Early Explorers

Identify one of the reasons European explorers traveled to North America.

• They wanted to escape diseases in Europe.

• They were searching for gold and silver

• They were looking for the Native Americans

• They went to hunt buffalo and build homes

Which explorer is being described below?

-He was the first European to reach America.

-He had 3 ships; the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

-He thought he reached Asia.

-He sailed in 1492.

• John Cabot

• Vasco Nunez de Balboa

• Amerigo Vespucci

• Christopher Columbus

What was a MAJOR conflict between Europeans and Native Americans? 

• The Europeans wanted to learn the ceremonies and traditions of the Native Americans.

• The Native Americans kidnapped European colonists and enslaved them

• The Europeans took over the lands that belonged to the Native Americans

• The Native Americans failed to keep promises they made to the European colonists.

Use the clues to decide which explorer is described.

-I wanted to find a route to Asia by traveling north.

-I explored a river that was later named after me.

-Many of my voyages were blocked by ice and my men mutinied.

• Henry Hudson

• Jacques Cartier

• John Cabot

• Christopher Columbus

Europeans were trying to find a water route to _______________, they thought that this would make their country rich with its silks, spices, and treasures.     

• Australia

• America

• Asia

• Antarctica

The explorer ____________________was from Spain. He was a brutal conqueror who killed or captured many American Indians. He explored the area in which we live today, the southeast United States.  

• Jacques Cartier

• Christopher Columbus

• Henry Hudson

• Hernando de Soto

What was important about Vasco Nunez de Balboa’s travel to America?

• He started the Columbian Exchange

• He was the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean

• He was the first European to reach the Atlantic Ocean

• He was the first European to reach the Rocky Mountains

During this age of exploration many times Jacques Cartier and his men found themselves needing help to survive in conditions they were not use to. Often, a group of people helped these explorers adapt to the physical environment. Which group of people helped the French explorers survive?

• no one ever assisted the French explorers

• the Italians from Italy

• the American government

• the American Indians