Unit 4.2: Exploration: Causes and Events

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to the Age of Exploration, including significant explorers, treaties, and the impact of colonization by various European powers.

Prince Henry the Navigator

The Portuguese official who opened a school of navigation that promoted exploration.

Bartholomeu Diaz

The Portuguese explorer who rounded the tip of Africa in 1488.

Vasco de Gama

The Portuguese explorer who reached India in 1498, significantly advancing Portuguese trade.

Pedro Alvares Cabral

The Portuguese explorer who discovered Brazil in 1500.

Brazil’s Social Hierarchy

Established with white planters on top, mixed race in the middle, and slaves at the bottom.

“New” Islands and Slaves

The initial rewards of Portugal’s discovery of Brazil.

Bureaucratic Government

The type of government established by Portugal in the times of exploration.

Catholic Church

The faction whom was important in navigational decision making in Europe.

Portugal

The nation that controlled gold trade in West Africa by the late 1400’s.

Gold in Brazil

A commodity that allowed for the purchase of manufactured goods by Portugal and failed to achieve technological advancements.

Christopher Columbus

An Italian explorer sailing on behalf of Spain who was credited of discovering the Americas in 1492. His original intent was to find a quicker path to India.

Boats for Columbus’ First Expedition

Niña, Pinta, and the Santa Maria.

Amerigo Vespucci

Spanish man who identified Christopher Columbus’ finding of the Americas as a “new continent”, not India.

Vasco Nuñez de Balboa

The Spanish explorer who crossed Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean in 1513.

Ferdinand Magellan

The Spanish explorer who wanted to reach Asia around the “new” continent. He was credited to being first to circumnavigate the world. He didn’t actually; he died in the Philippines.

Treaty of Tordesillas

The 1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal that divided the New World.

Giovanni da Verrazano

The French explorer who found the New York Harbor during French exploration.

Jacques Cartier

The French explorer who found the St. Lawrence River, key to New France.

Samuel de Champlain

The French explorer who founded the colony of Quebec.

Sieur de LaSalle

The French explorer who sailed down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.

Northwest Passage

A sought-after sea route through North America to Asia.

Sir Walter Raleigh

The English explorer who founded Roanoke Island, one of the early English colonies.

Jamestown

Founded in 1609 in Virginia, it was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It’s troubles included: Native Americans, lack of food, and harsh winters.

British East India Company

The British joint-stock company established in India which gave government a monopoly of trade.

Dutch East India Company (VOC)

The joint-stock company established by the Netherlands, gained control of SE Asia from Portugal.

Henry Hudson

A Dutch explorer who was assigned to explore the Americas.

Netherlands

The nation who founded New Amsterdam.