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Age of Exploration Review Sheet

1. List 3 advances in technology that made exploration possible. Astrolabe, Caravel, Compass

2. What was the main reason why Prince Henry the Navigator sponsored naval expansion? To find a
sea route to Asia

3. Why did Europeans want/desire a new trade route to Asia? Because Asia had many spices and
goods Europeans wanted and needed so they wanted to find a new way to reach Asia safely and
so become more powerful.

4. Although the Spanish were supposed to protect the Native Americans, explain how the Native
peoples suffered. They suffered from European diseases they couldn’t cure themselves, forced
labor in sugar camps and starvation as they were not fed.

5. How did the native cultures change as Europeans began to set up colonies in the Americas? All
of the native cultures started to disappear and almost got extincted.

6. Bartholomeu Dias was the first European to round the tip of Africa.

7. Whose expedition was the first to sail around the world? Did he himself actually sail around the
world? Why or why not? Magellan was the first to sail around the world but unfortunately only
17 of his men made it back to land out of the 5 ships who sailed originally.

8. Define the term “circumnavigation.” To sail completely around the world

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9. This person went to their grave thinking that they had discovered a westward route to Asia when
he actually had reached undiscovered lands in the Caribbean? Christopher Columbus

10. Who founded a school for navigation in Portugal Prince Henry the Navigator

11. Who conquered the Incan Empire? Francisco Pizarro

12. Who conquered the Aztec Empire and set up the 1st Spanish colony in Mexico? Hernando Cortes

13. What 3 continents were involved in the Triangular Trade Route? Africa, “new world” and Europe.
European capital, African labor and American

14. What are 3 things responsible for the Europeans conquering the Aztec and Incan Empires? -
-Natives lacked immunity to European diseases
- Europeans had guns, cannons, armor
- Europeans had horses to carry men and equipment

15. Describe the 3 motives for European exploration

God -Europeans wanted to convert natives to Christianity

Gold - Europeans had hopes of finding precious metals needed to make their countries more prosperous
(mercantilism)

Glory - for the fame

Define: (you may summarize as long as you write the main idea of each)
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Caravel – A small, highly maneuverable three-masted ship used by the Portuguese and
Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic.

Cartography – Cartography is the study and practice of making and using maps.

Compass – an instrument that shows the direction of magnetic north

Astrolabe – instrument used to determine latitude by measuring the position of the stars

Pepper- It was a common spice used to flavor or to hide the bad quality of meat and so make it taste
better.

Gunpowder – Was a very important powder used to charge cannons and war devices.

Middle Passage – the route in between the western ports of Africa to the Caribbean and southern U.S. that carried
the slave trade

Colony – a country or area under the full or partial political control of another country, typically a distant one, and occupied by
settlers from that country.

Plantation - Huge farms that required a large labor force to grow crops

New World – The Americas, discovered by Christopher Columbus

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