 Astralabe—an instrument enabling people to navigate using the stars  Navigation—the art of directing the course of a ship

 Cartography—the science of making maps  Colony—A country or area ruled by another country  Circumnavigate— travel completely around the Earth

 Indigenous--The first population of people to inhabit an area  Conquistador— ”Conqueror” Spanish soldiers sent to gain gold for the King.

 Vikings were the first to discover America  Leif Erickson established a settlement in Canada about 500 years before Christopher Columbus

 Prince Henry the Navigator ( )  Sent many expeditions to explore the West Coast of Africa.  Many sailors were superstitious and had to be tricked before he could get them to try to go.

 Christopher Columbus ( )  Most scientists and explorers thought the world was flat  Columbus believed the world was a sphere

 “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”  Discovered America, but thought he’d found a quicker way to India  Made 3 trips total to the New World for Spain

 Vasco de Gama ( )  Portuguese explorer  First explorer to reach India by boat

 Important because you can carry a lot more goods to trade on a boat than a cart  Standard of Living?

 Hernando Cortez ( )  Became a colonist in Hispaniola as an 18 year-old  1518 led an expedition into Mexico

 Indigenous people were the Aztec Indians  Large civilization of over 25 million people  Thought conquistadors were gods  Started to trade with the Spanish

 Eventually began to conquer Aztec’s to take their gold  Indigenous people also were not immune to diseases like smallpox  Most people died of epidemic

 Ponce de Leon ( )  Looking for the Fountain of Youth ◦ A story that there’s a fountain that you could drink from and live forever

 Discovered Florida. Spent quite a bit of time looking for the fountain of youth, but never found it.

 John Cabot (c c.1499)  Paid by the King of England to try to visit the New World to claim land for England

 Very little known about actual trips.  It is believed that a storm blew Cabot off course and he ended up in Canada.

 Sir Francis Drake ( )  Was a pirate who worked for the British King  Would attack ships from Spain and France and steal their money to give to the King of England

 Drake was the first man to circumnavigate the Earth  Proved that the earth was round