Christopher Columbus
Lesson Plans | Primary
Sources |
Lesson Plans:
Columbus'
Voyage - Through the Internet, students can observe the events
of 1492 from this dual vantage-point, exploring the two worlds that
made contact when Columbus stepped ashore
A
Different Perspective - Links to online lesson plans to teaching
about Columbus across the grades.
Primary Source Documents:
Letter
to Isabella and Ferdinand - circa 1494, Columbus lists his recommendations
about how Spain should proceed, including his suggestion that the
area he encountered be systematically colonized. The letter is fairly
brief; especially pertinent are points 1, 4, 5 and 9. What does Columbus
emphasize about what he saw and what should happen next?
Columbus'
Journal - This document is the from the journal of Columbus in
his voyage of 1492. The meaning of this voyage is highly contested.
On the one hand, it is witness to the tremendous vitality and verve
of late medieval and early modern Europe - which was on the verge
of acquiring a world hegemony. On the other hand, the direct result
of this and later voyages was the virtual extermination, by ill-treatment
and disease, of the vast majority of the Native inhabitants, and the
enormous growth of the transatlantic slave trade. It might not be
fair to lay the blame at Columbus' feet, but since all sides treat
him as a symbol, such questions cannot be avoided.
The
Columbus Letter - Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered in
what Columbus thought was the Indian Sea. Columbus's letter announcing
the success of his voyage to the "islands of the India sea"
is one of the most remarkable documents ever published. It is a key
document in the social and intellectual histories of both Europe and
the Americas.
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=Elem/Middle School K-8
