Big Ideas

Science and Technology The Renaissance brought about a scientific revolution that enabled Europeans to explore the world.

Content Vocabulary

• astrolabe

• caravel

• circumnavigate

• conquistador

• encomienda

Academic Vocabulary

• route

• acquire

• labor

People and Events to Identify

• Henry the Navigator

• Amerigo Vespucci

• Hernán Cortés

• Francisco Pizarro

• Samuel de Champlain

A. A

B. B

Do you agree with the treatment that Native Americans received as Europeans explored new lands?

A. Agree

B. Disagree

A B

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European Explorations

Beginning in the 1400s, Europe entered a new era of intellectual and technological advancement known as the Renaissance.

• The Crusades brought western Europeans into contact with the Arab civilization of the Middle East.

• By the 1300s, Europeans had a strong economic motive to begin exploring the world for a route to Asia that bypassed the Italian city-states and the Arab kingdoms.

• By the mid-1400s, four strong states—Portugal, Spain, England, and France—had emerged and were searching for a new route to Asia.

European Explorations (cont.)

• Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, was the first to find a new route to Asia.

• Scientific advances that allowed western Europeans to explore the world included:

European Explorations (cont.)

– astrolabe

– compass

– triangular-shaped lateen sails

Portuguese Exploration and African Empires, c. 1450

– multiple masts

– stern rudder

– caravel

European Explorations (cont.)

A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D A B C D

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Which time period marked an artistic flowering and a rebirth of interest in ancient Greece and Rome?

A. The Middle Ages

B. The Crusades

C. The Renaissance

D. The Bronze Age

African Cultures

Three great empires arose in West Africa and prospered from the gold trade.

• Three West African empires prospered from trade of gold and salt:

– the empire of Ghana

– the empire of Mali

– the empire of Songhai

African Cultures (cont.)

Portuguese Exploration and African Empires, c. 1450

• Slavery existed within African society.

• Arab traders, as well as Europeans, brought slaves back from Africa.

African Cultures (cont.)

A. A

B. B

C. C

D. D A B C D

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How did the three African empires gain wealth and power?

A. Controlling trade in gold and salt

B. Invading other empires around them

C. Capturing European explorers

D. Crafting jewelry to sell to explorers

Exploring America

Spain led in the early European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

• Christopher Columbus sailed for India in 1492 but landed in the Bahamas.

• In 1501, Amerigo Vespucci landed in a place that is now named after him—America.

Exploring America (cont.)