Chapter 3: The Age of Exploration Vocabulary
Chapter 3, Lesson 1
technology
navigation
expedition
empire
entrepreneur
cost
benefit
Reconquista
Chapter 3, Lesson 2
isthmus
treaty
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
grant
conquistador
reform
Reformation
Counter-Reformation
missionary
fact
opinion
Chapter 3, Lesson 4
Northwest Passage
mutiny
elevation
contour line
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Chapter 3, Lesson 1: Exploration and Technology
A Rush of New Ideas
 during the Renaissance (1400s), Europeans
entered a new age of learning
 Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press
which brought books to more people
 Europeans read about Marco Polo’s travels to the
far east which led to more trade routes to Asia
for goods
 began to develop technology for water routes to
Asia
A World Awaits
 Prince Henry of Portugal began a top secret
Navigation school
 improved the compass and the astrolabe
 set sail on expeditions of exploration eventually
finding a sea route to Asia and trade with other
empires and civilizations
The Business of Exploring
 explorers had to be entrepreneurs to find backers
for their expeditions, proving that the benefits
outweighed the risks
 Columbus convinced the king and queen of
Spain to back him by promising to spread the
Catholic religion on his journey
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Two Worlds Meet
 Columbus landed on San Salvador, claiming the
land for Spain and mistakenly called the people
Indians, thinking he had reached the Indies
 He took several of the Tainos people and native
plants and animals, but was disappointed to not
have found more gold and riches
 When they returned to Spain the king and queen
paid for another expedition to find more gold,
claim more land, and convert others to the
Catholic religion
Chapter 3, Lesson 2: A Changing World
Caboto’s Expedition
 Giovanni Caboto was sent on an expedition by
England
 found present day Newfoundland and claimed it
for England
A New Map of the World
 Vespucci realized the land he, Columbus, and
Caboto had claimed was actually a new continent
 Martin Waldseemuller, a mapmaker, made the
first map including the new continent in 1507
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Reaching the Pacific
 Vasco Nunez de Balboa hiked across the
Isthmus of Panama, discovering the Pacific
Ocean
A New View of the World
 Ferdinand Magellan was the first to cross the
Pacific Ocean
 Magellan was killed, but one of his crews was
the first to sail all the way around the world
 The Treaty of Tordesillas was settled by the
Catholic church granting the land on the West of
South America to Spain, and the land east to
Portugal
Chapter 3, Lesson 3: Spanish Explorations
Juan Ponce de Leon
 conquistadors set off from Spain to claim the
new land
 Ponce de Leon set out to find the “fountain of
youth” and discovered Florida
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Early Conquistadors
 Hernando Cortes landed in Mexico and set out to
capture the Aztec empire
 Their leader Motecuhzoma thought he was a
god, so taking them prisoner was easy
 After the conquer of the Aztec empire and the
acquisition of their gold, Spain paid other
explorers to find riches
 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado looked for the
“Cities of Gold”, never finding them, but
claiming much of the southern US for Spain
De Soto in the Southeast
 De Soto conquered the Incas and set out to
conquer the Southeastern portion of the US
 warred with many tribes, losing many soldiers,
killing many Indians, and eventually dying,
being buried in the Mississippi River to hide his
death from local Indians
Missionaries to America
 Due to the start of Protestant churches in Europe,
the Catholic church sent more missionaries to the
new world to convert Native Americans to
Catholicism
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Chapter 3, Lesson 4: Other Nations Explore
The Northwest Passage
 explorers heard about a Northwest Passage
through the continent to Asia, but it was never
found
Verrazano and Cartier
 Verrazano was sent by the French king to find
the Northwest Passage
 Cartier also sent by French to find Northwest
Passage and claimed the land that is now French
Canada for France while searching for gold on
the St. Lawrence River
Hudson’s Voyages
 Trading companies paid for Hudson to find the
Northwest Passage
 claimed lands near New York for Holland
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