European Explorers

Conquistadors

Spanish explorers whose ultimate motive for exploration was conquest and wealth.

Aztec Civilization

An ancient civilization located in modern-day Mexico.

Chinampas

Floating farms created from a base of wood or woven straw where plants were grown between water.

Missions

Religious communities founded near wood, water, and pasture land.

Pueblos

Small towns that served as centers of trade.

Presidio

A fort built near a mission.

Peninsulares

People born in Spain who were large landowners and leaders in government and the church.

New Laws of 1542

Laws that forbade the enslavement of Native Americans, although they were not always enforced.

Francisco Pizarro

The conquistador who executed the leader of the Inca, leading to the splintering of the Inca civilization.

Juan Ponce de León

Spanish explorer who searched for the Fountain of Youth in Florida.

Hernando de Soto

Spanish explorer who had violent clashes with natives while seeking cities of gold and died in the Mississippi River.

Francisco Coronado

Spanish explorer who sought cities of gold but ultimately gave up.

Giovanni de Verrazano

An Italian explorer, sailing for France, who explored from Nova Scotia to the Carolinas in 1524.

John Cabot

An English explorer who landed in Newfoundland, Canada, in 1497.

Henry Hudson

An Englishman hired by the Dutch who explored the Hudson River and Hudson Bay in 1609.

Louis Joliet & Jacques Marquette

French explorers who traveled down the Mississippi River in the 1670s looking for the Northwest Passage.

Robert Cavelier de La Salle

French explorer who claimed the area that became Louisiana for France in 1682.

Jacques Cartier

French explorer who sailed up the St. Lawrence River and founded the area that would become Montreal.

Protestant Countries

Countries such as the Dutch and England that followed Protestantism.

Catholic Countries

Countries such as Spain and France that adhered to Catholicism.

Spanish Armada

A naval fleet that aimed to invade England to stop Protestantism but failed in 1588, ending Spanish dominance in the old world.

Northwest Passage

A direct water route through the Americas sought by colonial powers for potential trade dominance.

Reasons for New France's Success

Good relationships with Native Americans through trade and the lack of forced conversion to Catholicism.

New France

A French colony located in North America that incorporated parts of modern Canada and the United States.

New Netherlands

A Dutch colony known for shipping and trade, eventually seizing areas of present-day New York.

New Spain

A Spanish colony in the Americas, covering a large region including parts of the modern United States.

Star Forts

Forts shaped like stars to allow multiple angles of attack and thick walls to withstand cannon fire.

Dutch Trading Company

A powerful company that controlled Dutch trade and colonies in the New World.

New World

The term used to describe the Americas, representing opportunities for wealth and the spread of faith.