Age of Exploration Quiz

Age of Exploration

• Time period in the late 1400s to 1500s marked by European voyages to discover new lands and routes.

Astrolabe

• Technological advancement learned from Muslims that enabled navigators to pinpoint their location using solar and stellar positions.

Caravel

• A fast, lightweight ship equipped with a rudder for steering and lateen sails that allowed efficient sailing against the wind.

Henry the Navigator

• Portuguese prince who sponsored explorations but did not sail himself; aimed to find a water route around Africa to India but died before achieving this.

Christopher Columbus

• Italian explorer sponsored by Spain who mistakenly reached the Americas while attempting to find a westward route to China; made four voyages in total.

Ferdinand Magellan

• Portuguese explorer sailing for Spain who led the first circumnavigation of the globe, starting in 1519; died during the voyage in the Philippines.

Circumnavigate

• The act of sailing entirely around the world; first successfully completed by Magellan's crew.

Conquistadors

• Spanish military leaders who conquered native populations in the Americas, notably during the period of exploration.

Hernan Cortez

• Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that resulted in the fall of the Aztec Empire, aided by alliances with disaffected native groups and superior weaponry.

Francisco Pizarro

• Conquistador who conquered the weakened Inca Empire in Peru about a decade after Cortez's conquest of the Aztecs.

Treaty of Tordesillas

• Signed in 1494, this treaty divided newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal, assigning most of the Americas to Spain and Brazil to Portugal.

Columbian Exchange

• The extensive exchange of flora, fauna, and diseases between Native Americans and Europeans, greatly influencing both societies.

Slave Trade

• Emerged from labor shortages in the Americas leading to millions of Africans being enslaved and transported through the Atlantic; primarily sourced from West Africa.

Mercantilism

• Economic theory dominant from the 1500s to the 1700s positing that a nation's strength is directly linked to its wealth and accumulation of resources.

Triangular Trade

• A trade system involving three regions; significantly included the shipment of enslaved Africans to the Americas, goods to Europe, and resources back to Africa.