EUROPEANS ARRIVE IN THE AMERICAS Chapter 3 Lesson

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS  Main Idea: Christopher Columbus sailed to the islands of the west Indies to reach Asia.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS  Born in 1451  He studied navigation.  He believed he could reach Asia by a new route. (He wanted to sail west across the Atlantic Ocean, instead of south around Africa.)

KING FERDINAND AND QUEEN ISABELLA  Joint monarchs of Spain who funded Christopher Columbus’ voyages.  They hoped to make money from the gold and spices Columbus would find.  They wanted to spread their religion, Roman Catholicism.

RECONQUISTA  The term to describe Spain’s fight to take back southern Spain from the North African Muslims.

COLUMBUS SAILS WEST  He set sail from Palos, Spain on August 3,  90 men went with him.  They saw land on October, 12,  The crew landed on an island in the Bahamas.

THE NINA, THE PINTA AND THE SANTA MARIA  The three ships Columbus traveled in 1492.

THE WEST INDIES  Islands in the Caribbean.  Columbus mistakenly believed he had reached the coast off of Asia, near India.  He named the people living there Indians.  Islands in the Caribbean.  Columbus mistakenly believed he had reached the coast off of Asia, near India.  He named the people living there Indians.

TAINO  The people of the Caribbean.  More than 600,000 lived there at the time of Columbus’ visit.

THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE  Main Idea: Columbus carried new plants and animals to and from the Americas and Europe.

SETTLEMENT  A settlement is a small community of people living in a new place.

THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE  The movement of plants, animals, and people between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

EPIDEMIC  Epidemic: is an outbreak of disease that spreads quickly and affects many people.  Within 50 years of Columbus’ arrival, almost no Taino people were left.

EXPLORATION CONTINUES  Pedro Alvares Cabral: explored eastern South America in 1500 and claimed it for Portugal.

 Amerigo Vespucci: An Italian who made several voyages to South America and the Caribbean. (America is named after him.)

 Vasco Núñez de Balboa: sailed to present day Panama in Central America. In 1513, he crossed the mountains and jungles of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean.

 Ferdinand Magellan:  Portuguese soldier and sailor  Sailed for Spain  First to circumnavigate the world.  He named the Pacific Ocean, which means “peaceful”

CIRCUMNAVIGATE  circumnavigate is to sail completely around something.

THE END