Chapter 2. Europe in the New World, 982-

1664

5th GradeSeptember,2012

• 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.

• Timeline: is a diagram that shows a period of time.

• Centuries: is a period of 100 years.

New Spain • In 1493, Spanish people began settling in the

Americas, or what they called New Spain.

• 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.

New France

• The French wanted two things in the Americas: 1. They wanted to trap animals for their fur2. They wantes to find a route to the Pacific Ocean