of an Italian merchant who accompanied his father and his uncle on a trip to China in 1271
Marco Polo
Promoted the spirit of exploration in Portugal
Prince Henry the Navigator
Reached the “Cape of Good Hope” in 1488, a feat many Europeans had said was impossible
Bartolomeu Dias
First European to reach the Far East by sea in 1498
Vasco de Gama
Landed on San Salvador on October 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus
First man to realize that Columbus had discovered a new land
Amerigo Vespucci
Built the first great civilization in the Western Hemisphere
Mayas
Most important Indian civilization in South America (lived in the Andes Mountains of modern-day Peru)
Incas
Most powerful Native American empire at the beginning of the Age of Exploration
Aztecs
Made the first Spanish landing on the North American mainland when he discovered Florida while searching for a legendary “fountain of youth” in 1513
Ponce de León
Crossed the Isthmus of Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean in 1513
Vasco de Balboa
Portuguese sailor employed by Spain who embarked on a three-year voyage around the world in 1519
Ferdinand Magellan
Conquered the Aztec Indians
Hernando Cortés
Conquered the Inca Indians of Peru between 1531 and 1533
Francisco Pizarro
A party of his men discovered the Grand Canyon on a futile quest to find legendary cities made of gold between 1540 and 1542
Francisco Coronado
Discovered the Mississippi River in 1541
Hernando de Soto
A Portuguese employed by Spain who explored the coast of California in 1542
Juan Cabrillo
To end the rivalry between Spain and Portugal, Pope Alexander VI, in 1493, drew an imaginary:
Line of Demarcation
Portuguese sailor who discovered Brazil after being blown off course
Pedro Cabral
An Italian explored for France the eastern coast of North America from North Carolina to Nova Scotia, Canada in 1524
Giovanni de Verrazano
Led an expedition that discovered the St. Lawrence River in northeastern Canada between 1534 and 1535
Jacques Cartier
The first modern explorer to reach the North American mainland…his exploration of “New-Found Land” (Newfoundland, Canada) gave England a major claim to territory in the New World (1497)
John Cabot
