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The Age of Exploration Study Guide
1. Which explorer’s tales of his travels to Asia sparked curiosity for exploration? ​Marco Polo
2. What tools were popular with navigators to help them know where they were and where they were going?
hourglass and sextant
3. In the 1400s, what Portuguese leader provided leadership for exploration? ​Prince Henry the Navigator
4. Where was the place of El Dorado found, and who found it? ​southern tip of Africa; Bartolomeu Dias
5. The important route to the Indian Ocean was found by whom? ​Bartolomeu Dias
6. Who explored the east coast of Africa? ​Vasco da Gama
7. Who discovered Brazil? ​Pedro Alvares Cabral
8. Who stumbled upon the Bahamas? ​Christopher Columbus
9. How did the Native Americans become known as “Indians”?
Christopher Columbus thought that he had reached the East Indies.
10. Name the treaty that divided the land in the western hemisphere between Spain and Portugal.
Treaty of Tordesillas
11. What are encomiendas?
They were land and labor grants that the Spaniards set up to encourage settlers in their newly conquered
lands.
12. Who was the Spanish missionary who opposed the enslavement of Indians? ​Las Casas
13. What lands did Magellan visit during his circumnavigation?
Argentina, west coast of South America, Philippine Islands, other islands in the Pacific Ocean
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The southern tip of South America is named what? ​Strait of Magellan
What was the first English colony in North America? ​Roanoke Island
What​ was the first ​permanent English settlement in North America? ​Jamestown
What was Jacques Cartier’s big mistake?
He didn’t realize that the Gulf of St. Lawrence was the outlet of a great river.
18. France became interested in establishing colonies in the New World primarily due to the ​fur ​trade.
19. What was Giovanni da Verrazano’s accomplishment? ​He was the first European to sail up the Atlantic Coast
of the present-day United States.
20. What did Jacques Cartier claim for France? ​Canada around Montreal
21. Who were the first Europeans to reach the Mississippi River?​Marquette and Jolliet
22. What did Henry Hudson accomplish?
He sailed up a river into what is now New York state and also found a huge inland sea in Canada.
23. Give the name and describe the conditions of the trip that slaves were forced to make enroute to the
Americas from Africa. ​The Middle Passage; (possible responses) inhumane, inexcusable, terrifying, disgraceful,
crushing
24. Describe how the Age of Exploration was a glorious time for some and a time of hardship for others.
The Age of Exploration was a time of triumph because it brought fame and glory to many explorers and
wealth and prestige to the country they represented. It was a time of hardship for many native peoples who
were treated unfairly, forced off their land, and required to submit to the culture of their conquerors.