Unit 8: The Age of Exploration

Question 1

Caravel

Answer 1

A small, highly maneuverable three-masted (triangular sails) ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic.

Question 2

Astrolabe

Answer 2

An instrument used to determine latitude by measuring the position of the stars.

Question 3

Cartography

Answer 3

The science or art of making maps.

Question 4

Treaty of Tordesillas

Answer 4

A 1494 agreement between Portugal and Spain, declaring that newly discovered lands to the west of an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean would belong to Spain and newly discovered lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal.

Question 5

Mercantilism

Answer 5

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought. (The exports of a country are of greater value than the imports.)

Question 6

Columbian Exchange

Answer 6

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world (Europe, Africa, and Asia) following Columbus’s voyages.

Question 7

Triangular Trade

Answer 7

A system of trade during 1600-1800s Africa sent slaves to the Americas, the Americas sent Raw Materials to Europe, and Europe sent guns, clothing, and other products to Africa.

Question 8

Middle Passage

Answer 8

A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies.

Question 9

Viceroy

Answer 9

Governor of a country or province who rules as the representative of his or her king or sovereign; think Spanish colonies.

Question 10

Encomienda

Answer 10

A grant by the Spanish Crown (King) to a colonist in America conferring the right to demand tribute and forced labor from the Native inhabitants of an area.

Question 11

Mita

Answer 11

When colonists were allowed to use the Natives for forced labor in colonial South America as a form of taxation.

Question 12

Bartolomeu Dias

Answer 12

Portuguese explorer who in 1488 led the first expedition to sail around the southern tip of Africa from the Atlantic and sight the Indian Ocean.

Question 13

Vasco da Gama

Answer 13

Portuguese explorer. In 1497-1498 he led the first expedition from Europe to sail to India, opening an important commercial sea route.

Question 14

John Cabot

Answer 14

Italian explorer who led the English expedition in 1497 that discovered the mainland of North America and explored the coast of Newfoundland; laying the groundwork for English claims to Canada and North America.

Question 15

Pedro Alvares Cabral

Answer 15

Portuguese leader of an expedition to India; blown off course in 1500 and landed in Brazil; claimed Brazil for Portugal.

Question 16

Amerigo Vespucci

Answer 16

The Italian sailor who corrected Columbus’s mistake, acknowledging the coasts of America as a ‘New World.’ The Americas would be named after him.

Question 17

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

Answer 17

Spanish explorer who became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean in 1510 while exploring Panama.

Question 18

Ferdinand Magellan

Answer 18

Portuguese explorer who found a sea route to the Spice Island by sailing around the American continent (Strait of Magellan, Pacific Ocean, the Philippines - Magellan was killed). His crew was the first to circumnavigate the world.

Question 19

Hernan Cortes

Answer 19

Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the conquest of Aztec in Mexico in 1519-1521 for Spain.

Question 20

Francisco Pizarro

Answer 20

Spanish explorer and conquistador who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541).

Question 21

Samuel de Champlain

Answer 21

French explorer who explored Nova Scotia, the St. Lawrence River, and the Great Lakes region. He established a settlement on the site of modern Quebec (1567-1635).

Question 22

Peninsulares

Answer 22

Spanish-born, came to Latin America; ruled, highest social class.

Question 23

Creoles

Answer 23

Descendents of Spanish-born but born in Latin America; resented inferior social, political, economic status.

Question 24

Mestizos

Answer 24

People of mixed Native American and European ancestory.

Question 25

Mullatoes

Answer 25

People of mixed African and European ancestry.

Question 26

Marco Polo

Answer 26

Venetian merchant and traveler. His accounts of his travels to China offered Europeans a firsthand view of Asian lands and stimulated interest in Asian trade.

Question 27

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

Answer 27

King and Queen of Spain - help unify Spain and support and encourage Spanish exploration - funded Christopher Columbus’ expoditions.

Question 28

Jesuits

Answer 28

Members of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Ignatius of Loyola. Missionary order sent to convert the indigenous people in Colonial Latin America to Catholicism.

Question 29

Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits

Answer 29

Roman Catholic religious orders sent to convert indigenous people in Colonial Latin America to Catholicism.

Question 30

Christopher Columbus

Answer 30

An Italian navigator who was funded by the Spanish Government to find a passage to the Far East. He is given credit for discovering the “New World,” even though at his death he believed he had made it to India. He made four voyages to the “New World.” The first sighting of land was on October 12, 1492, and went on three other expeditions until the time of his death in 1503.

Question 31

Prince Henry the Navigator

Answer 31

(1394-1460) Prince of Portugal who established an observatory and school of navigation and directed voyages that spurred the growth of Portugal’s colonial empire.