A History of the United States: Chapter 2: Exploring the Americas

In 1095 the Europeans launched the first of nine expeditions, known as the Crusades. Their purpose was to take back control of Christian holy sites in the Middle East from the Muslims—followers of Islam.

Newly powerful bankers and merchants in Pisa, Venice, and Genoa studied classical works—those of ancient Greece and Rome.

This period of intellectual and artistic creativity is known as the Renaissance. The word renaissance means "rebirth" in French. It refers to the rebirth of interest in classical Greek and Roman ideas.

Advances in technology—the use of scientific knowledge for practical purposes—helped to make European voyages of exploration possible.

People also improved instruments for navigating the seas. Sailors could find their latitude with an astrolabe, which measured the positions of stars.

In the 1200s, Europeans acquired the magnetic compass from China. The compass allowed sailors to accurately determine their direction.

In the 1200s, Europeans acquired the magnetic compass from China. The compass allowed sailors to accurately determine their direction.

He returned from this religious journey, or pilgrimage, with an Arab architect.

The architect built great mosques, Muslim houses of worship, in Timbuktu, Mali's capital.

On the way, he had passed a landform called a cape, a piece of land that juts into the water.

For most of the 1400s, Spanish monarchs devoted, or committed, their energy to driving the Muslims out of Spain.

After a few weeks at sea, the sailors grew nervous about the distance they had traveled. Columbus refused to alter his course.

Magellan’s crew were the first people known to circumnavigate, or sail around, the world.

These explorers, known as conquistadors, got encouragement from Spanish rulers. The rulers gave conquistadors the right to explore and create settlements in the Americas.

For many native groups, contact with the Europeans was deadly.

With no immunity, or resistance, to European diseases, the Aztec and the Inca suffered terrible epidemics.

Pueblos, or towns, were centers of trade.

Missions were religious communities.

A presidio was a type of fort, and was usually built near a mission.

In 1598 Oñate founded, or established, the province of New Mexico.

The Spanish developed the plantation system to raise these crops. A plantation is a large farm.

The Reformation led to widespread conflict within and between the nations of Europe.

In May 1588, Philip sent an armada, or war fleet, of 132 ships to England.

These tenant farmers paid rent and worked for their lord for a set period each year.

Because the French colony grew slowly, it did not seem to pose a threat to the Native Americans and their lands.