Chapter 15 Guided Questions
1. Describe Ferdinand Magellan’s voyage and the significance of it.
2. Why did sea travel attract adventurers?
3. What were the Polynesian navigational methods?
4. What is the evidence for the Polynesian voyages?
5. Who settled Madagascar?
6. What allow mariners to traverse the Indian Ocean so easily?
7. Why did medieval Islam gave the Indian Ocean trade a boost?
8. What was the main purpose of the Ming naval expeditions?
9. Who was Zheng He?
10. Describe some the gifts that the Chinese treasure ships carried and what the other rulers
of the Indian Ocean sent back to China?
11. What economic and trading benefits resulted from the Ming naval expeditions?
12. Despite the positives surrounding the naval expeditions why did the Ming stop sending
out the ships?
13. Who were the greatest mariners of the Atlantic Ocean and why?
14. Describe the various Genoese naval expeditions.
15. Describe the African naval expeditions.
16. Who were the Arawak?
17. What were the two phenomena that started the Iberian overseas expansion?
18. Paraphrase the 4 reasons why the Iberian Kingdoms sponsored voyages.
19. Who initially took the lead in European naval and trading developments?
20. Why were the Iberian kingdoms willing to search out and find new routes to Africa and
Asia?
21. What benefits did the Portuguese gain by attacking and conquering the city of Cueta in
Morocco?
22. Describe the significance and prominence of Henry the Navigator.
23. How does the magnetic compass and the astrolabe help navigators traverse open seas?
24. What were the various Portuguese technological innovations when it came to navigation?
25. Why were Portuguese explorers initially fearful of sailing down the coast of Africa?
26. How did the Portuguese pay for their voyages?
27. What two products allowed the Portuguese to profit from their voyages along the African
coast?
28. Describe what each Portuguese explorer accomplished: Fernao Gomes, Bartolomeu Dias,
and Vasco da Gama.
29. How did the samorin of the Malabar Coast view Da Gama’s gifts and why?
30. How did Portugal establish control over the Indian Ocean Maritime System?
31. What was their strategy in doing so?
32. How did Portugal establish trading contacts with the Chinese?
33. How was Portugal establishing a monopoly on Indian Ocean trade?
34. How were the Portuguese able to defeat the Ottoman Empire’s fleet?
35. How were the Portuguese eventually able to control all the trade from the Malabar Coast?
36. What did the Portuguese naval supremacy allow them to do and did they gain complete
control of the Indian Ocean trade?
37. What were the effects of the Portuguese intrusion in the Indian Ocean on Europe?
38. What kind of empire did the Portuguese create and how did impact the Asian and African
mainland?
39. What kind of empire did the Spanish establish in the Americas?
40. What was the biggest reason that weakened the Amerindians ability to resist the Spanish?
41. Who were the first Amerindians to come into contact with the Spanish?
42. What did the Spanish do to the Amerindians that survived war?
43. Define conquistadors.
44. Who was Hernan Cortes and what is significant about him?
45. Who helped the Spanish conquer the Aztecs and why?
46. Who was Moctezuma II and what is significant about him?
47. Describe the battle of Tenochtitlan.
48. What was the biggest help in the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs?
49. How did the Inca maintain their power?
50. Who was Francisco Pizarro and what is significant about him?
51. Who was Atahualpa and what is significant about him?
52. Describe the events that allowed the Spanish to conquer the Inca Empire.