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EXPLORING THE AMERICAS
1400 - 1625
8.H.2 North America, originally inhabited by American Indians, was explored and
colonized by Europeans for economic and religious reasons.
Terms
Circumnavigate – to sail around the world
Astrolabe – an instrument used by sailors to observe positions of stars
Strait – a narrow passageway connection two larger bodies of water
Conquistadors – Spanish explorer in the Americas in the 1500s
Mission – a religious settlement
Encomienda – System of rewarding conquistadors with tracts of land and the right
to tax and demand labor from Native Americans who lived on the land.
Columbian Exchange – exchange of goods, ideas, and people between Europe
and the Americas
Mercantilism – the theory that a state’s or nation’s power depended on its wealth
Northwest Passage – water route to Asia through North America sought by
European explorers
Technology – the application of scientific discoveries to practical use
1519 – 1522
Ferdinand Magellan
first to sail around the
world
1492 – 1504
Christopher Columbus
explored Caribbean Islands
1610 – 1611
Henry Hudson
explored the Hudson
Strait and Hudson
Bay
1524
Giovanni da Verrazano
explored the east coast of
North America including New
York Harbor
1498
Vasco da Gama
reaches India
1400
1673
Jacques Marquette/ Louis
Joliet explored the
Mississippi River
1603 – 1615
Samuel de Champlain explored
the St. Lawrence River and
Founded Quebec Canada
1540 – 1542
Francisco Coronado explored
southwestern North America
1500
1600
1539 – 1543
Hernando de Soto led
expedition to the
Mississippi River
1497 – 1501
John Cabot rediscovered
Newfoundland (east
coast of America
1609
Henry Hudson explored
the Hudson River
1542 – 1543
Juan Cabrillo explored the
west coast of North America
1534 – 1542
Jacques Cartier explored the St.
Lawrence River
1508 – 1509, 1513
Ponce de Leon explored
Puerto Rico and Florida
Spain
Portugal
England
Netherlands
France
1666 – 1682
Robert de La Salle explored the
Great Lakes and founded Louisiana
after reaching the mouth of the
Mississippi River
MARCO
POLO
Why did Europeans begin to explore
the world?

The Growth of Trade
 Merchants
could make a fortune selling goods from the
Orient.

The Growth of Ideas
 The

pursuit of new ideas, theories, skills, and religion
The Renaissance “re-birth”

age of exploration and discovery
Why was it possible for Europeans to
explore the world?

Powerful Nations Emerge


Improved Technology




Spain, Portugal, England, and France
Better Maps
Astrolabe
Better Ships
African Kingdoms



Ghana
Mali
Songhai
European Voyages of Exploration
Cause and Effect
Causes
•
•
•
•
•
Europeans desired new trade routes and gold
New Spirit of adventure
Power and wealth of new European nations
Competition among European nations
Missionaries’ desire to convert others to Christianity
Effects
Effects
•
•
•
•
•
New knowledge of Africa, Asia, and the Americas
Clash of European and Native American cultures
Enslavement of Africans
New plants and animals in Europe and the Americas
Rivalry of European nations in the Americas
WHO FOUND THE
AMERICAS?
Eriksson vs Columbus
Vikings
Several centuries before
Columbus, northern
Europeans called Vikings
had sailed west and
reached North America
landing in present day
Newfoundland.
Columbus’s First Voyage



August 3, 1492, Columbus set
out from Palos, Spain with
three ships. Nina, Pinta, and
Santa Maria carried about
90 sailors. (Ships)
October 12, 1492, “Tierra!
Tierra!” – “Land! Land!”
Columbus landed on in the
Bahamas and claimed the
islands for Spain. He named
it San Salvador. He called
the natives there Indians
believing he had reached the
East Indies.
March 1493, Columbus
returned to Spain victorious.
Columbus’s Later Voyages
Columbus made three more voyages from Spain in
1493, 1498, and 1502. He explored the Caribbean
Islands of present day Haiti and Dominican Republic,
Cuba, Jamaica. Columbus sailed along the coasts of
Central America and South America claiming the new
lands for Spain and establishing settlements. In the
following years, the Spanish explored most of the
Caribbean region leading to the establishment of the
Spanish Empire in the Americas.
Spanish Conquistadors
Conquistadors – explorers that
received grants from the Spanish
rulers. They had the right to
explore and establish settlements
in the Americas. In exchange they
agreed to give the Spanish crown
1/5th of any gold or treasure
discovered.
Conquistadors were relentless in
their pursuit for wealth and
power. They brutally eliminated
the Aztec and Incan tribes.
Spanish Rule
The Spanish governed their colonies the way they
governed their own country – from the top down. They
divided their new lands into 5 provinces. The wealthiest
were New Spain (Mexico) and Peru. A Viceroy was
appointed to govern the provinces.
In the 1500’s the Spanish government granted each
conquistador who settled in the Americas an encomienda,
the right to demand taxes or labor from Native Americans
living on the land.
To raise crops, Spanish developed the plantation system.
A plantation was a large estate run by the owner or a
manager and farmed by workers or slaves.
The Columbian Exchange
The exchange of plants,
animals, slaves and
diseases altered life on
both sides of the Atlantic.
This is referred to the
Columbian Exchange.
In 1492, when Columbus
landed on Hispaniola,
more than 3 million Native
Americans lived there.
Fifty years later only
about 500 remained.
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is an economic theory stating, a nation’s
power was based on its wealth.
Other European countries watched Spain draw riches
from its colonies. There was now a new goal to
increase wealth by establishing colonies in the New
World. Competition over territories became fierce.
New colonies would provided the mother country with
valuable resources, such as gold and silver, or raw
materials. The colonies also served as a place to sell
European products.
Northwest Passage
The voyage to Asia –
either around the
southern tip of Africa or
South America was long
and difficult. England,
France, and the
Netherlands pushed to
discover a Northwest
Passage to Asia.