The Age of Exploration - Key Terms Flashcards
Quadrant, astrolabe
Instruments that determined a ships latitude based on the position of the sun and the stars.
Compass
Instrument that determined a ships direction by identifying North.
Log and line
Instrument used to measure a ships speed (unit = knots) based on the number of knots on a rope released at regular intervals.
Caravel
Strong ships that was sturdy enough to last long voyages in strong winds.
Conquistadores
Spanish for “conquerers”. Soldiers who conquered the native people of South America.
Colonisation
When one country takes over another territory, then settles some people there to control the it.
Slavery triangle
A trading triangle. Slaves from Africa were transported to the Americas, American goods to Europe and the and the process would repeat.
Colombian exchange
Introduction of European goods and animals to South America and American goods and animals to Europe.
Cartographers
People who drew maps
Portolan charts
Mapped harbours and coastlines
Logbook
Used to record speed
Tacking
Turning into the wind to move.
Clinker building
Fitted edge to edge then overlapped to reinforce the ships hull.
Rudders
Made it easier to steer a caravel
Naos
Larger versions of a caravel, commonly used for voyages across the Atlantic,
Lateen sails
Triangular sails added to the ships to help steer through wind
Spices
Came from Asia - one of the main reasons for the exploration era
Fortune
Money and other riches
Fame
Known by patrons and king/queens
Scurvy
Deficiency disease caused by a lack of vitamin C in the diet.
Shipwreck
When ships got embedded in sand or rocks
Mutiny
When sailors rebelled against the captains.
Execution
Being killed as a punishment
The Great Silk Road
A trade route to China
Henry the Navigatior
Set up the school of navigation in Sagres.
Bartolomeu Dias
Sailed to the Cape of Good Hope along the coast of Africa in 1487
Vasco de Gama
Sailed to Calicut in India around the coast of Africa in 1497
Christopher Columbus
Discovered America in 1492, although he thought he was in Asia so he referred to the natives as Indians.
Ferdinand Magellen
Proved that the world was round in 1522
Circumnavigation
Sailing around the globe
Hernán Cortés
Conquered the Aztecs
The Aztecs
A tribe in central Mexico who owned an empire
Tenochtitlan
Capital of the Aztec’s Empire
Montezuma II
Aztec King who was tricked by Cortés, killed during the conquest
New Spain
Built on the remains of Tenochtitlan
Francisco Pizarro
Conquered the Incas
Incas
Tribe in Peru before the age of exploration
Colony
One country that is controlled by another
Disease
Diseases such as smallpox, measles and influenze killed most natives in colonised countries.
Brazil
Portugal colonised Brazil; this is why they still speak Potugese in Brazil.
British Empire
They colonised east North America, India, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Africa.
French Empire
They colonised parts of North America, parts of Africa and Asia
Treaty of Tordesillas
Signed in 1494; divided the New World among the colonies
New World
South America
