Discovering Our Past: A History of the United States
Chapter 2 Vocabulary, p. 39
Astrolabe: An astrolabe was a navigational tool. It allowed sailors to measure the angle of stars to the horizon. It allowed them to tell how far north or south they were.
Carrack: A carrack was a new type of ship with more masts than a caravel. A carrack was larger and could not get as close to shore.
Compass: A compass is a navigational tool that told sailors the direction in which they were sailing. It used a magnetized needle which always pointed north.

“Ocean Sea”: Some explorers thought that the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans ran together. The area that this might have occurred was called the
“Ocean Sea” but actually contained North and
South America.
Amerigo Vespucci (1502): He came to the Americas after Columbus. He explored the coast of South
America and determined that it was a continent.
Vasco Nunez de Balboa (1513): His land expedition went across the Isthmus of Panama. He was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean on the other side of the American continent.
Ferdinand Magellan (1520): Magellan’s fleet would be the first to circumnavigate the globe. He and many of his sailors died on the way.
Pacifico: Magellan found the Pacific Ocean to be peaceful and named it El Pacifico. He crossed the ocean starting from the tip of South America.

Conquistadors: They were early Spanish explorers who came to the Americas in search of wealth.
They got permission from Spain in exchange for
20% of the wealth they would find.
Hernan Cortez (1519): He conquered the Aztec
Empire in Mexico. This culture was rich in gold.
Francisco Pizarro (1531): He was inspired by Cortes and went to South America in search of wealth. The
Inca Empire in Peru surrendered much silver to his army.
Juan Ponce de Leon (1513): He came to Florida twice looking for mineral wealth but found none.
He was killed by a Calusa attack in 1521.
Pascua Florida: Florida was “discovered” at the same time as the Easter Festival of Flowers back in
Spain. De Leon was not the first Spaniard to have been to Florida.
Jean Ribault (1562): He led a small fleet to North
Florida to claim the land for France. They would

later build a fort but were defeated by the Spanish, their political and religious rivals.
Pedro Menendez de Aviles: He founded St.
Augustine in 1565 after defeating the French. It would be the first permanent European settlement in North America.
Pueblo: A pueblo was an Indian town in New Spain that focused on trade. European goods were traded to the Native Americans for spices and hides.
Mission: A mission was an Indian farming town that was near a Spanish church. The Spanish wanted to spread Christianity among the Native Americans.
Peninsulares: Someone who was born back in the
Iberian Peninsula held higher status in the colonies.
Mestizos: Someone who was born in the colonies of
European and Indian parents held lower social status than a Peninsulare.