1.3 The Discovery of America

• Geschiedenis
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

1.3 The discovery of America

Goals for this lesson

At the end of this lesson you know...

• What the Reconquista was in Spain.
• What Ferdinand and Isabella hoped to gain from supporting Columbus.
• When Columbus discovered America.
• How the contact was between the Spanish and the 'Indians'.
• Why the New World was named America.

[1.3] In what year did Columbus discover the New World (America)?

11600

[1.3] What did Columbus call the inhabitants of the New World?

[1.3] Below two statements:
I. Columbus knew he discovered new land.
II. Columbus named the New World America.

1. I & II are true
2. I & II are false
3. I= true; II= false
4. I= false; II= true

The Reconquista

• =Reconquest of Muslim Spain by the christian kingdoms.
• Castille and Aragon kicked out the last muslims in 1492.

1b. Drag the texts to the correct places in the map

Prince 

Ferdinand

Muslim Spain

Princess 

Isabella

Aragon & Castille

• Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille fell in love and married.
• Their lands were combined to form one mighty Spanish kingdom.

Columbus

• Italian.
• Hoped to find a western road to reach Asia.
• Was sponsored by the new Spanish kingdom.
• Was given three ships
• Santa Maria, Pinto and Nina.

New land

• 1492: Discovery new land.
• Planted a Spanish flag in the Bahamas.
• He thought he found a new sea route to Asia. 

Describe how you think the first contact between the Europeans and Native Americans went?

First contact with local inhabitants 

Soon after Columbus set foot on land, the local inhabitants of the island came up to him and his men. He believed that he had arrived in the Indies, so he called them Indians. In his journal he wrote: (see source B)

Columbus gave the inhabitants glass beads and other objects of little value to him, but this seemed to make the Indians even more friendly towards him. He wrote: (see source C)

The Indians brought parrots, cotton threads, darts and many other things as gifts for Columbus and his crew. He received them and they explained to him that gold could be found on a bigger island, not far from their own.

Source B

"They appear to be people who are very poor in everything. They are as naked as the moment they were born. They have handsome bodies, and their skin colour is neither white nor black.Their long hair is coarse, almost like that of a horse's tail. Some of them painted their bodies in white, black or red colours."

Source C

"I think that they could be good servants, and they could easily become good Christians for they do not seem to have a religion themselves."

Christopher Columbus setting foot in the New World

First contact

• Columbus thought he was in India -> called the people Indians.
• Columbus received gifts from the locals.

New world

• Many Spanish ships came after Columbus.
• A few years after C. Amerigo Vespucci discovered that C. found new land. In 1507 it was first called America. 

5. The Time of Discoverers and Reformers

Lesson 2. Discovery and Conquest (1)

What is this lesson about?

The Spanish King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella united their two kingdoms and defeated the Moors in the south of Spain. After this, they looked for possibilities to expand their power and Catholic religion to other lands. Christopher Columbus convinced them to lend him ships to sail west. By doing this he discovered a new continent that would eventually be called America.

Word Duty

KEY WORDS

Reconquista: the name for the war in which Christians reconquered 

Spain on the Moors 

Indians: the name Columbus gave to the natives of America 

New World: nickname of America given by Europeans who hoped 

to start a new life there

Why did Ferdinand and Isabella not support
Columbus before 1492?

Why would the king of Portugal not have been very pleased with Columbus' plans?

Why would the Spanish king Ferdinand react differently to the proposals of Columbus?

Columbus' crew was made up of criminals who had to choose between sailing to the other side of the world or to rot in jail.

Why would it have been hard for Columbus to get a
normal crew for his voyage?

On a long voyage, food would gradually run out.
At some point Columbus reached a "point of no return".
Can you think of what that meant?

Why did Columbus call the local inhabitants "Indians"?

Why was the New World eventually called "America"?

Do you know what country was named after Columbus later?

In this world map, made in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller, the name America was first used.

Look at the map by Waldseemüller.
Which continent is still missing in this map?

Which one is the odd one out?

1. the Americas
2. West-Indies
3. East-Indies
4. New World

In the United States, 

the second Monday in October  is

Columbus Day.

Use the pictures in the previous slide to describe the controversy of the celebration of Columbus Day.

Here you can ask a question about something from this lesson that you don't fully understand.

https: