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Early Explorers
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Christopher Columbus | First European to cross the Atlantic Ocean and return home. He believed he landed in the West Indies, but he had really landed in the Bahamas/San Salvador. He claimed land for the Spanish in the Bahamas and Central & South America. |
| Juan Ponce de Leon | He searched for the Fountain of Youth but did not find it. He did, however, claim Florida for Spain. |
| Vasco Nunez de Balboa | Spanish explorer who crossed the Isthmus of Panama to become the first European to "discover" the Pacific Ocean. |
| Amerigo Vespucci | A Spanish explorer who set out to find out exactly what Columbus discovered. He realized that Columbus had actually landed in a whole "new world." America is named after him. |
| Hernando de Soto | A Spanish explorer who was sent to claim land in North America for Spain. He explored much of the Southeast and became the first European to cross the Mississippi River. |
| John Cabot | Italian explorer who was sent by England to find a route to the Indies. He claimed land from Newfoundland (Canada) to New Jersey for England. On his second voyage, he disappeared and was never heard from again. |
| Jacques Cartier | French explorer who traveled down the St. Lawrence River while searching for a Northwest Passage. He claimed land in Canada for France. |
| Henry Hudson | Sent by the Dutch and English to search for a Northwest Passage. Claimed land in present-day New York and explored the Hudson River and Hudson Bay. On his final voyage, his crew mutinied and set him adrift in a rowboat in Hudson Bay. |
| Columbian Exchange | The exchange of goods and ideas between Europeans and Native Americans that began with Columbus' first voyage. |
| isthmus | A narrow strip of land connecting two larger bodies of land (ex: Panama is an isthmus connecting North and South America.) |
| peninsula | A piece of land surrounded on three sides by water (ex: Florida is a peninsula.) |
| St. Lawrence River | The river that connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the border between the United States and Canada in many places. Explored by Jacques Cartier. |
| Leif Erikson | A Viking who established settlements in Greenland, Iceland, and Newfoundland (Canada) around 1000 A.D. |
| Marco Polo | An Italian merchant who explored large parts of China and India. He wrote a book about his travels that inspired many others to become explorers. |
| Northwest Passage | A water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific ocean through North America (it doesn't exist)! |
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leonardkids4
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