Chap 03

1000s 1100s 1200s

60 UNIT 1 America’s Beginnings: Prehistory–1700

1150 Southeast Asian tem-ple of Angkor Wat iscompleted

1295 Marco Polo returnsto Italy from China

Explorers Reach the Americas1000 –1535

CHAPTER 3★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

FocusAbout 1,000 years ago sailors from Northern

Europe briefly explored the shores of Canada. It would be another 500 years before any other Europeans set foot in the Americas.

Concepts to Understand★ How a desire to control trade affected

economic development in Europe and sparked a period of exploration

★ How technology influenced European exploration

Read to Discover . . .★ why European nations wanted to

explore the Americas.★ how the explorers

treated Native Americans.

SETTING THE SCENE

Americas

World

1009 Norse makesettlement inNorth America

1096 First Crusadeto the Holy Land

� WEST

AFRICAN

ARMLETS

Journal NotesAs you read the

chapter, imagine you

are a newspaper editor.

In your journal write

headlines announcing

the important journeys

and voyages of travel-

ers described in this

chapter.Chapter OverviewVisit the American History: The Early Years to1877 Web site at ey.glencoe.com and click onChapter 3—Chapter Overviews to previewchapter information.

HISTORY

1179 Mayan capitaldestroyed

1200 Pueblo culturebegins to decline

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/chapter3/overview.html

1300s 1400s 1500s

61CHAPTER 3 Explorers Reach the Americas: 1000–1535

1300s European Renais-sance begins

1419 Prince Henry foundsnavigation school

1488 Dias rounds southerntip of Africa

1492 Columbus lands inthe Bahamas

1497 John Cabot sails toNewfoundland

1513 Balboa crosses theIsthmus of Panama

1535 Cartier claims Cana-da for France

1500 Songhai Empire risesin Africa

1522 Magellan’s crew com-pletes first world voyage

Departure of ColumbusUnknown artist

As shown in this painting, Christopher Columbus set sailfrom Palos, Spain, in 1492. His history-making voyagewould be the subject of many paintings of the 1500s.

History

A R TAND

� COMPASS, 1500S

A Changing Europe★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 1

GUIDE TO READING

� VIKING HELMET

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information As you read aboutlife in Europe, use a concept web similar to the one below to list the changes that took place there in the wake of the Middle Ages.

Read to Learn . . .★ about Europeans who reached the

Americas before Columbus did.★ how Europeans lived during the

Middle Ages and the Renaissance.★ why Europeans wanted to find an

ocean route to Asia.

Terms to Know★ saga★ Middle Ages★ monarch★ manor★ feudal system★ serf★ Crusades★ Renaissance

Main IdeaAs the Middle Ages ended, Europeunderwent changes that helped toset the stage for overseas exploration.

Changes inEurope

Trader and sailor Leif Eriksson gavethese instructions to his crew during thewinter of 1001:

On alternate days we mustgather grapes and cut vines,and then fell trees, to make a cargo for my ship.

Eriksson was a Norse, as NorthernEuropeans from present-day Sweden,Norway, and Denmark were known. Heand his crew were camped somewhere

”“

along the eastern coast of mainland NorthAmerica—a land that was new to them.

★ The Norse in North America

Eriksson left his camp in the spring—with a “full cargo of timber” and a “tow-boat . . . filled with grapes.” He returnedto his home on the North Atlantic islandof Greenland. The Norse had been sailing far into the Atlantic for centuries.


By 985, they had settled both Iceland andGreenland.

The Vinland SettlementWhen Eriksson returned home to

Greenland, he gave glowing reports of theland he had visited. He told of lush grass-es so sweet that in the morning he wouldwet his hands in the grass and put thedew in his mouth. Eriksson describedstreams filled with plump salmon, andvines bent with the weight of juicy grapes.He called the land Vinland, which meant“land of wine.”

Eriksson’s enthusiasm convinced otherNorse to go to Vinland. In 1009, about 100Norse men and women landed on theNorth American coast. They brought live-stock with them and built a small villageof earthen-walled houses.

The settlement ended in disappoint-ment, however. Although the Norse trad-ed for furs with nearby Native Americans,the two groups often fought. After fiveyears of conflict, the Norse left Vinland,never to return.

Remembering the NorseThe Norse did not create maps or write

reports of where they had been. The onlyrecords of their journeys were Norse leg-ends, known as sagas. For centuries, manyeducated people thought of the sagas asjust exaggerated stories. In the 1960s, how-ever, archaeologists found traces of a Norsesettlement on the island of Newfoundlandin present-day Canada. The sagas had infact recorded true history.

★ Europe and the Middle Ages

When the Norse were visiting theshores of North America, Western andSouthern Europeans were just ending aperiod of isolation known as the Middle

Ages. Few people in other parts of Europeever heard the Norse sagas or learned oftheir voyages and settlements.

The fall of the Roman Empire in theyear 476 marked the beginning of theMiddle Ages in Europe. When Romanrule disappeared, Europe broke up intohundreds of small kingdoms. The powerof the kings and queens—or monarchs—who headed the kingdoms was veryweak. They often competed with largelandowners—called lords—in their ownkingdoms.

The Feudal SystemThe lords were mostly free of any con-

trol. They ruled their lands, or manors,like tiny independent kingdoms. Theymade laws for all who lived ontheir manors and collected taxesand fines. They raised their ownarmies and sometimes foughtone another.

NORTHATLANTIC

OCEAN

LabradorSea

France

Iceland

Greenland

Labrador

Vinland(Newfoundland)

NovaScotia

L'Anse-aux-Meadows

WesternSettlement

EasternSettlement

NorthSea

NorwegianSea

60°W90°W

60°N

30°W

Arctic Circle

0°

Norway

England

0

0 1,000 kilometers

1,000 miles

Route of Norse settlementRoute of Erik the Red (late 900s)Route of Leif Eriksson (late 900s)Norse trading voyages

Norse Voyages, A.D. 1000

Location Sea traders from Norwayexplored the North American coastlinearound the year 1000. On what present-day Canadian island did the Norsebuild their Vinland settlement?

� CARVED NORSE TOMBSTONE


At the heart of a manor was the castle,where the lord and family members lived.The castles had walls 2 or 3 feet (61–91cm) thick to help guard against attackers.Many had the extra protection of moats,or waterways, that surrounded the cas-tles. Homes, fields, gardens, and millswere spread out over the manor.

People who lived on a manor per-formed services for the lord. In exchangethe lord promised to protect them. Thissystem of managing the land and its peo-ple is called the feudal system. Manysmall farmers and landowners turnedover all their land to a feudal lord inexchange for protection. Some agreed tobe soldiers in the lord’s army.

Landless peasants, or serfs, who livedand worked on a manor farmed smallplots and shared their harvests with thelord. Serfs were considered part of themanor and remained with the land even ifa new lord took over a manor.

For 500 years manors provided formost of the people’s needs. People livingon different manors had little contact withone another, except perhaps in times ofbattle between lords.

Trade, travel, and cities that hadthrived under Roman rule declined. Therewas little opportunity for people to com-municate or exchange new ideas.

★ Decline of the Feudal System

Beginning around the year 1000—aboutthe same time that Leif Eriksson visitedNorth America—several changes begantaking place in Europe. Many workerswho had been tied to the manors were nothappy with their lives. They longed formore freedom.

Life in TownsSome people managed to leave their

manors and move to towns to earn their

own livings. There they became craftworkers or started businesses. Somebecame traders.

Moving to a town did not always makelife more comfortable. The towns at thistime were very crowded and dirty.Garbage was tossed into the streets anddiseases spread quickly.

Between 1347 and 1352 a deadly diseasespread throughout Europe, killing morethan one-fourth of its population. Calledthe Black Death, the disease was carriedby fleas on rats. This disaster broke downwhat remained of the feudal system.

The New Middle ClassAs Europe slowly recovered from the

Black Death, towns began to grow again.People became less separated and isolat-ed as increasing trade brought them intocontact with one another. At the sametime, a new social class—the middleclass—began to develop. The middleclass was made up mostly of merchantswho bought and sold goods for a living.It also included lawyers, doctors, andsome government officials. Unlike thelords of the manors, people of the mid-dle class were not interested in land andfarming. They focused instead on busi-ness and trade.

★ Crusades to the Holy Land

Religion played an important role inthe changes that took place in Europe dur-ing this time. As early as 1096, a series ofwars fought for religious reasons helpedto open the eyes of Western Europeans tothe rest of the world.

Christian and Muslim ConflictThe religious wars were fought in

Palestine, a land in Southwest Asia alongthe eastern edge of the Mediterranean

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Hanging in the SkyPeople dreamed of flying

or floating in the sky longbefore anyone figured outhow to do it.

ThenJust aSketch

The ideafor the firstparachutecame from

Renaissance artist, scientist,and inventor Leonardo da Vinci.His sketch, drawn in about1495, showed a fabric para-chute in the shape of a large,hollow pyramid.

NowSafety and Sport

Almost 300 years after DaVinci, Sebastien Lenormandmade the first parachute jumpfrom a tower. Later, parachutessaved the lives of pilots andothers whose balloons or air-planes were headed for a crash.They also served as brakes tostop landing aircraft.

Today, parachutes let sky-divers jump from heights of asmuch as 3 miles (5 km) and floatfreely before opening their para-chutes.

Linking Past and Present


Sea. Palestine was the Holy Land for bothChristians and Muslims. Europe’s Chris-tians considered Palestine and its city ofJerusalem sacred, or holy. Muslims, fol-lowers of the religion of Islam, also con-sidered Palestine a sacred city.

In 1071 a group of Turkish Muslims tookover Jerusalem and closed it to all Chris-tians. The Catholic Church was outraged.It called for warriors to free the Holy Landfrom the Turks. Christians all over Europeanswered the call. Between 1096 and 1270,Christians from Europe fought a series ofwars, called the Crusades.

During the First Crusade, Christianscaptured the city of Jerusalem. Althoughthe Christians held the city for about thenext 100 years, the Muslims eventuallyrecaptured it.

Returning CrusadersThe Crusades had an enormous impact

on Europeans. Thousands of soldierswent off to these wars, never to return

home. Many of those who did returnbrought back riches from the markets ofSouthwest Asia. Spices, silk, porcelain,ivory, jewels, soap, and perfumes filledtheir knapsacks. Some Crusaders alsobrought back new ideas. They hadlearned about new medicines to cure thesick and new ways to use spices to pre-vent food from spoiling.

The Crusaders got the new ideas andproducts from Muslim markets of South-west Asia. Muslim merchants regularlytraded with India, China, Japan, and otherAsian countries. As Europeans learned ofthe products available from the East, theywanted to buy them.

★ The Rise of Nations in Europe

Europe’s middle-class merchants sawan opportunity to make money by tradingwith the Muslim markets in SouthwestAsia. They aided strong rulers in Europe

� MODERN

SKYDIVER� DA VINCI’S

PARACHUTESKETCH


in ending the wars among the feudallords. Ending the fighting made it safe forthem to travel to and from the SouthwestAsian markets. Starting in the 1200s,European monarchs gained enoughstrength to begin forming nations, such asFrance, England, Spain, Portugal, and others.

In Italy, wealthy middle-class mer-chants gained a monopoly, or total con-trol, over trade with the Muslim markets.In addition to trade goods, the Italiantraders gained new knowledge from theMuslims. They learned about the magnet-ic compass, the astrolabe, and other sail-ing improvements. Europeans also sharedthe Muslim system of mathematics andstyles of architecture.

Biography ★★★★

Marco Polo Reports Wonders Italy’s Marco Polo, born into a family of

wealthy merchants, grew up in Venice,Italy. In 1271 when Marco was 17, heaccompanied his uncle and father on atrading journey to the East Asian land ofCathay, or present-day China. The mer-chants—traveling on camels for three-and-a-half years—crossed almost 7,000miles (11,263 km) of Central Asian moun-tains and deserts. Finally they reached thepalace of Cathay’s ruler, called the Khan.

Marco Polo spent 17 years in service tothe Khan. He saw and learned much. Thepeople of Cathay had an advanced culture.

England

Portugal

Spain

Persia

Arabia

ASIA

EUROPE

AFRICA

AUSTRALIA

China

India

INDIAN OCEAN

Strait ofGibraltar

PACIFICOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN Genoa

Venice

Bruges

Lisbon

Azov

DamascusAlexandria

Egypt

Baghdad

TrebizondJapan

Kashgar

Canton

Calicut

Beijing

Kinsai

Constantinople

60° N

150° E 180° E120° E90° E60° E30° E0° E30° W

30° N

0°

Black Sea

Persian Gulf

Mediterranean Sea

Dardanelles

East

Indies

EquatorTrade cityEuropean trade routeSouthwest Asian trade routeAsian trade route

0 3,000 miles1,500

0 1,500 3,000 kilometers

Trade Routes in the 1400s

Location In the early 1400s, Asian merchants brought trade goods to Western markets. Atwhat three cities near the Pacific coast did European traders pick up Asian goods?


They read printed books, used papermoney, and even had city fire departments.Their large, well-organized cities hadcanals, orderly road systems, and hot water.

In 1295, when the Polos returned to Italy,Marco told others about the riches he hadfound and the people he had met. Hereported that there were more than 7,000islands in the Sea of China that he calledthe “Indies.” He talked of incredible “blackstones”—or coal—that fueled fires and ofrubies the size of a man’s arm. ★★★

★ A Rebirth of LearningDespite the criticism Marco Polo

received, many people read his book,Description of the World. It helped makemore and more Europeans curious aboutthe world beyond their city walls. Thatcuriosity sparked a period of renewedinterest in learning and knowledge calledthe Renaissance. Europe’s Renaissancebegan in the middle 1300s and lasted untilabout 1600.

Renaissance Art and ScienceThe Renaissance was a time of creativi-

ty and experimentation. Artists began topresent their subjects more realisticallythan in the past. Artists, such asMichelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci,created beautiful paintings and drawingsto show nature and people as they reallylooked. Writers such as William Shake-speare also produced many great poemsand plays.

Renaissance scientists worked toward abetter understanding of the human bodyand how it functions. They studied themovement of the planets and set up exeri-ments using new scientific instrumentsthey had invented.

Checking for Understanding1. Define saga, Middle Ages, monarch,

manor, feudal system, serf, Crusades,Renaissance.

2. Why did the Norse want to travel to NorthAmerica following Eriksson’s voyage?

3. How did the Crusades lead to increasedtrade?

Critical Thinking4. Analyzing Issues Re-create the graphic

shown here, and explain how each helped to

increase trade between Europe and the civi-lizations of Asia and Africa.

� MARCO POLO

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★Section 1 ★ Assessment★ SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT ★

INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITY

5. Geography Find five items at home or in your classroom that were made in other countries. On an outline map of the world, write the names of those items on the countries they came from.

Crusades Rise of Nations

Increased Trade

Marco Polo

68

Reading a Time Line

When you read a time line, you not onlysee when an event took place but you alsosee what events took place before and afterit. A time line can show you if Columbussailed to North America before or after theCrusades. It can tell you if the Crusadesbegan before or after the Renaissance.

Learning the SkillA time line is a kind of chart that can be

presented on a horizontal or vertical line. Itlists events that occurred between specificdates. The number of years between thesedates is called the time span. For example, atime line that begins in 1400 and ends in1500 would have a time span of 100 years. Atime line that begins in 1490 and ends in1500 would have a 10-year time span.

Time lines are usually divided intosmaller segments, or time intervals. If youlook at the two time lines below, you’ll seethat the first time line has a 30-year timespan divided into 10-year time intervals. Thesecond time line has a 6-year time spandivided into 2-year time intervals.

1400 1410 1420 1430| | | |

1490 1492 1494 1496| | | |

Sometimes a time line shows events thatoccurred during the same time period but intwo different parts of the world. For exam-ple, the time line above shows some impor-tant happenings in the Americas and the restof the world during the same time span.

Practicing the SkillUse the time line above to answer thesequestions.

1. What time span and intervals appearon this time line?

2. What events appear above the line?What events appear below the line?

3. How many years before Columbus’svoyage did Marco Polo set out forChina?

68

Social Studies SkillsBUILDING SKILLSBUILDING SKILLS

APPLYING THE SKILL4. Create a time line of your family’s his-

tory. Interview family members to iden-tify at least 8 to 10 important familyevents. Place them across the top ofyour time line. Across the bottom ofyour time line, place at least five impor-tant national or world events thatoccurred during the same time span.

1200s 1300s

1300s Renaissancebegins

1300s Aztec buildTenochtitlán

1400s

1419 Prince Henrystarts navigationschool

1492 Columbuslands in theBahamas

Americas

World1271 Marco Polo

goes to China

1200 Pueblo culture begins to decline

Glencoe’s Skillbuilder InteractiveWorkbook, Level 1 provides in-struction and practice in key socialstudies skills.

Portugal and the Age of Exploration★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 2

GUIDE TO READING

PRINCE HENRY

THE NAVIGATOR

�

In the early 1400s, Europeans had noidea what lay in the ocean waters south ofPortugal. That would change with PrinceHenry of Portugal. Henry had no wife orfamily. As the third son of King John I ofPortugal, he had little hope of ever beingking. Henry had one driving interest,however. That idea was to make Portugalthe world’s leading sea power.

★ Prince Henry of PortugalPrince Henry of Portugal was deeply

affected by the spirit of learning during

the Renaissance. He was also a very reli-gious man. For the Catholic Church hewanted to spread the Christian faitharound the world.

Two special goals for his country guid-ed Henry. One goal was to find an oceanroute around Africa to Asia. The othergoal was to locate the source of the goldthat came from lands far to the south inAfrica.

Europeans were familiar with areas ofNorth Africa along the MediterraneanSea. The rest of the continent, however,was largely unknown to them. TheAfrican gold that Europeans received

Reading StrategyClassifying Information As you read aboutthe European exploration, complete a chartsuch as the one shown below highlightingaspects of Africa’s flourishing empires.

Read to Learn . . .★ how Prince Henry led Portugal into the

Age of Exploration.★ how trade contributed to the growth of

three large empires in Africa.★ about the achievements of Portuguese

sea captains.

Terms to Know★ navigation★ caravel★ Age of Exploration★ enslaved person

Main IdeaThe nation of Portugal sailed first toAfrica and then to Asia, ushering inthe age of European exploration.

Kingdoms

Ghana

Mali

Songhai

Description


through trade came from Muslim traderswho traveled overland and brought thegold to the northern shores of Africa.

To accomplish his goals, Henry real-ized that Portuguese sailors needed toknow more about navigation—the sci-ence of piloting ships. He also knew thatthe Portuguese needed better ships.Henry’s first step was to bring togethermapmakers, astronomers, and ship-builders from throughout the Mediter-ranean world to study and plan voyagesof exploration. These experts pooledtheir talents to uncover knowledgeabout the seas and to extend the art ofnavigation.

Portuguese shipbuilders designed asturdy ship called the caravel. The caravelused triangular sails, fashioned after those

first developed by Arab seafarers. Theseships could easily sail against the windand work their way in and out alongcoastlines. The caravel was easy to navi-gate for Portuguese sailors exploring thewest coast of Africa.

The Age of ExplorationPrince Henry, who would later be

called Prince Henry the Navigator, nevercommanded a ship. Rarely did he evensail on one. Although he would not live tosee all that his sailors accomplished, hisdream of making Portugal a leading seapower was to come true.

As expeditions returned, Henry’s map-makers corrected and improved their sail-ing charts. Bit by bit, expedition after

30° E0°30° W

30° N

0°

30° S

60° S

60° E

EUROPE

AFRICA

ASIASpain

Portugal

India

Lisbon

Cape ofGood Hope

Gold Coast

Sofala

Timbuktu

Kilwa

Mogadishu

ATLANTICOCEAN

MediterraneanSea

INDIANOCEAN

0

0 750 1,500 kilometers

750 1,500 miles

Coast visited during the life ofHenry the NavigatorVoyage of Bartholomeu Dias 1487–1488

Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497–1498

Equator

Portuguese Exploration, 1400s

Movement Portuguese explorers werethe first to use an all-water route fromEurope to Asia. Around whatsouthernmost point of Africa did theirsea route take them? � PORTUGUESE CARAVEL


expedition, the Portuguese inched theirway down the coast of Africa.

Portugal led the rest of Europe into thegreat Age of Exploration. The Age ofExploration occurred during the 1400sand 1500s. During this period, sea cap-tains and explorers from many differentEuropean countries sailed the oceans andmapped the world more accurately thanever had been done before.

For 40 years, one Portuguese expedi-tion after another set out to explore theAtlantic Ocean and the west coast ofAfrica. In the 1430s the Portuguese sailedmore than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) westinto the Atlantic and landed on theAzores Islands.

★ Three African EmpiresBy 1460, the year of Henry’s death, the

Portuguese had sailed about one-fourth of

the way down the west coast of Africa,looking for a way around it. Their voy-ages showed them that Africa was not thesmall peninsula they had believed it to be.It was, instead, a huge landmass. Theirstops along the coast also showed themthat Africa was a place with many peo-ples, languages, cultures, and a long his-tory of wealth and power.

During Europe’s Middle Ages, large,wealthy kingdoms with important citiesof trade and learning developed in WestAfrica. Three large kingdoms—Ghana,Mali, and Songhai—controlled traderoutes that ran from North Africa to theWest African coast. Gold, salt, ivory,leather, iron, and other goods passed backand forth through their markets.

Most West Africans traded directlywith Muslims from North Africa. Muslimmerchants made the 1,200-mile (1,931-km)journey south across the Sahara in largecamel caravans to West African markets.

� PORTUGUESE HARBOR The growing Portuguese trade began to compete withthat of other European countries. What goods did trading ships bring back toPortugal?istory

PicturingH


GhanaBetween 700 and 1050, the empire of

Ghana flourished in West Africa. In themarkets of Ghana’s capital, Kumbi, mer-chants traded large amounts of gold andsalt. Dates, ivory, cloth, and honey alsochanged hands.

Because most of the traders in Ghanawere Muslim, the capital city had a largeMuslim population. Many Islamic houses

of worship, called mosques, were built. Thepeople of Ghana adapted many Muslimideas, including a writing and numberingsystem.

MaliBy the 1200s the empire of Ghana was

replaced by the empire of Mali. The Malitrading city of Timbuktu became a lead-ing center of Islamic culture. Mansa Musa,the most powerful of the Mali kings, per-suaded some of Islam’s finest scholars andarchitects to work in Timbuktu. They builtlarge buildings and several universities.Students from across Africa came to studyat the universities. When Mansa Musadied, the kingdom of Mali weakened. By1500, a third large empire was reaching itsheight and replaced Mali.

SonghaiThe Songhai empire grew rich from

trade in gold and ivory. Under AskiaMuhammad, who ruled the empire from1493 to 1528, Songhai rose to the height ofits power. As with the Mali empire, Mus-lim merchants had a strong influence onthe culture. They built many mosques andschools and instructed the local people inthe ways of the Islamic faith.

Songhai, larger than either the Ghanaor Mali empire, extended across a largeportion of West Africa. It stood until 1591,when North African soldiers armed withguns invaded and defeated it.

★ Portugal’s Search for Riches

Portuguese sea captains stopping alongthe West African coast heard of the inlandtrading kingdoms. Such stories of wealthencouraged the Portuguese. Surely theywere coming closer to meeting PrinceHenry’s goal of finding the source ofAfrican gold.

� THE SLAVE TRADE King Affonso of theKongo, tried unsuccessfully to stop theEuropean slave trade. The rulers of Beninand the Gold Coast also tried to resistthe Europeans. Where did Portugaldevelop a trade in human beings?

Student Web ActivityVisit the American History: The Early Years to 1877 Website at ey.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 3—StudentWeb Activities for an activity about the Age of Exploration.

HISTORY

istoryPicturingH

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/chapter3/webact.html


As the Portuguese pushed south androunded the bulge of Africa, they gavenames to the lands they visited. The namesreflected the products widely traded ineach area. The Portuguese called onecoastal area the Ivory Coast, for example,and another place the Gold Coast. Therewas also an area the Portuguese called theSlave Coast.

Enslavement of AfricansIt was on the Slave Coast that the Por-

tuguese developed a trade in humanbeings. They brought Africans back to Por-tugal and sold them at a public auction asenslaved persons. An enslaved person isone forced to serve another person in waysdecided by the slaveholder. Enslaved per-sons have no freedom, and slaveholdersthink of them as their property.

★ A Passage to IndiaThe Portuguese continued to take what

they found of value in Africa. By the mid-1400s, the Portuguese had met PrinceHenry’s goal of finding riches and profits.They still had not found a way aroundAfrica and on to Asia.

Year after year, Portuguese sailors con-tinued to inch their way south along thecoast of Africa. Then, in 1488, explorerBartholomeu Dias (DEE•AHSH) sailed asfar south as present-day South Africa. Astorm blew his three ships farther out tosea. When the storm ended nearly twoweeks later, Dias realized that it hadblown his ships around the southern tip ofAfrica and into the Indian Ocean.

Too tired to push ahead, Dias and hiscrew returned to Portugal. The Portugueseking was so encouraged by Dias’s reportthat he named the southern tip of Africathe Cape of Good Hope. The king felt surethat he would soon realize his hope ofreaching India by sailing around Africa.

Crossing the Indian OceanThe king had to wait about 10 more

years. In the summer of 1497 another Por-tuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, headedsouth along the coast of Africa. He round-ed the Cape of Good Hope in Novemberand then set a course across the IndianOcean. In May of 1498, Da Gama landedon the west coast of India. Before return-ing to Portugal, he filled his ships withspices, silks, jewels, glassware, and otherAsian trade goods.

Checking for Understanding1. Define navigation, caravel, Age of Explo-

ration, enslaved person.

2. What two special goals did Prince Henryhope the voyages of exploration would helpPortugal achieve?

3. What products were traded throughout WestAfrican kingdoms both before and after con-tact with Europeans?

Critical Thinking4. Sequencing Events Create a time line of

key events leading to Portugal’s successful

exploration of Asia. Use the dates alreadyprovided as a guide.


INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITY5. Geography Use the scale on the world

map in the Reference Atlas in the back ofthe book to figure out about how manymiles the Portuguese sailed to reach theCape of Good Hope and the west coastof India. Draw a map showing the routes.Put mileage information on the routes.

1430s 1488

14981460

74

T H E A R T S G E O G R A P H Y S C I E N C E M A T H

HistoryAND

E C O N O M I C S

Have you ever wanted to buy something,but thought the price was just too high? Doyou know what made that item so costly?Maybe it comes from far away and the cost oftransporting it is high. Perhaps the item isscarce. Gold is expensive because the worldsupply is short. Buyer demand could also bea factor. If many people want to buy the item,the price will probably be high.

Wealthy Europeans of the 1400s wanted tobuy fine porcelain, jewels, silk, and spicesfrom East Asia. Because the Turkish Muslimscontrolled all the trade routes to Asia, theycould also control the prices of goods that

traveled along those routes. As Europeansdemanded more and more Asian goods, theMuslim merchants raised their prices.

To get these goods for less, Europeanswanted to find a way to go around the Muslimtraders altogether. The solution they settled on was to find their own route to East Asia by sea.

Motives for Exploration

Making the Economics Connection1. Name three things that can affect the

price of an item.

2. Why did Turkish Muslim tradersthink they could get the high pricesthey charged for Asian goods?

3. What was Europe’s solution to payinghigh prices for Asian goods?

ACTIVITY4. Think of a costly item you have seen in

a store. Imagine that you are a merchantwho sells the item. Create a newspaperadvertisement convincing people to buythe item despite its cost.

� CHINESE PORCELAIN

� NEW EUROPEAN MARKETS

Columbus Reaches the Americas★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 3

GUIDE TO READING

More than 150 years after MarcoPolo’s death, a young Italian sea captain—Christopher Columbus—sat down toread Polo’s Description of the World. Whilemany scholars still didn’t take Polo seri-ously, the young captain believed everyword he read.

★ Marco Polo’s GeographyColumbus was especially interested in

what Polo had to say about the islands ofCipango. What Polo called Cipango ispresent-day Japan. According to Polo,

Cipango lay some 1,500 miles (2,414 km)off the eastern shore of Asia.

Polo’s geography was not accurate. Theislands of Japan are actually less than 500miles (805 km) from the coast of Asia.

Columbus pondered Polo’s report.Because the earth is round, Columbus rea-soned, a person should be able to sail westfrom Europe and reach Asia. Further-more, if Cipango was 1,500 miles off thecoast of Asia, it was actually much closerto Europe than anyone thought. Armedwith this misinformation, ChristopherColumbus began his lifelong quest toreach Asia by sailing west.

� EXPLORER’SLOG BOOK

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information As you read aboutthe voyages of Christopher Columbus, use a concept web similar to the one below toname the regions he explored.

Read to Learn . . .★ why Christopher Columbus believed he

could reach Asia by sailing west. ★ what places in the Americas Columbus

visited.

Terms to Know★ mutiny★ Taino★ colony

Main IdeaItalian sailor Christopher Columbusreached the Caribbean and thushelped Spain to establish the firstEuropean colonies in the Americas.

RegionsColumbusExplored


★ Columbus’s VisionLike many Italians of his time, Colum-

bus went to sea at an early age. Then, at26, he sailed with an Italian fleet along thecoast of Portugal.

For several years, Columbus lived inPortugal. The Portuguese taught Colum-bus new sailing skills and theories aboutgeography. He made several voyages onPortuguese ships to Africa and sailed asfar north as Iceland. In the process, hebecame an expert navigator.

The Portuguese Say “No”By the early 1480s, Columbus felt ready

to make his own trip of exploration. Heasked Portugal’s King John for money tosupply a westward voyage to Asia.Columbus argued that this route wouldbe shorter and easier than the eastwardpassage around Africa that the Por-tuguese were looking for. Dias and DaGama had not yet sailed around Africawhen Columbus made his appeal.

Portuguese experts discussed Colum-bus’s plan. They agreed that he could

probably get to Asia by sailing west, butthey thought he had misjudged the dis-tance. King John agreed. He refusedColumbus’s request and claimed that Por-tugal would continue trying to reach Asiaby sailing around Africa.

The Spanish Say “Yes”By now, Columbus was deeply in debt.

He did not give up, however. He left Por-tugal and went to Spain in 1485 to ask theSpanish monarchs Queen Isabella andKing Ferdinand to finance his voyage.

For seven years, Columbus tried to gainsupport from the Spanish rulers. Eachtime he asked, experts studied the matterand refused his plan. Finally, just asColumbus was ready to give up, QueenIsabella consented to give him the backinghe needed for the voyage.

★ Voyage Across the Atlantic

On August 3, 1492, Columbus leftSpain with three small ships. The largest

� KOLUMBUS IN FRONT OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA OF ARAGON IN SANTA FE by V. Prozik,1884 With careful attention to detail the artist shows the serious discussion heldconcerning the planned voyage of Columbus. For how many years did Columbustry to gain the support of Spain?

History

A R TAND

77

ship, his flagship, was named the SantaMaría. The other two were the Pinta andNiña.

Columbus and a crew of 90 men andboys first sailed south to the CanaryIslands. There the small fleet took on sup-plies, refilled water casks, and repairedsails. Then, in the early morning hours ofSeptember 6, Columbus set out westwardacross the Atlantic Ocean.

Winds and WeatherAt first the voyage went smoothly. The

weather was calm, and winds pushed thethree ships steadily westward. Columbushad discovered the sea route with themost favorable winds.

After about another month of smoothsailing, the crew became impatient. Theyhad never been away from land this manydays. They demanded that Columbus

turn back. If not, they would mutiny, orseize the captain and officers and takecontrol of the ship.

★ “Tierra! Tierra!”Columbus promised his worried crew

to sail home if land was not found inanother three days. Just two days later thecrew began to see drifting tree branches inthe water around the ships—a sign thatland was nearby. Columbus promised areward to the first crew member whosighted land.

Landing in the BahamasAt 2 o’clock the next morning, the look-

out sailor on the Pinta suddenly shouted,“Tierra! Tierra!”—Land! Land! On October12, 1492, after 70 days and 2,400 miles

CHAPTER 3 Explorers Reach the Americas: 1000–1535

NORTHAMERICA

SOUTHAMERICA

AFRICA

EUROPE

Spain

CUBA

Puerto Rico

Hispaniola

Palos

TheBahamas

ATLANTICOCEAN

PACIFIC OCEAN

Gulf ofMexico

CaribbeanSea

45° W60° W 30° W 15° W 0° 15° E75° W90° W

15° N

30° N

45° N

0°

1 (1492)

2 (1493)

4 (1502)

3 (1498)

Equator

0

0 1,000 2,000 kilometers

1,000 2,000 miles

1492149314981502

Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 1492–1502

Movement Columbus led four voyages across the Atlantic in hopes of findinga western route to Asia. What island group did Columbus reach first in1492?


(3,862 km) of sailing, Columbus hadfound land.

At dawn the three ships neared anisland with a beautiful, white coral beach.Columbus named the island San Sal-vador which meant “Holy Savior.” Today,this island is part of the Bahamas, locatedabout 50 miles (80 km) off the coast ofsoutheastern Florida.

Columbus led a group ashore, knelt onthe beach, and claimed the land for Spain.He was sure he had arrived on one of themany islands in the Indies—present-dayEast Indies—that Marco Polo had saidwere off the coast of mainland China.

Meeting With Native AmericansThe Taino, the Native Americans who

lived on the island, watched the strangelarge ships that brought bearded men. Atfirst they held back, but they were curiousand finally ran to see the strangers whohad come to their land. Because he wascertain he had reached the Indies, Colum-bus called the people Indians. Columbusdescribed his first meeting with the Tainoin his log:

I . . . gave to some of themred caps, and glass beads toput round their necks, andmany other things of littlevalue, which gave themgreat pleasure, and madethem so much our friendsthat it was a marvel to see.They afterwards came to theship’s boats where we were,swimming and bringing usparrots, cotton threads, . . .darts, and many other things.

Columbus quickly noticed the smallgold jewelry the Taino wore. He was curi-ous about the source of the gold. One ofhis goals in sailing to distant lands was tobring back proof of the riches that couldbe found there.

★ Exploring the CaribbeanWith six Taino as guides, Columbus left

San Salvador to search for Cipango, whichhe believed must be nearby. Instead, hefound the Caribbean island of Cuba.

Columbus saw his first flamingos inCuba. He described them as “great birdslike cranes, but bright red.” He alsonoticed that the Indians smoked rolled-upleaves from a certain plant growing on theisland. The plant was tobacco, but theSpaniards called it tabaco, which they

”

“

Spain, 1492 ChristopherColumbus proudly carriedthe Spanish banner ofCastile and Leon to theshores of the Bahamas.

The flag’s castle represented QueenIsabella. The lion symbolized her hus-band, King Ferdinand.★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

AMERICA’S FLAGS★★★ ★★★

� COLUMBUS REACHES LAND Columbus and hiscrew had sailed for more than two monthswhen they reached San Salvador. For whatcountry did they claim this island?

istoryPicturingH


probably took from a Native Americanword. Columbus and later explorers even-tually introduced tobacco to Europe.

HispaniolaColumbus left Cuba to continue his

search for the mainland of Asia—and thesource of more gold. He found his wayto an island he named Hispaniola.Today this island is divided into thecountries of Haiti and the DominicanRepublic. In Hispaniola, Columbus wassure he had found the source of the Indi-ans’ gold because all the people woregold jewelry.

Columbus and his crew met with theirfirst disaster on Hispaniola. On Christ-mas Eve, while Columbus and most ofthe crew were sleeping, the Santa Maríaran aground and was wrecked on asandbar.

Columbus saw this as a sign that heshould have some of his men set up asettlement while he went on to explorefurther. His crew then used wood fromthe shipwrecked Santa María to build afort.

★ A Hero’s WelcomeOn March 4, 1493, after three months of

exploring the Caribbean, Columbus setsail for home. He returned to Spain in tri-umph. His news was received with greatexcitement, and people were eager to hearhis tales of the “Indies.”

Columbus reported to the Spanishking and queen, escorted by six NativeAmericans carrying parrots in cages. Hebrought gold jewelry and spices as proofthat he had found what he still believedto be the Indies.

The Spanish monarchs were curiousabout the people, but they were moreinterested in the stories of gold. Eager forriches, they were ready to finance morevoyages for Columbus.

★ Later VoyagesColumbus sailed to the Americas three

more times between 1493 and 1502. Hestopped at many of the islands in theCaribbean Sea including present-dayJamaica. He also landed on the coast ofpresent-day Venezuela and sailed alongthe coast of Central America.

First Spanish ColonyOn his second voyage in 1496, Colum-

bus founded Santo Domingo on Hispan-iola. It was the first permanent Europeancolony in the Western Hemisphere. Acolony is a settlement made in anotherland by people who are ruled by theirhome countries. Columbus and two of hisbrothers governed the colony on Hispan-iola over the next four years.

� COLUMBUS RETURNS Upon returning to Spain,Columbus shared some of the treasures he hadbrought back with the Spanish king and queen.Why were the Spanish monarchs eager forColumbus to make another voyage?

istoryPicturingH


Meaning of Columbus’s VoyagesColumbus’s discoveries brought little

gold to Spain. Columbus also did a poorjob of governing the Spanish colony at His-paniola. As a result, he gradually slippedout of favor with the Spanish court. Hereturned from his last voyage in 1504.Columbus died in 1506, unaware that hehad arrived at two uncharted continents.

Other Europeans, however, were quickto recognize that Columbus had sailed to

lands that they had never imagined. Soonafter Columbus’s voyages, other Euro-peans sailed to the Americas. Still otherEuropean sea captains would continuethe Age of Exploration with more voyagesinto uncharted seas. The countries ofSpain, France, Portugal, Italy, England,and the Netherlands would all send expe-ditions searching for new lands and ashorter route to Asia.

★ America, Not ColumbiaAmerigo Vespucci (veh•SPOO•chee)

was the Italian explorer for whom Ameri-ca was named. Why did Europeans notname America after Columbus?

Vespucci sailed to North America a fewyears after Columbus. Sailing for Spainand Portugal, he explored the Atlanticcoast of South America between 1497 and1504. Vespucci was one of the first explor-ers to realize that he had reached unchart-ed lands. Unlike Columbus, Vespucciwrote that he had come to “a new world,”not the East Indies—as the Asian islandswere called later. Vespucci published hisclaims in a booklet that a German map-maker read in 1507. When the mapmakerdrew a map of the two continents, hechose the name “America,” based onVespucci’s name.

Checking for Understanding1. Define mutiny, Taino, colony.2. What was Columbus’s plan for reaching Asia

by sea?3. What islands did Columbus explore on his

first two voyages to the Americas?

Critical Thinking4. Sequencing Information Create a time line

of Columbus’s voyages and other related

events. Use the dates already provided as aguide.

� AMERIGO VESPUCCI

INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITY5. The Arts Sketch a freehand historical

map of the world using the knowledgeavailable at the time of Columbus.


1492 1496 1502

14981493

Early European Claims to the Americas★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★


SECTION 4

GUIDE TO READING

� DRAKE’S TROPHY

Reading StrategyClassifying Information As you read aboutEuropean claims to the Americas, use a chartlike the one below to list various explorersand what they accomplished.

Read to Learn . . .★ how Spain took control of

the Caribbean area.★ about the voyages and claims

of Spanish, English, and French explorers.

Terms to Know★ plantation★ Columbian Exchange★ strait★ Northwest Passage

Main IdeaAs Spain conquered the Caribbean,the other nations of Europe set out toexplore the Americas.

Explorers Accomplishments

They have no arms[weapons], and are withoutwarlike instincts; they . . .are so timid that a thousandwould not stand beforethree of our men. So thatthey are good to be ordered about. . . .

This was one of Columbus’s descrip-tions of Native Americans he met in theCaribbean. In his logs, Columbus made itclear that he saw the Native Americans asservants to the Spaniards.

★ Spain Conquers the Caribbean

After Columbus set up his colony inHispaniola, Spain sent more ships and

”

“ explorers to the Caribbean Islands. Inaddition to Hispaniola, the Spanish con-quered Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica intheir search for riches.

Treatment of Native AmericansNative Americans soon came to fear the

Spaniards. Using guns, which NativeAmericans had never seen before, theSpaniards killed thousands of people.Those who survived were enslaved.

By 1510 most of the gold in theCaribbean Islands had been mined, so theSpaniards turned to agriculture. Theyraised cattle and horses brought withthem from Spain. They also set up planta-tions, or large farms that usually produceonly one crop to be sold. On the planta-tions the Spaniards grew sugarcane, cot-ton, and other crops. Enslaved Native


Americans worked the plantations. Whenthe Spaniards needed more workers, theybrought enslaved Africans to the islands.Hundreds of Native Americans were alsoloaded onto ships and taken back to Spainto be sold into slavery.

The exchange of goods and ideas andpeople between Europe and the Americascame to be called the ColumbianExchange, named after Christopher

Columbus. The most deadly part of theexchange came with the passing of diseasefrom Europeans to the Native Americans.

Spanish Priests in the Caribbean The Spaniards felt it was also their duty

to bring the Catholic faith to the NativeAmericans. They sent priests and mission-aries along with the soldiers and explorers.

NORTHAMERICA

SOUTHAMERICA

AFRICA

EUROPELabrador

GreenlandIceland

EnglandNetherlands

France

SpainPortugalNewfoundland

ATLANTIC OCEAN

PACIFIC OCEAN

Gulf ofMexico

Caribbean Sea

45° W60° W 30° W

15° W

0°

15° E

30° E

75° W

90° W30° S

45° S

15° S

15° N

30° N

45° N

60° N

0°

Equator

75° N

Tropicof Cancer

Tropic of Capricorn

SpanishAmerigo Vespucci (1499)

PortuguesePedro Cabral (1500)

EnglishJohn Cabot (1497)Martin Frobisher (1576)

FrenchGiovanni da Verrazano (1524)Jacques Cartier (1534)

DutchHenry Hudson (1609)

0

0 1,250 kilometers

1,250 miles

European Voyages of Exploration, 1497–1609

Movement Sea captains from a number of European countries explored theshores of North America, South America, and the islands of the CaribbeanSea. Who was the first English explorer to sail to the Americas?

� BINOCULARS

AND COMPASS


Some Spanish priests tried to defend theNative Americans against the harsh treat-ment of the soldiers.

One priest, Bartolomé de Las Casas,worked among the Native Americans for50 years. He appealed to the Spanish gov-ernment to help them. The government inSpain did establish rules for their protec-tion. However, rules made in Europe weredifficult to enforce thousands of milesacross the ocean in the Caribbean.

★ Balboa and the PacificIt took about 30 years for European

explorers to realize that even after cross-ing the Atlantic, they were still a long wayfrom Asia. They finally recognized, too,that North and South America wereblocking their way. They did not give upthe goal of finding a western sea route toAsia, however. They believed they couldfind a route through or around the twocontinents.

Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Bal-boa was the first European to discover away across the Americas. His route, how-ever, was a land route. Balboa first sailedto the Isthmus of Panama, the thin stripof land that joins North and South Amer-ica. Then, in 1513 with the help of severalhundred Native Americans and 190 crewmembers, he crossed the isthmus on foot.

The 45-mile (72-km) crossing was verydifficult and took about a month to com-plete. Some reports said the treetops overthe soldiers’ heads were so dense that thesky was blocked out for days. Balboa’screw had to walk overland through thickplant growth in severe heat. They hackedtheir way through with large knives,fighting off insects, snakes, and fever.

At last Balboa saw an expanse of waterahead. In full armor, he rushed into thewater to claim it and all the land it touchedfor Spain. Although he did not know it atthe time, the waters Balboa claimed wereanother ocean—the Pacific Ocean.

★ Magellan Sails Around the World

After Balboa arrived at the PacificOcean, European explorers still had tocross an ocean to reach Asia. No one real-ized how large that ocean was, but Ferdi-nand Magellan, a Portuguese sea captainsailing for Spain, would be the first to findout.

Magellan was convinced he could find away around the tip of South America,across the sea that Balboa had discovered,and on to Asia. He began his journey in1519 with five ships and 241 sailors. Hislist of supplies included 2,800 pounds(1,271 kg) of cheese, 1,300 pounds (590 kg)of honey, 10,000 sardines, 800 pounds (363kg) of flour, and 250 strings of garlic bulbs.

Naming the PacificOnce Magellan reached southeastern

South America, it took his fleet several

Location Magellan and Sir FrancisDrake were the first known sea captainsto sail around the world. For whichEuropean countries did Magellan andDrake sail?

ASIA

AUSTRALIA

NORTHAMERICA

SOUTHAMERICA

AFRICA

EUROPE

INDIANOCEAN

PACIFICOCEAN

PACIFICOCEAN

ATLANTICOCEAN

30° N

0°60° W 60° E120° W 120° E 180° E

0°

60° N

60° S

30° S

Magellan (1519–1522)Drake (1577–1580)Equator

0

0 4,000 kilometers

4,000 milesSailed for EnglandSailed for Spain

World Voyages, 1519 –1580

Geography


months to travel down the coast. Hestopped for supplies, to make repairs, andwas often delayed by bad weather. Wher-ever he went ashore, he claimed the landfor Spain.

When Magellan approached the south-ern tip of South America, he sailed into arocky, treacherous strait—a narrow chan-nel of water. The strait was filled withmany tiny islands and narrow, curvingchannels that came to dead ends. For sixlong weeks, the ships inched their waythrough the strait.

Finally, on the western side of SouthAmerica, the ships came into a vast, calmocean. Magellan named the waters “Pacif-ic,” which means “peaceful.” The danger-ous strait through which his ships had justpassed would later be called the Strait ofMagellan.

To the Philippines and SpainMagellan expected to reach Asia in just

a few weeks after rounding South Ameri-ca. After months of sailing, however, therewas still no sight of land.

Finally in the spring of 1521, after a briefstop on the island of Guam, Magellan

landed in the Philippine Islands. Itwould be his final stop. Only three shipsremained, and many crew members haddied. Magellan was killed when hebecame involved in a war among theislanders.

In 1522 the Victoria—the last of Magel-lan’s original five ships—returned toSpain. The Victoria was the first ship everto circle the world, an important accom-plishment. Of the 241 men who set out onthe 3-year, 50,000-mile (80,450-km) voy-age, only 18 completed the trip.

★ The English Sail WestAlthough Spain led the way in the

exploration of the Americas, other Euro-pean countries were also interested inthe lands to the west. England was thefirst country to send an expedition to theAmericas after Columbus’s voyages forSpain.

John Cabot’s First VoyageAn Italian sea captain, born Giovanni

Cabotto, led England’s first voyage toAmerica. In the 1480s, Cabotto moved toEngland and changed his name to JohnCabot. Hearing of Columbus’s voyages,he convinced England’s King Henry VIIto send him across the Atlantic in searchof Asia.

Cabot made his first trip in 1497 andreturned with news of a large landmassnorth of where Columbus had landed.Cabot had landed off the coast of Canada,on present-day Newfoundland. Accordingto one account—in which he was most like-ly describing the Inuit—Cabot reported:

The people of [the land] aredressed in the skins of ani-mals; they use in their warsbows and arrows, lancesand darts, and certain clubs of wood, and slings. ”

“

� FERDINAND MAGELLAN


Like Columbus, Cabot assumed he hadreached Asia. He thought if he traveledalong the coast he would eventually reachChina and the Indies.

Cabot’s Second VoyageThe following year, Cabot made anoth-

er voyage across the North Atlantic withfive ships. After exploring the coast ofNorth America, one ship turned back toEngland after a bad storm. The othersnever returned, disappearing without atrace. Cabot’s fate is still a mystery.

The English put aside any further inter-est in the Americas after Cabot’s disappear-ance. His voyages, however, gave Englandits first claim to land in North America.

★ The French and theNorthwest Passage

Neither Balboa nor Magellan hadrevealed a route through or around theAmerican continents. Other Europeanswondered if there might be a sea routefarther north. They even gave such a pos-sible waterway a name—the NorthwestPassage.

The French began a search for theNorthwest Passage in 1524. They hiredItalian sailor Giovanni da Verrazano fortheir first explorations.

Verrazano explored the eastern coast ofNorth America between present-dayNorth Carolina and Nova Scotia. He wasthe first European to sail into the harbor ofpresent-day New York City. Verrazanowas unable to find a water route throughNorth America to Asia, however.

The French tried to find the NorthwestPassage again 10 years later. In 1534 and1535, the French navigator Jacques Carti-er (kahr•TYAY) made two voyages. Hesailed partway up the St. Lawrence Riverand claimed present-day Canada forFrance. Like many more explorers whocame after him, Cartier had no luck find-ing a water passage to Asia.

The Spaniards meanwhile took littleinterest in the idea of a Northwest Pas-sage. They continued to focus on the moresouthern regions of the Americas.

Checking for Understanding1. Define plantation, Columbian Exchange,

strait, Northwest Passage. 2. What did Balboa set out to find?3. Why was Magellan’s voyage important?

Critical Thinking4. Recognizing Effects Use a web diagram such

as the one shown here to explain what effects

Spanish colonization had on Native Americanpeoples.

Footnotes to HistoryNorthwest Passage Found A North-west Passage does exist—in the cold andice-jammed waters around the islands ofnorthern Canada. Explorers found theroute during the 1800s. Norwegian explor-er Roald Amundsen, however, was the firstto successfully make an all-water tripthrough the Northwest Passage. His voy-age lasted three years, from 1903 to 1906.


INTERDISCIPLINARY ACTIVITY5. Geography See if you can figure out a

possible Northwest Passage. Sketch yourroute on an outline map of North America.

Effects on Native Americans

CHAPTER 3 ★ ASSESSMENT


Using Key VocabularyMatch the numbered items in Column A with

their definitions in Column B.

Column A1. feudal system 3. colony2. navigation 4. plantation

Column Ba. territory governed and often settled by anoth-

er country

b. science of sailing and piloting ships

c. large farm that usually grows only one cropmeant to be sold

d. system for managing land during the MiddleAges

Reviewing Facts1. Explain how the feudal system in Europe lim-

ited people’s contact with one another.

2. Describe how the Crusades heightened Euro-pean interest in trade.

3. Identify the first permanent European colonyin the Western Hemisphere and when it wasfounded.

4. Explain how the Age of Exploration led toslaveholding in Europe and America.

Understanding ConceptsEconomic Development1. What changes brought about a growth in trade

in Western Europe beginning around 1000?

2. Why did Spain continue exploring the Ameri-cas even though Columbus had not foundmuch gold?

Influence of Technology3. How did the development of skills and crafts

by manor workers influence the feudal system?

4. Re-create the graphic shown here, and fill it inwith the technological advancements thathelped to make European exploration possible.

Critical Thinking1. Making Inferences Why do you think West-

ern Europe did not try to find a sea route toAsia until after the 1400s?

2. Analyzing Information Which of the voy-ages discussed in this chapter do you thinkhad the greatest impact on the history of theUnited States? Explain your answer.

Persia

Arabia

ASIAEUROPE

China

India

INDIAN OCEAN

Azov

Damascus

TrebizondKashgar

Canton

Beijing

Kinsai

Constantinople

60° N

120° E90° E60° E30° E

30° N

0°

Black Sea

MediterraneanSea

Equator

Italy

Overland Trade Routes, 1400s

Self-Check QuizVisit the American History: The Early Years to1877 Web site at ey.glencoe.com and click onChapter 3—Self-Check Quizzes to prepare forthe chapter test.

HISTORY

TechnologicalAdvancements

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/ahey2001/quiz.shtml?BOOK=002&CHAPTER=3&TITLE=Explorers+Reach+the+Americas

CHAPTER 3 ★ ASSESSMENT

History and GeographyOverland Trade Routes

Study the map of overland trade routes in the1400s shown on page 86. Then answer the fol-lowing questions.

1. Location What Chinese city was at the east-ern end of the route across Asia?

2. Place At what body of water in the west didthe overland routes end?

Interdisciplinary Activity:Language Arts

As a group, choose an explorer discussed inthis chapter. Use library sources to research theexplorer’s life and achievements. Prepare aninterview with that explorer. Plan the questionsto ask and the answers you would expect theexplorer to give. Include questions relating to theexplorer’s life as well as the explorations. Writethe interview as a magazine article.

If you prefer, make a taped interview in whichone member of your group speaks as the explor-er and the other members ask questions.

Practicing SkillsReading a Time Line

Study the time line at the top of this page. Thenanswer the following questions.

1. What is the time span on this time line?

2. How far apart are the intervals on the time line?

3. How many years were there between Colum-bus’s voyage to the Bahamas and the comple-tion of Magellan’s world voyage?

Technology ActivityUsing a Spreadsheet

Use the library and otherresources to find outabout the tools today’ssailors use to help themguide ships. Make a spreadsheet listing the toolsacross the top, and explain the purpose andfunction of the tool underneath its heading.Cooperative

Learning


Using Your JournalImagine your boss atthe newspaper has askedyou to write a front-pagestory for tomorrow’spaper. Choose one of theheadlines from your jour-nal and write a story togo with it.

History

WritingABOUT

1500–1519 1520–15391513 Balboa reaches the

Pacific Ocean1518 Spaniards bring

enslaved Africans toAmerica

1522 Magellan’s world voyage completed

1534 Cartier explores Canada

1480–14991488 Dias sails around the

Cape of Good Hope1492 Columbus arrives in

the Bahamas1498 Columbus begins third

voyage to America1498 Da Gama reaches India

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Cultural Kaleidoscope

88

�

Around the Great LakesWhere there were forests, there were plentiful resources for homebuilding. Peoples of the Great Lakes forests cut tall young trees andstaked them into the ground. Then they fastened the tops togetherto create a dome- or cone-shaped frame. Over the frame, they tiedsheets of bark that overlapped like shingles.

�

In a Southwest Farming VillageLiving in the desert called for houses airy enough tocatch daytime breezes yet snug enough to give shelterfrom cool nights. The Yuma, Pagago, and other NativeAmericans used reeds and mud from riverbanks tobuild such houses. They used the reeds to construct a frame and the mud to plaster over the frame.

Early Homesin America

HHomes for Native Ameri-cans meant dwellings adapt-ed to their cultures and tothe resources of their envi-ronments. To European set-tlers, building a home meantusing the same resourceswhile often adding a touchof the cultures they broughtwith them to America.

89

�

“Iroquois of the Longhouse”The Iroquois in the NortheastWoodlands were known for thesize and detail of their dwellings,called longhouses. Sheets of barkstripped from elm trees fit closelyover domed pole frames, oftenreaching lengths of 100 feet (30 m).Inside, most longhouses weredivided into separate sections forhousing several families.

�

A Touch of SpainSpaniards built houseswith long porches andcourtyards like those inSpain. The oldest Spanishhouse in America residesin St. Augustine, Florida.It reminds us thatSpaniards settled theresome four centuries ago.

�

Log CabinsSwedish settlers in 1638 cut logs to build homes and trading posts along theDelaware River. The Swedes were not the first, however, to build log cabins inAmerica. English settlers who came in the1620s built houses by standing logs uprightto form walls. The Swedes, however, laidlogs horizontally to create the cabins popular among settlers in later years.

Chap 03

Documents

norsethe norse

norse men

norse sagas

norse left vinland

s european renaissance

s journal

parts of europe

americas beginnings