US History

U.S. History Study Guide

Chapter 2: Age of Exploration 1492-1600s 2.1 Age of Exploration 1492-1600s This chapter will cover the explorers who discovered the Americas, specifically the ones who discovered areas in the modern day United States. It will start with Columbus who did not find land in the modern day United States, but started the Age of Exploration. Many explorers followed Columbus after his discovery. This chapter will go over the countries involved in exploring lands specifically in the regions of the modern United States as well as the explorers themselves. The chapter will also include a summary of important events domestically and internationally as well as the culture, economics, immigrations, and innovations of the time. 2.2 The Age of Exploration The Age of Exploration, or Age of Discovery, began in the late 1400s and lasted until about the 1600s. When the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople in 1453, it blocked European access to very important trading posts. The Europeans desperately looked for a way to bypass traditional trade routes and decided to try the great unknown, sailing into the Atlantic Ocean. This route would be known as the Northwest Passage and many early explorers looked for a route that would lead them to Asia to preserve the very wealthy silk and spice trades. The Northwest Passage did not exist, instead these explorers discovered vast lands, previously unknown to Europeans. In 1492 Columbus would hit the NewWorld and would launch an explosion of interest, causing new explorers to attempt to find uncharted land. These Europeans began exploring the world by sea in search of trading partners, new goods, and new trade routes. Many nations were looking for goods, such as silver and gold, but very little was found in the modern borders of the United States. Instead, Europeans would find their heir fortunes in other ways in these areas. 2.3 Columbus Five hundred years after the Vikings, Europeans returned to the Americas. Christopher Columbus had the idea of travelling West to get to the East, believing like most educated people of the time, that the world was round. Columbus believed that the world was significantly smaller than actuality, and did not realize that there were two tremendous land masses on his routes. After struggling to get his charter, Columbus finally was able to convince King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to finance his voyage. Columbus set sail in September of 1492. On Oct. 12, 1492, Columbus landed. Thinking he had arrived in the East Indies, Columbus named the Natives Americans he met Indians. Columbus would make three more trips and discover countries in modern day South America; although he was still convinced he discovered the route to Asia. North and South America would receive its name from Amerigo Vespucci who, on the Portuguese expedition, was the first person on record to report this as a New World, unlike Columbus, who still believed he founded a part of Asia. Out of respect to Vespucci, the map makers named this new area America.

©2018

Achieve

Page 19

of 194