Study Guide for European Exploration and Colonization
Test on Friday, October 10
I. Kingdom of the Kongo
A. Almost always had a male rule (king)
B. Queen Nzinga took over from her brother and was able to stop
Portugal from completely taking over the kingdom and enslaving
all of the kingdom’s people.
II. Taino Kingdom
A. The Taino people lived in the Caribbean Islands
B. The environment and nature were very important to the Taino
C. Spanish colonization and enslaving of the Taino people almost
completely wiped out the Taino people in about 60 years
III. Portugal
A. Dias was the first to sail around the tip of Africa.
B. Many of daGama’s crew died of scurvy.
C. Cabral explored for Portugal, and accidentally landed in Brazil.
IV. Spain
A. Columbus explored for Spain.
B. Las Casas spoke out against Indian slavery.
C. Magellan: named the Pacific Ocean, and his crew was the first to
circumnavigate the globe.
V. England
A. Cabot explored a “new found land” for England and found great cod
fishing.
B. Sir Francis Drake made his name as a pirate and brought
many goods back to England.
VI. France
A. Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River and tried to set up colonies.
B. Rene-Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle sailed down the
Mississippi River.
VII. Netherlands
A. Jan van Linschoten looked for a northeastern route to the Spice
Islands, but there was not one.
B. Hartog landed in Australia, but Abel Tasman sailed
around it proving that it was an island.
C. Hudson sailed on the Hudson River and Hudson Bay.
VIII. North America and South America are named after Amerigo Vespucci.
IX. Vocabulary
A. monopoly: complete control
B. archipelago: a chain of islands
C. strategy: a clever plan
D. negotiations: talks between two or more countries or people about
how to handle a situation
E. circumnavigate: go completely around something (example: the world)
F. scurvy: a disease caused by not getting enough (lack of) vitamin C