I. Expanding Horizons (Pages 38–39)

A. Marco Polo’s book, Travels, written in 1296–97, described his travels to Asia. It inspired

Columbus and other explorers to journey to these lands 200 years later.

B. The cities of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa became centers of the growing trade in goods

such as spices, silks, perfumes, and precious stones.

C. The Renaissance, a period of renewed interest in classical Greek and Roman learning,

spread throughout Europe in the 1400s. It encouraged Europeans to pursue new ideas

and challenges and set the stage for exploration and discovery.

Discussion Question

Why do you think Western European explorers found Asia so interesting? (Answers will

vary but may include the ideas of becoming wealthy through foreign trade and learning about

lifestyles in distant lands.)

II. Powerful Nations Emerge (Pages 39–41)

A. The development of large nation-states in Western Europe helped spark foreign trade

and travel outside the region.

B. The monarchies of Spain, Portugal, England, and France looked for ways to increase

the power and wealth of their countries.

Discussion Question

Why was it necessary for monarchs to work at building powerful and wealthy countries?

(Answers will vary but may include the idea that countries wanted to appear powerful so

they would not be invaded and overtaken by any other country. Wealth would allow the monarch

to outfit a powerful army that could defend the country or invade another country.)

III. Technology’s Impact (Pages 40–41)

A. Better maps and navigational instruments, such as the astrolabe and compass, helped

navigators more accurately determine direction and location.

B. Larger and sturdier sailing vessels, such as the caravel, enabled sailors to travel faster

and carry more people, cargo, and food.

C. These advances enabled sailors to explore new routes, especially a sea route to Asia.

Portugal and Spain began searching for routes to Asia and traveled south to the West

Coast of Africa.

Discussion Question

How does modern technology make our lives easier? (Answers will vary but should

include the ideas that it helps us do things better, faster, more efficiently, and cost effectively.)

IV. African Kingdoms (Pages 41–42)

A. Three West African kingdoms flourished: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai.

B. Ghana was a huge trading Empire between 400 and 1100. Its trade in gold and salt

contributed to its prosperity. When Ghana’s power declined, the empire saw new

states emerge.

C. Mali and its capital, Timbuktu, became important Islamic centers. Mansa Musa, who

ruled Mali from 1312 to 1337, was its greatest king. He made a pilgrimage to Makkah

(also spelled Mecca), the Muslim holy city.

D. The Songhai Empire rose in the late 1400s and became the largest in the history of

West Africa. Its ruler, Askìya Muhammad, encouraged trade with Europe and Asia

and introduced to his country a legal system, a system of government, and schools.

The empire fell in the late 1500s when the Moroccans attacked its trade centers.

Discussion Question

Why did great empires arise in Africa? (The resources of the land, the trade with North

Africa, and powerful rulers helped create these great empires.)

Chapter 2 section2

I. Seeking New Trade Routes (Pages 43–45)

A. The Portuguese were the leaders of early exploration. They hoped to find a new route to

China and India. They also helped to find a more direct way to get West African gold.

B. Prince Henry of Portugal (also called Henry the Navigator) set up a center for exploration

so that scientists could share their knowledge with shipbuilders and sailors.

C. Ships sailed south along the coast of West Africa (also called the Gold Coast) where

they traded for gold and ivory and began buying slaves in the mid-1400s.

D. In 1487 Bartholomeu Dias explored the southernmost part of Africa. This became

known as the Cape of Good Hope. The king of Portugal hoped the passage around the

tip of Africa would lead to a new route to India.

E. In 1497, Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope. He visited East

African cities and reached India in 1498.

Discussion Question

Why do you think the Portuguese began buying slaves from West Africa? (Answers will

vary but should include the fact that they traded goods for slaves so they could help make

Portugal wealthy.)

II. Columbus Crosses the Atlantic (Pages 45–49)

A. The Vikings reached North America and established settlements in Iceland and

Greenland in the 800s and 900s. Viking sailor, Leif Eriksson, explored land west of

Greenland known as Vinland about the year 1000. Historians think that Vinland was

North America. No one is sure what other parts of North America the Vikings explored.

B. Queen Isabella of Spain sponsored Columbus on his first voyage in August 1492. He

set out with three ships to find a route to Asia. On October 12, 1492, he spotted land,

named it San Salvador, and claimed it for Spain. He did not know that he had reached

the Americas. He was convinced that he had reached the East Indies.

C. Columbus made three additional voyages in 1493, 1498, and 1502. He explored the

Caribbean islands of Hispaniola, Cuba, and Jamaica and sailed along the coasts of

Central America and northern South America. He claimed these lands for Spain.

D. The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed by Spain and Portugal to clarify the line of

demarcation between their lands in the Americas. The treaty moved the line farther

west so that Portugal would not be at a disadvantage. Spain was to have control of all

the lands to the west of the line, and Portugal was to have control of all the lands to

the east of the line.

E. Amerigo Vespucci mapped South America’s coastline in 1499. He concluded South

America was a continent, but not part of Asia. European geographers called the

continent America, in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.

F. Vasco Núñez de Balboa claimed the Pacific and adjoining lands for Spain.

G. Ferdinand Magellan, sailing from Spain in 1519, found a passage to the Pacific, the

Strait of Magellan. Magellan sailed around South America and toward Spain.

Magellan was killed in an island battle along the way, but a small number of his crew

made it all the way to Spain. The crew became the first to circumnavigate the world.

CH. 2 sect 3

I. Spanish Conquistadors (Pages 51–53)

A. Conquistadors were explorers who settled in the Americas. They received land grants

from Spanish rulers in exchange for one-fifth of gold or treasure taken from the

Americas.

B. In 1521 Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán. He took their

emperor Montezuma prisoner and gained control of the region.

C. Francisco Pizarro captured the Inca ruler Atahualpa in 1532 and later gained control of

the Inca Empire.

D. The Spanish conquistadors conquered great Native American empires with their

strong armies using guns, cannons, and horses. The invaders also received the help of

the Native Americans in overthrowing many existing rulers. Because the Native

Americans had no immunity to European diseases, many of them became sick and

died.

Discussion Question

What personality traits do you think the conquistadors might have had? (Answers will

vary but should include traits such as goal-oriented, greedy, fearless, driven, strong-willed, and

so on.)

II. Spain in North America (Pages 53–55)

A. Spanish conquistadors also explored the southeastern and southwestern parts of

North America in hopes of finding riches.

B. Juan Ponce de León landed on the east coast of present-day Florida in 1513, looking

for gold and the “fountain of youth.” In 1565 the first Spanish settlement in the United

States, a fort, was established at St. Augustine, Florida.

C. Many conquistadors searched for wealth and the “Seven Cities of Cibola.” Some lost

their lives as they searched for these cities because of stormy weather, lack of supplies,

and illness.

D. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and Pánfelo de Narváez explored Florida and the coast

of Mexico.

E. In 1541 Hernando de Soto explored the southeastern region of North America. He

crossed the Mississippi River and traveled as far west as present-day Oklahoma.

F. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado traveled through northern Mexico and present-day

Arizona and New Mexico. In 1540 he reached a town belonging to the Zuni people,

but found no gold.

Discussion Question

What similarities do you see between these early conquistadors and the immigrants of

today who are settling in the United States? (Answers will vary but should include the ideas

of hopes of a good or new life in another place, learning to adapt to a new environment, and

being able to leave their homes for the unknown.)

III. Spanish Rule (Pages 54–56)

A. The Spanish established three kinds of settlements in the Americas.

1. Pueblos or towns were centers of trade.

2. Missions were religious communities.

3. Presidios were forts and usually built near a mission.

B. The hierarchy of the social classes from upper to lower included:

1. peninsulares who owned land, ran the local government, and served in the Catholic

Church.

2. creoles, or people born in the Americas to Spanish parents.

3. mestizos, or people with both Spanish and Native American parents.

4. Native Americans.

5. enslaved Africans.

C. The Spanish developed a system of encomiendas that created enslaved Native

Americans. A conquistador could demand taxes and labor from the Native Americans

living on the land. Many Native Americans died from malnutrition and disease

because of this grueling labor. Bartolomé de Las Casas, a priest, condemned this harsh

treatment and fought against it. As a result, Spain passed the New Laws in 1542 that

forbade enslaving Native Americans.

CH2 sect 4

I. A Divided Church (Pages 58–59)

A. Martin Luther brought about changes in Europe in the 1500s with his opposition to

Catholicism. His protests began the Protestant Reformation.

B. In France, John Calvin, a Christian theologist, broke away from the Catholic Church.

C. For personal reasons, King Henry VIII established England as a Protestant nation.

D. When Europeans settled in America, they brought with them their religious beliefs of

either Catholicism or Protestantism.

Discussion Question

Why do you think Martin Luther had so many followers? (Answers will vary but may

include the idea that many people felt repressed by the Catholic Church and were ready, in this

age of discovery, to join a Protestant revolution.)

II. Economic Rivalry (Pages 59–62)

A. The exploration of the Americas created rivalries between European countries to

acquire colonies there. These colonies provided resources and a market to sell

European products.

B. The Columbian Exchange was a two-way exchange between the Americas and

Europe, Asia, or Africa. The exchange included crops, livestock, and other goods for

enslaved Africans who worked on the plantations. Disease was a result of this

exchange since Native Americans did not have the immunity to fight off European

germs.

C. England, France, and the Netherlands searched for a more direct route to Asia to compete

with Spain and Portugal, who had claimed most of the Americas. This became

known as the Northwest Passage. Instead of traveling around South America, they

sailed along the northern coast to North America.

D. John Cabot probably landed on the coast of Newfoundland in 1497. England was

then able to establish claims in North America.

E. Giovanni de Varranzo sailed for France in 1524 and explored the coast of North

America from present-day Nova Scotia south to the Carolinas.

F. Jacques Cartier also sailed for France. He sailed up the St. Lawrence River and

founded Mont-Royal (Montreal).

G. Henry Hudson sailed for the Dutch. He discovered the Hudson River in 1609. He

sailed as far north as Albany. In 1610 he discovered Hudson Bay, thinking that he had

reached the Pacific Ocean. He and his crew were unsuccessful in finding an outlet.

H. In the 1600s France and the Netherlands set up trading posts in the Americas. They

were interested in economic opportunities, not building an empire.

I. Samuel de Champlain established a trading post for fur trading in Quebec and other

parts of Canada. The Dutch established trading posts along the Hudson River.

Discussion Question

Why was it important for Europeans to compete for territory in the Americas? (Answers

will vary but may include the idea that owning territory led to wealth, and wealth led to power.

Each European country did not want its neighbors to become more powerful.)