The Vikings Arrive in America Click the mouse button to display the information. Evidence shows that the first Europeans to arrive in the Americas were the Norse, or Vikings, a people who came from Scandinavia.  Around A.D Leif Ericsson and 35 other Vikings explored the coast of Labrador and may have stayed the winter in Newfoundland.  Viking attempts to settle permanently in the Americas failed, mainly because Native Americans opposed them.

Who were the first Europeans to explore the Americas? The Vikings were the first Europeans to explore the Americas. The Vikings Arrive in America (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the answer.

Columbus’s Plan Click the mouse button to display the information. In the A.D. 100s, the scholar Claudius Ptolemy drew maps of a round world.  His maps used the basic system of lines of latitude and longitude that are still used today.  In the mid-1400s, Christopher Columbus, an Italian navigator, became interested in sailing across the Atlantic.

Ptolemy’s calculations made the earth seem much smaller than it actually was.  As a result, Christopher Columbus miscalculated the distance from Spain to India.  Columbus tried, but failed, to get financial backing from the rulers of England, Portugal, France, and Spain for an expedition.  In 1492 Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella finally agreed to finance Columbus’s expedition. Columbus’s Plan (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

Why did Columbus underestimate the distance from Spain to Japan? Columbus based his calculations on Ptolemy’s. Ptolemy drew maps of a round world projected onto a flat surface, complete with lines of longitude and latitude. But he underestimated the distance that each degree of longitude represented, making the world seem smaller than it really is. Click the mouse button to display the answer. Columbus’s Plan (cont.)

Columbus’s Explorations Click the mouse button to display the information. Columbus and his three ships left Spain in August  After a long, frightening trip across the Atlantic Ocean, they landed in the Bahamas, probably on what is today San Salvador Island.  He called the people he met Indians, because he thought he had reached the Indies.  Columbus also found the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola.

He built a small fort on Hispaniola called La Navidad.  In March 1493 he returned to Spain with gold, parrots, spices, and Native Americans.  Columbus impressed Ferdinand and Isabella and convinced them to finance another trip by promising them as much gold as they wanted. Columbus’s Explorations (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

In 1493 the Catholic Church’s Pope Alexander VI established a line of demarcation.  This imaginary north-to-south line running down the middle of the Atlantic granted Spain control of everything west of the line and Portugal everything east of the line. Click the mouse button to display the information. Columbus’s Explorations (cont.)

In 1494 Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas.  This gave Portugal the right to control the route around Africa to India.  Spain claimed most of the new lands of the Americas. Click the mouse button to display the information. Columbus’s Explorations (cont.)

Columbus made three more voyages in 1493, 1498, and  He explored the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola, Cuba, and Jamaica, and sailed along the coasts of Central America and northern South America.  He claimed many lands for Spain but did not find a trade route to Asia. Click the mouse button to display the information. Columbus’s Explorations (cont.)

What did Columbus discover on his voyages to the Americas? He landed in the Bahamas, probably on what is today San Salvador Island. Columbus found the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. He returned to Spain with gold, parrots, spices, and Native Americans. Click the mouse button to display the answer. Columbus’s Explorations (cont.)

Continuing Expeditions Click the mouse button to display the information. By the early 1500s, the Spanish had explored the Caribbean region and begun to explore the American mainland.  The Americas were named after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian who repeated Columbus’s voyages in 1499 and 1501 and discovered that this large landmass could not be part of Asia.

Juan Ponce de Leon, the Spanish governor of Puerto Rico, discovered Florida in  In 1513 Vasco de Balboa became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean. Continuing Expeditions (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

In 1520 Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese mariner working for Spain, discovered the strait at the southernmost tip of South America.  His crew became the first known people to circumnavigate, or sail around, the globe. Click the mouse button to display the information. Continuing Expeditions (cont.)

Who was the first person to see the Pacific Ocean, and who named it? Vasco de Balboa founded a colony on the Isthmus of Panama. He crossed the land and reached the opposite coast. Ferdinand Magellan discovered a strait at the tip of South America and sailed into the ocean. Its waters seemed so peaceful he named it pacific. Click the mouse button to display the answer. Continuing Expeditions (cont.)

The Columbian Exchange The Columbian Exchange was a series of interchanges that permanently changed the world’s ecosystems and changed nearly every culture around the world. Click the mouse button to display the information.

Native Americans taught the Europeans local farming methods and introduced them to new crops and foods, such as corn, tobacco, and the potato.  Europeans also adopted many devices invented by Native Americans, such as the canoe. The Columbian Exchange (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

The Europeans introduced the Native Americans to many crops, such as wheat, oats, and barley, and to domestic livestock.  The Europeans introduced the Native Americans to technologies, such as metalworking.  Europeans brought diseases that killed millions of Native Americans because they lacked immunity to the diseases. Click the mouse button to display the information. The Columbian Exchange (cont.)

What kinds of interchanges were part of the Columbian Exchange? Native Americans taught the Europeans local farming methods and introduced them to new crops and foods. Europeans also adopted many devices invented by Native Americans. The Europeans introduced the Native Americans to many crops and to domestic livestock. The Europeans introduced the Native Americans to technologies. Europeans brought diseases that killed millions of Native Americans because they lacked immunity to the diseases. Click the mouse button to display the answer. The Columbian Exchange (cont.)