| A | B |
|---|
| Leif Ericson | A great Viking explorer who sailed west across the Atlantic from Greenland to what is now Newfoundland in 1,000 A.D. |
| Vikings | A bold and brave sailing people who came from what is now Norway, Denmark and Sweden. They settled in Iceland, Greenland and even Newfoundland (which they called Vinland). |
| Newfoundland | An island off the Atlantic coast of what is now Canada. Vikings landed here in 1,000 A.D. and named it Vinland. |
| Vinland | What the Vikings named Newfoundland when they settled there in 1,000 A.D. |
| Christopher Columbus | The European explorer who discovered America in 1492. |
| Ferdinand and Isabella | The King and Queen of Spain who supported Columbus's expedition to the Americas. |
| Spain | A country in Europe that was explored and claimed parts of the Americas. |
| Portugal | A country in Europe that claimed what is now Brazil, but was not as interested in exploring the Americas as was Spain. |
| Bartholomeu Dias | A Portuguese sea captain who sailed around the tip of Africa and paved the way for a new trade route to the Indies. |
| Spice Islands | Part of what is now Indonesia. In the late 1400's, every important country in Europe wanted to find an all-water route to the Spice Islands, India and China because these areas had jewels, ivory, silks and valuable spices. |
| Pedro Cabral | A Portuguese sailer who landed on the coast of Brazil while trying to sail around Africa, and claimed the land for Portugal. |
| Amerigo Vespucci | An explorer who landed on the coast of what is now Brazil, while sailing to Portugal. |
| Ponce de Leon | In 1513 he discovered Florida while searching for the fountain of youth, and claimed it for Spain. |
| Vasco do Balboa | In 1513, he crossed the Isthmus of Panama while searching for a water passageway, and discovered the Pacific Ocean. |
| Ferdinand Magellan | Sailed west from Spain in 1519. Though he was killed along the way, part of his crew sailed completely around the world and arrived back in Spain in 1522. |
| Hernando Cortes | Conquered the Aztec empire for Spain. |
| Francisco Pizarro | Conquered the Inca empire for Spain. |
| Hernando de Soto | In 1539 he discovered the Mississippi River while searching for gold. |
| Francisco Coronado | Another Spanish explorer who explored what is now the southwest part of the US, including the Grand Canyon, and claimed it for Spain in 1540. |
| Spanish Armada | This was defeated by England in 1588, and brought about the decline of Spain as a world power. |
| 1588 | The defeat of the Spanish Armada. |
| 1492 | The year Christopher Columbus discovered America. |
| Giovanni Verrazano | The first French explorer to America, who explored the northeast coast of what is now the US in 1524. |
| Jacques Cartier | In 1534 he sailed up the St. Lawrence River and claimed it for France. |
| Samuel de Champlain | For 30 years he explored what is now the New England coast and northeastern Canada , and founded the city of Quebec. |
| Jacques Marquette | A French missionary who followed the Mississippi River from Lake Michigan to the mouth of the Arkansas River. |
| Louis Joliet | A French fur trader who accompanied Jacques Marquette down the Mississippi River in 1673. |
| Robert de La Salle | A Frenchman who was the first European to travel the whole length of the Mississippi, claiming the land for France and naming it Louisiana. |
| Henry Hudson | An Englishman who explored much of the eastern coast of North America, and sailed up the Hudson River, claiming it for the Dutch. |
| Sir Francis Drake | Was the first person from England to sail around the world (1577 - 1580), and claimed land along the coast of California for England. |
| John Cabot | An Italian who was sent by England to try to find a route to the Indies by sailing westward, and became the first European since Leif Ericson to set foot on North America. |
| Sir Walter Raleigh | An Englishman who started a colony in North America in 1585, which failed. |
| Roanoke | Raleigh's second colony, which began in 1587. |
| Virginia Dare | First English baby born in the Americas. |
| London Company | A group of people who founded Jamestown, Virginia and shared the costs and profits of the new colony. |
| indentured servant | People who agreed to work for someone without pay in exchange for free passage to America. |
| Captain Newport | A leader of the Jamestown, Virginia colony. |
| John Smith | A leader of the Jamestown, Virginia colony, who was later injured and returned home. |
| tobacco | An important crop to the Jamestown, Virginia colony. |
| House of Burgesses | What the people of Jamestown called the meetings of the government representatives they had chosen. |
| Mayflower | A small ship that brought the first Pilgrims to America in 1620. |
| Mayflower Compact | The agreement that the Pilgrims made with each other to make laws for the good of the colony, and to obey them. |
| Squanto | A Native American who helped the Pilgrims by teaching them how to fish and grow corn. |
| Massasoit | The chief of the Wampanoags. |
| Wampanoags | The Pilgrims made an agreement with this tribe of Native Americans to live in peace together, and to help each other. |
