chapter 2. europe in the new world, 982-1664 5th grade september,2012
TRANSCRIPT
• The first people from Europe reached North America around the year 1000.
• They wanted to own new land across the sea, use the natural resources of North and South America to increase their own wealth.
The Norse Sailors
• The Norse, or Northern, lived in northern Europe in what is now Norway and Sweden. Some people called them Vikings.
Explorers • Some Norse settled in Iceland. Eric the Red
and his son, Leif, were Norse. They were both explorers.
• Explorer: a person travels where no one has ever been before.
A New Route to the East?
• By the 1400s, people in Europe were interested on exploring again. Europeans wanted gold, silk, and spices from Asia.
• Traders who brought these products to Europe from Asia became rich.
• The journey to Asia was dangerous, they had to cross mountains and deserts.
Columbus and the Great Adventure
• An Italian sailor named ChristopherColumnus wanted to sail west to reach Asia, he wanted to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
• He spent many years trying to raise money for sailors, ships, and supplies. Finally, Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to pay for his trip.
• In August 1492, Columbus left Spain with three ships.
• Columbus sailed on the Atlantic Ocean for more than two months.
• On October 12, 1492, they reached the Bahama Islands. Columbus made three more trips.
Spanish Explorers in the Americas
• In 1519, the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortés sailed to what is now Mexico. Cortés and his men were searching for gold. They found the rich empire of a group of American Indians called the Aztecs.
• Empire: is a group of lands under one ruler.
• The ruler of the Aztec empire was Montezuma.
• At first the Aztecs did not try to fight Cortés. They believed that a great god would come to their land, Montezuma thought Cortés might be that god.
• Cortés put him in prison, and claimed the Aztec land for Spain.
Other Europeans in the Americas
• In 1497, England sent an Italian sailor named John Cabot across the Atlantic Ocean. He found rich fishing ground near Canada.
• In 1535, the French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed up the river of St. Lawrence. He started a new community in Canada.
• Explorer found gold and silver in New Spain. They sent the treasure back to Spain by ship, but sometimes pirates attacked the ships. The spanish built a fort, in St. Augustine, Florida.
• St. Augustine was the first European settlement in what is now the United States.
• Settlement: is a new place to live.