Chapter 2: Early Explorers and Advances in Technology

Who was the first European explorer to sail around the southern tip of Africa?

• Bartolomeu Dias
• Vasco da Gama
• Leif Ericcson
• Prince Henry

How did Prince Henry’s sailors help the explorers who eventually reached India?

• They learned how to become merchants as well as sailors.
• They improved maps and founded settlements along the way.
• They fought against other European nations for control of the seas.
• They demonstrated that the world is round, not flat as previously believed.

What was the main motivation for European nations to trade with Asian nations?

• the value of new markets and goods
• the caravel and advances in technology
• the time it took to trade over land routes
• Viking reports of lands unknown to Europeans

What is the purpose of an astrolabe?

• to tell the exact measurement of time
• to tell how far you have traveled
• to catch more wind to go faster
• to tell the direction of the wind

Which statement makes the most convincing argument for a ruler to provide the money for an explorer’s expedition?

• People tell stories of a magical fountain of youth.
• The crops we bring back will pay for the cost of the trip.
• The trade routes we open up will more than cover the cost.
• The new people we meet will appreciate our culture and products.

Which explorer traveled the farthest?

• Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
• Christopher Columbus
• Ponce de Leon
• Hernán Cortés

How did Magellan’s voyage compare to Columbus’s?

• The explorers had the same results and achieved the same success.
• Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean while Columbus reached India.
• The explorers had similar goals and sailed in the same direction.
• Magellan made multiple trips while Columbus made one.

How did New Spain compare to Spain?

• New Spain had more territory.
• New Spain had smaller American Indian populations.
• New Spain had rulers willing to pay for expeditions.
• New Spain had a system of sharing power with American Indians.

Read this quotation. “We Spaniards know a sickness of the heart that only gold can cure.” —Hernán Cortés Which historical conclusion is supported by this quotation?

• European conquistadors were mainly motivated by wealth.
• European conquistadors felt wealth took them away from God.
• European conquistadors had many patrons who provided money.
• European conquistadors were willing to spread sickness to get gold.

Explorers often had to convince their patrons to finance their expeditions. Which argument in the spirit of the Reconquista would have been most likely to convince the rulers of Spain to pay for further exploration?

• The people of these new lands have rich cultures that will please your citizens at home
• You can remove and relocate the people you have conquered in Spain to these new lands.
• The people of these new lands will learn to practice our religion, and you will help spread Catholicism.
• You can found settlements where people can more freely challenge the authority of the Catholic Church.