Updated: January 29, 2011

Chapter 1, titled When Worlds Collide, 1492-1590 discusses conditions in Europe at the Age of Exploration. The authors discuss "European colonialism" - you should know the definition of the word colonialism.

1. What prompted or motivated each country to go out exploring? You should know the geographical areas the Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch, and English explored. What natural resources did they find there?

2. Identify the "Columbian Exchange."

3. How did Cortes manage to conquer a vast militaristic Aztec Empire?

4. How did the establishment of a French empire in the New World differ from the Spanish?

5. Explain the Protestant Reformation. How did it initially hinder and then help English exploration?

6. Why is Ireland considered a 'dress rehearsal' for the English in the New World?

IDENTIFY: Prince Henry the Navigator, Martin Luther, Las Casas, King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, Treaty of Tordesillas, Spanish Armada