Chapter 2 Test

Vikings

The first Europeans to land in North America

Caravel

A sailing vessel that uses triangular sails to help it sail against the wind

Astrolabe

A tool that helps sailors navigate by the position of the stars

Magellan

The first person to lead an expedition that circumnavigated the world

Cortes

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico

Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Inca and conquered Peru

Charter

A document that gives the holder the right to organize settlements in an area

Line of Demarcation

The boundary between Spanish and Portuguese territories in the New World

Protestant Reformation

A religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church

Conquistador

A Spanish conqueror of the Americas

Ponce de Leon

Spanish conquistador who claimed Florida for Spain

De Soto

Spanish conquistador who was the first European to reach the Mississippi River

Middle Passage

A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies

African Diaspora

The separation of Africans from their homeland through centuries of forced removal to serve as slaves in the Americas and elsewhere.

Northwest Passage

A water route from the Atlantic to the Pacific sought by navigators

Prince Henry the Navigator

Created a school of navigation and financed expeditions

Ferdinand and Isabella

The king and queen of Spain who gave Columbus the funds that he needed to find a route to Asia.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement between Portugal and Spain, declaring that newly discovered lands to the west of an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean would belong to Spain and newly discovered lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

Balboa

First European to see the Pacific Ocean

Coronado

Discovered the Grand Canyon in search of the fabled Cities of Gold

Spanish Armada

The great fleet sent from Spain against England by Philip II in 1588 that was defeated by the English