Concepts in Exploration and Discovery

acculturation

cartography

colonialism

environmental perception

imperialism

mercantilism

navigation

resource extraction

settlement

site-situation

space-time

sovereignty

surveying

terra incognita

Study Questions on Exploration And Discovery

Compare the settlement and colonization policies of the English, French, Spanish and Russians.

What developments in technology aided 14th through 19th century exploration?

Compare the roles of myth and science in exploring the new world.

List examples of the importance of the role of environmental perception in exploration and discovery.

What imprints of Spanish culture remain in the American southwest? What Spanish landscape imprints do not? Why have some remained and not the others?

Speculate on what might have happened if North America was first settled from the west by the Chinese or Japanese.

What roles did climate play in the age of exploration?

How did the initial settlement of North America fit into the big (global)picture in the 16th and 17th centuries?

What were a few geographic myths or misunderstandings about North America that were reflected on maps by early cartographers? How were the errors later corrected?