Teaching Strategies

Post-reading Strategies

Siege of Medieval Caste

The End of the World: Questions for Discussion

How would you describe everyday life in Europe and/or Spain after reading the chapter? How does this image agree or contrast with the image you had of Columbus’s time before your reading?
Fifteen-century Spain had a heavy emphasis on military advancements. How does that emphasis compare with current priorities in the United States?

Getting Inside the Minds of the Colonizers: Cartooning

Draw a cartoon which presents in “imagination bubbles” the mindsets of the merchant and ruling classes of Europe which prepared them for a “conquest” over the people they were about to encounter across the Atlantic. Draw a contrasting cartoon which sho9ws the mind-sets of other groups of people who also sailed the Atlantic and Pacific, landed on the coasts of the Americas, and did not proceed to conquer its inhabitants.

The First to Land or the First to Conquer?: A Role-Play

(Refer to the requerimento information in the chapter and the section on European views of the natural world.)

Divide into three groups. The first group represents a part of the world with the following characteristics:

Government with a high degree of participation of the people
Equitable distribution o f land, goods, and benefits
Development of sophisticated navigation techniques
Widespread curiosity and interest in exploration
No expansionist warfare over neighboring populations

The second group represents another part of the world, which has:

An autocratic pattern of government, with power and goods in the hands of a few
Sophisticated navigation techniques and also highly advanced weapons
A long history of engagement in military battles for power and territory

The third group represents the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean.

The first two groups take turns “landing” in the Americas, pretending to be sailors from the vessels which have sailed long distances and are now meeting natives for the first time.

How do the sailors talk with the natives?
What are their goals?
What arrangements do they make, out of what worldviews and assumptions?
How are the two experiences different?

Charting Key Connections

Several “isms” are mentioned in this chapter as influential ideas and movements at the time of Columbus. On a large piece of paper write these terms, spacing them all over the page. In a discussion group draw lines which connect terms and discuss any connections you can make between those “isms.” Write notes on each “connecting” line which summarize your thoughts on how these terms are connected.

Inquisition	Nationalism	Rationalism	Catholicism	Humanism
Capitalism	Feudalism	Materialism	Judaism	Islam
Militarism

Inquisition Islam

Catholicism

Militarism

Impact of the “isms”

Sketch a map of Europe and one of the Western Hemisphere. Fill in the “isms’ listed above on the European map and draw lines to the Western Hemisphere showing transference of these notions beginning with the arrival of Columbus and the subsequent Spanish conquest. Again write notes on each “connecting” line which summarize your thoughts on how these ideas were key factors in the conquest of the indigenous people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Expansionism and Militarism

Study the maps below and discuss the questions presented here:

What group controlled the major portion of the Iberian Peninsula in the tenth century? How do you know?
By the end of the eleventh century what had happened to the political control of the Iberian Peninsula? From y our reading of this section, explain what had transpired in the politics of Spain.
Identify the political powers which controlled the peninsula at the time of Columbus’s first voyage. Describe the importance of the reconquest of Granada for Spain.

Explain why Portugal’s position was better suited for Atlantic conquest and why Columbus’s journey would be perceived by the world as one of conquest and colonization rather than exploration.