Term | Definition |
Massasoit | leader of the Wampanoag,
lived in Montaup, a Pokanoket village |
Edward Winslow | Mayflower pilgrim,
one of leaders on the ship and also later at Plymouth Colony |
Josiah Winslow | Plymouth governor from 1673 to 1680 |
Metacomet/King Philip | the second son of the sachem Massasoit,
a chief of his people 1662-1676,
his head was placed on a stake atop the fort on Burial Hill in Plymouth for 20 yrs |
John Alderman | praying Indian,
shot and killed Metacomet in 1676 |
Benjamin Church | the captain of the first Ranger force in America |
Leif Ericson "Lucky Leif" | Viking sailor from Iceland,
visited America cca AD 1000,
named it "Vinland the Good" |
Amerigo Vespucci | Italian Sailor,
letters in 1490s that America was a new continent |
Christopher Columbus | Italian adventurer,
visited America in 1492 |
Ponce de León | Spanish conquistador,
1513 set off in search of the Fountain of Youth,
claimed Florida for Spain |
Hernán Cortés | Spanish Conquistador, wanted gold,
led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire (today Mexico) 1520s |
Francisco Pizzaro | Spanish conquistador, wanted gold,
led an expedition that conquered the Inca Empire,
captured and killed Incan emperor Atahualpa, 1530s |
conquistadores | conquerors like Cortés and Pizzaro |
Hernando de Soto | between 1539 and 1543 explored much of the south of US,
Florida, Mississippi River, Texas, Oklahoma |
Fransisco Coronado | between 1539 and 1543 explored much of the south of US,
Mexico, Grand Canyon, Colorado River, Kansas |
John Cabot | Italian seaman hired by Henry VII |
Giovanni Verrazano | Italian seaman hired by french king Francis I |
Jacques Cartier | French explorer,
discovered the St. Lawrence River in 1534,
gave France a claim to Canada |