He mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492 while searching for a faster route to Asia.

wandering, moving about from place to place; typically in search of food

made of earth, by various Indian tribes, in various shapes and sizes and used for reasons including burial grounds.

A brick or building material made of sun-dried earth and straw

wooden post carved with animals or other images; often made by Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest to honor ancestors or special events

Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, are inhabited by a spirit

Also known as "Norsemen," these seafaring warriors and explorers from Northern Europe planted colonies in Iceland, Greenland, and North America

This Viking was the first person to reach North America, 500 years before Columbus

A mapmaker and explorer who said that America was a "New World" and not part of Asia, so America was named after him.

A Spanish conqueror of the Americas

Spanish Explorer who discovered and named Florida while searching for the "Fountain of Youth"

Spanish Conquistador; explored in 1540's from Florida west to the Mississippi with six hundred men in search of gold; discovered the Mississippi, a vital North American river.

Colony in Florida set up by Spain; First permanent European city in the New World

In search of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola, he led an expedition into the present southwestern United States; discovered Grand Canyon and introduced Plains Indians to horses

Italian explorer who claimed the mainland of North America for England

State sponsored pirates authorized by the English government to steal from and destroy Spanish ships, harbors, and settlements

Most famous Sea Dog. Traveled around the world (2nd man to do so after Magellan) coming back to England with Spanish riches, was knighted by Elizabeth I.

the first woman to successfully hold the English throne; supported Sea Dogs; Defeated the Spanish Armada; Established Protestantism in England

French explorer who explored the St. Lawrence river and laid claim to the region for France

Frenchman who followed the Mississippi River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, claiming the region for France and naming it Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV

French explorer of the St. Lawrence River who established a settlement on the site of modern Quebec

French Protestants who fled persecution by French Catholics and often settled in English territories that were more open to their faith

Selected Roanoke Island as a site for the first English settlement; Returned to England to secure additional supplies, but he found the colony deserted upon his return; it is not known what became of the Roanoke settlers

The first permanent English settlement in North America, found in East Virginia; Named in honor of King James

A group of Woodland Indians, inhabited the part of Virginia where the English decided to settle.

Helped found and govern Jamestown. His leadership and strict discipline helped the Virginia colony get through the difficult first winter.

The winter of 1609 to 1610 was known as the "starving time" to the colonists of Virginia. Only sixty members of the original four-hundred colonists survived.

Colonists who received free passage to North America in exchange for working without pay for a certain number of years; the first Africans to come to America came as indentured servants and some paid their debts and earned their freedom in the New World- this stopped when racial, lifelong slavery was legalized in America

the first legislative body in colonial America. Later other colonies would adopt houses of burgesses.