5th Grade Exploration and Settlement of North America

Which technology helped Europeans explore the Americas?

• printed maps

• spinning wheel

• plow agriculture

• mechanical clocks

Which transportation advance was developed shortly before the European exploration of North America?

• the astrolabe

• the caravel

• the compass

• the rudder

Which technological development of the 1400s allowed European explorers to determine their direction while sailing?

• the adoption of new maps

• the improvement of the rudder

• the use of the magnetic compass

• the development of the triangular sail

Which statement describes one way that technology affected European exploration in the 15th century?

• The invention of the caravel made it possible to preserve more food.

• The invention of the compass made it possible to steer ships into the wind.

• The improvement of the rudder made it possible to measure ocean currents.

• The adoption of the astrolabe made it possible to determine the position of a ship.

Which is NOT a way that caravels differed from other European ships of the 1400s?

• They were easier to control.

• They sailed into the wind.

• They were sturdier and heavier.

• They could sail over long distances.

How did Christopher Columbus benefit from choices made by the Portuguese government?

• Portugal's search for trade routes to Asia inspired Spain to fund similar trips.

• Portugal's war with Spain inspired the Spanish to increase the size of its military.

• Portugal's slave trade with kingdoms in West Africa led Spain to seek slaves from a different region.

• Portugal's acceptance of Protestantism pushed the Spanish to go to the New World to expand the Catholic Church.

Read the following statement and answer the question below. The voyages that Amerigo Vespucci made in the early 1500s to the New World were supported by the Medicis, a wealthy and powerful Italian family that controlled the government of Florence at the time. Which statement was likely a reason that the Medicis supported Vespucci?

• to take control of colonies in the Americas

• to find new markets for European goods

• to profit from European trade with Asia

• to train sailors for a private navy

How did Ferdinand Magellan's trip change the future of exploration?

• It proved that Europeans could sail to any part of the world.

• It proved that Europeans could find faster ways to reach Asia than by land.

Henry Hudson was an English navigator who went on voyages of exploration that were funded by companies based in both England and Holland. What did these companies hope to get out of their investment?

• access to a fast trade route to Asia

• control over the trans-Atlantic slave trade

• profitable connections with Native American peoples

• an early lead in establishing North American colonies

Which European explorer's main goal for exploration was to explore and conquer the Aztec empire?

• Ferdinand Magellan

• Amerigo Vespucci

• Hernando Cortez

• Vasco de Gama