| A | B |
|---|
| Colony | an area settled in and claimed for another country |
| gold | a prescious metal many explorers were searching for |
| trade | becoming wealthy by bartering food, furs, and European goods between Native Americans and Europeans |
| Cathay | the former European name for China |
| Northwest Passage | a nonexistant water route through North America that many explorers hoped would be a shortcut to Asia |
| Christianity | the religion that many Spanish explorers hoped to convert the Native Americans to |
| Caravels | ships used by many explorers which had three masts and a lateen |
| Marco Polo | the famous Italian land explorer whose description of China and the Indies Islands inspired exploration |
| Prince Henry the Navigator | the nickname for the Portuguese leader who set up the first European school for training sailors in navigation and had hopes of being the first person to discover a water route to Asia |
| Christopher Columbus | the explorer who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean seeking a western route to Asia |
| Vasco Nunez de Balboa | the explorer who crossed the Isthmus of Panama and became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean |
| Juan Ponce de Leon | the explorer who discovered what is now Florida while searching for the legendary Fountain of Youth |
| Jacques Cartier | the explorer who sailed up the St. Lawrence River searching for a Northwest Passage to Asia and who began the fur trade with the Huron Indians |
| Henry Hudson | the explorer who claimed the land along the Hudson River for the Netherlands |
