Chapter 3 Study Guide s2

Name:___________________________________ Class:_______________

Chapter 3 Study Guide

Exploration

People

Vasco Nunez de Balboa – explored the land that connects the Americas and became the first European explorer to reach the Pacific Ocean. He was also one of the first settlers on the island of Hispaniola

Francisco Vasques de Coronado – explored and claimed for Spain much of what is now the southwestern United States. He was searching for the mythic cities of gold but never found them.

Henry Hudson – explored and claimed for Holland much of what is now the state of New York and parts of Canada. Hudson was never able to find the Northwest Passage and his crew mutinied and set him adrift to sea.

Juan Ponce de Leon – explored and claimed land for Spain in what is now Florida. While there he looked for the fountain of youth but never found any such thing.

Hernando de Soto – explored and claimed for Spain much of the southern half of what I now the United States. He became one of the first Europeans to see the Mississippi River.

Ferdinand Magellan- was the Portuguese leader of the first expedition to sail around the world

Hernando Cortez – the Spanish conquistador that conquered Moctecuhzuma and the Aztec people in present day Mexico.

Francisco Pizarro – the Spanish conquistador who conquered Atahuallpa and the Incan people on the western coast of South America.

Amerigo Vespucci – the Italian Sailor who explored parts of South America and realized that Columbus was probably wrong about landing Asia. America was later named in honor of him.

John Cabot – King Henry VII of England sent Cabot to claim land along Columbus’s route to Asia. Many people believed Cabot actually reached Newfoundland and Labrador.

1. What were problems early explorers faced? (pg 109)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What was Christopher Columbus’s belief about the lands he reached in 1492? What were two facts that later proved his belief to be wrong? (pg 120-121)

3. Why did Columbus have to wait until after the Reconquista to start his voyage? (pg 113)

4. What were some of the costs and benefits of expedition for explorers and their sponsors? (pg 112)

5. Why did so many Europeans want to find the Northwest Passage? (pg 137)

6. What group of Europeans reached North America about 500 years before Columbus? (pg 111)

________________________________________________________________________

7. Which European nation sponsored Columbus’s expedition across the Atlantic Ocean? (pg 113)

________________________________________________________________________

8. What was the main reason Columbus sailed west from Europe? (pg 112)