Christopher Columbus was a Genoese navigator who moved to Portugal to make his way as a seafarer in the Atlantic. For years, he peddled his idea for a westward expedition to Asia (possibly buoyed by a winter spent in Iceland, where he may have studied the Viking sagas) to multiple monarchs and princes before the fall of Granada finally allowed Ferdinand and Isabella to sponsor his plan. Columbus discovered (and initiated the colonization of) many Caribbean islands, laid eyes on the American mainland, and mapped critical coastlines. European contact with the Taino led quickly to conflict—and the enslavement of part of the native population. In the end, though Columbus was humiliated for a time and demoted, his voyages ushered in a new era in world history by permanently introducing the Americas to Afro-Eurasia.

Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) – Painting by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519

Structure Terms

Try to match each of the following terms from the text to its proper definition below. Next, try to connect each term to at least one other term. Thus, your first task is to define, and your second task is to connect. When you are finished, you should have a mastery-term-based “structure” that includes all of the items on the following list.

For help getting started, listen to the professor introduce the technique below.

2.3 Terms

Leif Erikson
Hispaniola
the Taino
Spanish Indies
Christopher Columbus
San Salvador

Definitions

Norse explorer from Iceland who founded a colony in Vinland around 1000 AD—almost certainly located in mainland North America
a colony of Spain that covered much of the Caribbean from the late 15th to late 19th centuries
first land in the Americas discovered by Columbus—a small island in the Bahamas
Genoese sailor and navigator who, sailing for Spain, discovered the Americas for Europe (though he died still assuming he’d reached Asia)
an Arawak people who once inhabited the Bahamas and Greater Antilles, and the first people with whom Columbus came into contact in the Americas
site of Spain’s first American colony—Navidad; later divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic

Leif Erikson Discovers America – painting by Hans Dahl

2.3 Flashcards

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2.3 Summary & Structure Terms

Session 2.3 – Christopher Columbus

2.3 Terms

Definitions

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