| A | B |
|---|
| magnetic compass | with a needle that always pointed north, it helped ship captains sail a straight course. |
| astrolabe | an instrument that made it possible for sailors to determine the position of the stars and figure out latitude at sea. |
| Renaissance | a period in European history characterized by a rebirth in learning; this period saw new developments in art, astronomy, medicine, and chemistry. |
| Johannes Gutenberg | Invented the printing press during the mid-1400s. |
| Prince Henry the Navigator | He encouraged ship captains to search for a route around the tip of Africa to the Indies; opened a school for navigators to train sailors in the newest technologies. |
| caravel | a type of ship with triangular sails and a steering rudder, which enabled ship captains to sail against the wind. |
| nationalism | devotion to the interests of one's own nation; the belief that the culture and interests of one's own nation are superior to another nation's. |
| Age of Exploration | the period in history, generally from the mid 1400s to the mid 1600s, when European nation-states financed programs of sustained exploration, driven by profit, power, and the search for the unknown. |
| encounter | a meeting, especially one that is unexpected. |
| Tainos | a group of people native to the Caribbean Islands, especially Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, who Columbus first met when he landed in Haiti. |
| Tribute System | Spanish labor system that forced natives over 14 to bring a certain amount of gold and natives under 14 to bring 25 lbs. of cotton to the Spanish every three months. |
| Encomienda System | Spanish labor system that alloted a plot of land and the natives who lived on that land to Spanish owners. |
| conquistadors | means conqueror. Refers to the Spanish explorers who explored the Americas and, in the process, conquered the native inhabitants. |
| Bartolome de las Casas | Spanish priest who wrote the History of the Indies to convince the King and Queen of Spain to end native slavery in the Americas. |
| Bartholomeu Dias | Portuguese explorer who sailed to the southern tip of Africa in 1488. |
| Vasco da Gama | Portuguese explorer who circumnavigated [sailed around] the southern tip of Africa to India in 1498. |
