Intro to Christopher Columbus

Notes

Use with pages 70 to 79.

  • Some people thought the world was ______but because Columbus could ______he knew that wasn’t true.
  • Lines of ______on a map run north and south. Lines of ______on a map run east and west.
  • ______at sea hardly ever knew where they were because they could not calculate latitude and longitude.
  • The maps that most people used in the 1400’s when Columbus was alive were created prior to 168 C.E. by a man named ______. The maps were ______but people did not know that.
  • The ______were world leaders in exploration and navigation at the time. Columbus asked them for help financing his voyage but they said _____. Finally ______and ______of the country ______finally agreed to help Columbus. They gave him ___ ships and a few ______. The names of the ships were the ______, the ______and the ______and they sailed in the year ______.
  • On his first trip, Columbus and his crew were looking for ______and ______.
  • During his first trip Columbus encounters three main problems: 1) they sail into the ______Sea which they are afraid they will get stuck in, 2) they get stuck in a ______which causes huge waves and 3) the ______do not want to go any further.
  • On October 12, 1492 the sailors spot ______. They are in the ______. Columbus names it ______and places a ______flag on the land.
  • Columbus calls the people on the island ______. When he first met them it was a friendly exchange. The people he really met were the ______. At first the Taino ______Columbus by taking him to what is now Cuba to look for ______.
  • Columbus ______some of the Taino and takes them to Europe as trophies of his voyage, others he turns into ______, others die from European ______or diseases.
  • When Columbus returns to Spain he brings brightly colored ______, ______and ______trinkets.

Read the excerpt of the letter from Columbus on page 79. We will talk about it together. Answer as many of the following questions that you can.

1. Is this letter a primary or secondary source? ______

2. Is the rest of the chapter a primary or secondary source? ______

3. Do you think this letter has bias (point of view)? ______Why?______

4. Tell at least two things you learned from this letter that was not explained in the rest of the text we read. ______

5. After reading this letter did you think about Columbus any differently? Why? ______