Studied by 75 people
Christopher Columbus
Mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492 while searching for a faster route to India.
West Indies
Caribbean Islands
Treaty of Tordesillas
set the boundary established in 1493 to define Spanish and Portuguese possessions in the Americas.
Amerigo Vespucci
A mapmaker and explorer who said that America was a new continent, so America was named after him.
New World
the name given by Europeans to the Americas, which were unknown to most Europeans before the voyages of Christopher Columbus
conquistadors
Spanish soldiers and explorers who led military expeditions in the Americas and captured land for Spain
Hernan Cortes
Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)
Aztec Empire
Central American empire constructed by the Mexica and expanded greatly during the fifteenth century during the reigns of Itzcoatl and Motecuzoma I.
New Spain
Spanish colonial possessions in Mesoamerica; included most of central Mexico;
encomienda
a grant by the Spanish Crown to a colonist in America giving them the right to demand tribute and forced labor from the Indian inhabitants of an area.
Bartolome de las Casas
Dominican priest who spoke out against mistreatment of Native Americans
asiento
a slave trade treaty between other countries and Spain which allowed other countries to supply slaves to Spanish colonies
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Spanish explorer who discovered the Pacific Ocean
Francisco Pizarro
Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru
Inca Empire
The vast and sophisticated empire in modern day Peru, South America, that was at its peak from 1438 until 1532 when the Spanish defeated it
Ferdinand Magellan
Portuguese explorer who found a sea route to the Spice Island by sailing around the American continent. His crew was the first to circumnavigate the world.
Spice Islands
Europeans' name for the Moluccas, islands rich in cloves and nutmeg-- modern day Indonesia south of Asia.
New Amsterdam
Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. This later became "New York City" when the British took it over.
John Cabot
1497 claimed Canada for England
Jacques Cartier
French explorer who explored the St. Lawrence river and laid claim to the region for France (1491-1557)
Samuel de Champlain
Founded Quebec
New France
French colony in North America, with a capital in Quebec, founded 1608. New France fell to the British in 1763.
War of the Spanish Succession
a conflict, lasting from 1701 to 1713, in which a number of European states fought to prevent the Bourbon family from controlling Spain as well as France.
Seven Years' War
worldwide struggle between France and Great Britain for power and control of land in North America and India.
coercion
the use of force to get others to do what you want
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