European Exploration and Colonization of the Americas

Vocabulary flashcards covering European exploration, Spanish conquest, colonial social classes, and international rivalry in the Americas.

Christopher Columbus

A Spanish-funded explorer who sailed west across the Atlantic in 1492, mistakenly believing he had reached islands near Asia.

Amerigo Vespucci

An explorer who concluded that the Americas were a separate landmass and not Asia.

Ferdinand Magellan

A Portuguese explorer whose expedition completed the first voyage around the world, proving how large the world actually was.

Conquistadors

Spanish soldiers who explored the Americas seeking gold, land, power, and fame.

Herman Cortes

A Spanish conquistador associated with the conquest of the Aztec Empire in Mexico.

Francisco Pizarro

A Spanish conquistador associated with the conquest of the Inca Empire in South America.

Smallpox

A disease that killed native populations, giving Spain a key advantage during its conquest of the Americas.

Hernando de Soto

A Spanish explorer who pushed into what is now the United States while searching for riches.

Mestizos

People of mixed Spanish and Indigenous ancestry who occupied a middle position in Spanish colonial society.

Haciendas

Large estates received by wealthy Spanish colonists.

French Huguenots

Protestants who attempted to establish a colony near Spanish Florida.

Privateer

Private sailors given government permission to attack enemy ships.

Spanish Armada

A fleet of about 130 warships sent by Spain in 1588 to invade England, which was defeated by smaller, faster English ships.

Samuel de Champlain

An explorer who established a French trading settlement at Quebec.

New Netherland

A colonial settlement established by Dutch traders seeking trade and wealth.

John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, and Henry Hudson

Explorers who navigated parts of North America while searching for new routes.

Religious Conflicts in Europe

Tensions between Catholic nations like Spain and growing Protestantism in countries such as England that crossed the Atlantic into the Americas.