EXPLORATION

Explorers in U. S. History 1

Virginia’s standards include a very few explorers and they are included below, but I have added information on a few others that made significant impacts on your history. This page features resouces to understand who they explored for, what they hoped to achive, and explores how their explorations had a lingering impact.

Resources:

Christopher Columbus:

Special for my students: CLICK HERE to enjoy this 111 year old film about Christopher Columbus from the Library of Congress! This film presents many untrue myths about Columbus and is historically innacurate. Columbus never watched Vaspucci get credit for his discovery and in fact died without knowing what he discovered. Nevertheless the film is an interesting historic artifact on its own, both as a cinematicly advanced film for its time and for what people mistakenly beleived about Columbus when it was made. Then enjoy highlights from a much more modern film about Columbus: Here is a cartoon from 1960 that is based on the mistaken notion that Columbus sailed to prove the world was round. See what other mistakes you can find in this 50 year old cartoon! Here is the animated film we watched in class that is far more historically accurate: Watch the short Christopher Columbus biography from the Biography channel below: CLICK HERE for the Christopher Columbus BBC-Primary History site. Includes information, a quiz, and an interactive Columbus game. CLICK HERE to learn more about the Columbian Exchange There are so many myths about Christopher Columbus that have been repeated so many times that they are commonly accepted as fact. Most educated people of the time beleived the world was round and not flat. They just disagreed with how big it was. Many of these myths came from Washington Irving (yes, the Washington Irving that wrote Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle) who wrote a "biography" of Christopher Columbus that didn't let actual history and fact get in the way of telling some pretty wild stories, many of which were repeated by others as true. You can read the entire 1849 edition if you CLICK HERE

STANDARD USI.4a

The student will apply social science skills to understand European exploration in North America and West Africa by a) describing the motivations for, obstacles to, and accomplishments of the Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English explorations;

Essential Understandings

Major European countries were in competition to extend their power into North America and claim the land as their own. Essential Knowledge Motivations for the explorations ׏ Economic—find gold and natural resources; trade ׏ Religious—spread Christianity ׏ Competitions for empire and belief in superiority of own culture Obstacles to the explorations ׏ Poor maps and navigational tools ׏ Disease and starvation ׏ Fear of the unknown ׏ Lack of adequate supplies Accomplishments of the explorations ׏ Exchanged goods and ideas ׏ Improved navigational tools and ships ׏ Claimed territories Regions of North America explored by Spain, France, and England ׏ Spain: Francisco Coronado claimed the Southwest of the present-day United States for Spain. ׏ France: Samuel de Champlain established the French settlement of Québec. Robert La Salle claimed the Mississippi River Valley for France. ׏ England: John Cabot explored eastern Canada. Regions explored by Portugal ׏ The Portuguese made voyages of discovery along the coast of West Africa. STANDARD USI.4b The student will apply social science skills to understand European exploration in North America and West Africa by b) describing cultural and economic interactions between Europeans and American Indians that led to cooperation and conflict, with emphasis on the American Indian and European concept of land; Essential Understandings The interactions between American Indians and Europeans sometimes led to cooperation and other times resulted in conflict. Essential Knowledge Cultural interactions ● Spanish • Conquered and enslaved American Indians • Brought Christianity to the New World • Established missions • Introduced European diseases to American Indians ● French • Established trading posts • Spread Christian religion ● English • Established settlements on American Indian land and claimed ownership of land • Learned farming techniques from American Indians • Traded with American Indians ● American Indians • Taught farming techniques to European settlers • Believed that land was to be used and shared but not owned Areas of cooperation in economic interactions ● Europeans brought weapons and metal farm tools. ● Trade ● Crops Areas of conflict ● Land ● Competition for trade ● Differences in cultures ● Diseases ● Language differences STANDARD USI.4c The student will apply social science skills to understand European exploration in North America and West Africa by c) identifying the location and describing the characteristics of West African societies (Ghana, Mali, and Songhai) and their interactions with traders. Essential Understandings Ghana, Mali, and Songhai each dominated West Africa in sequence from 300 to 1600 A.D. (C.E.). African people and African goods were among the world resources that drew European interest. Essential Knowledge Ghana, Mali, and Songhai dominated West Africa in sequence from 300 to 1600 A.D. (C.E.). Ghana, Mali, and Songhai were located in the western region of Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, near the Niger River. Ghana, Mali, and Songhai became powerful by controlling trade in West Africa. The Portuguese carried goods from Europe to West African empires, trading metals, cloth, and other manufactured goods for gold.