| A | B |
|---|
| Christopher Columbus | Is often given credit for "discovering" North America for the Europeans. |
| Vasco Nunez be Balboa | Spanish Colonist explored the Caribbean coast of what is now Panama |
| Ferdinand Magellan | Portuguese explorer who set out to find an Atlantic -Pacific Passage. |
| Strait | narrow passage that connects two bodies of water |
| Circumnavigate | to travel around |
| Conquistadors | Spain's Soldier-Adventurers |
| Hernando Cortes | Famous Conquistador who conquered the Aztecs |
| Moctezuma | Aztec Ruler |
| Plantation | large farms worked by laborers who live on the property |
| encomienda | Land Grants that included the right to demand labor or taxes from Native Americans |
| Bartolome de Las Casas | Priest that traveled through New Spain |
| mission | religious settlements |
| peninsular | Spanish Colonists who had been born in Spain |
| mercantilism | held that colonies existed to make the home country wealthy and powerful |
| John Cabot | Italian Explorer looking for Northwest Passage |
| Northwest Passage | Sea Route from the Atlantic to the Pacific that passed through or around North America |
| Henry Hudson | English Explorer who searched for the Northwest Passage |
| Samuel de Champlain | Made 11 voyages to explore and map the lands along the St. Lawrence River |
| coureur de bois | French term for "runners in the woods" |
| Jacques Marquette | French Missionary |
| alliance | Agreement between parties that benefits them both |
