Age of Exploration, Colonialism, and Slavery Flashcards
Astrolabe
A navigational tool that measured the distance of the sun and stars above the horizon and allowed for fairly accurate calculations of a ship’s distance above and below the equator.
Caravel
A ship with large square sails that made it possible to sail in the wind. It traveled across the wind in a zig-zag pattern.
Henry the Navigator (Prince Henry)
A Portuguese explorer who led the Portuguese southward from Portugal to the Canary Islands and to the Azores. He sponsored expeditions southward along the African coast where the Portuguese established a lucrative gold and slave trade.
Compass
A disk that displays degrees and indicates direction.
Diaz
A Portuguese explorer who followed the same course as previous Portuguese sailors along Africa’s west coast. He sailed around the southern tip of Africa and paved the way for other Portuguese explorers to make their way to Asia.
Da Gama
A Portuguese explorer who used his knowledge gained by Diaz to go southward from Portugal, around the Cape of Good Hope, to India. His voyage brought a fortune back to Portugal, but the establishment of a route to India is what made it successful. Da Gama played a vital role in making the Portuguese one of the premier powers in trade during the sixteenth century.
Treaty of Tordesillas
The 1494 treaty that drew a vertical line of demarcation through South America. Spain got rights to everything on the west while Portugal received rights to the east.
Columbus
An Italian explorer who sailed into the Bahamas, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic thinking he had landed in a group of islands known as the Indies. He was the reason why natives (from Hispaniola) were forced to work the land and rewarded with brutal treatment.
Conquistadors
The Spaniards who led military forces and conquered territory in the New World. The two most successful conquistadors were Cortez and Pizarro.
Cortez
A conquistador who took off for Mexico. He destroyed the entire Aztec civilization and stole unimaginable wealth.
Pizarro
A conquistador who went to South America in search of the Inca Empire. He arrived in Peru and and allied with natives to overthrow the Inca. He took huge amounts of gold and silver and the silver trade became a major part of the economy of Spain.
Mangellan
A Portuguese explorer who made one of the most dramatic voyages. He set sail for South America and sailed along the coast until he reached the southern tip. He made his way into the Pacific Ocean and landed in the Philippines. He led the first expedition to circumnavigate the world and became the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean.
Jacques Cartier
A Frenchman who explored the St. Lawrence River in North America.
Samuel de Champlain
A Frenchman who continued the exploration of the eastern coast of North America.
John Cabot
An Italian explorer who explored Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Labrador.
