Lesson Plan Dawes to Burke to McGirt: Tribal Sovereignty, 1887–2020 Geography 9, 10, 11, 12 Click to download this three-lesson unit.
Essay Imperial Rivalries Peter C. Mancall World History K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ When Christopher Columbus made his plans to sail westward across the Atlantic, he first set off across Europe to find sponsors. His brother Bartholomew went to the court of the English King Henry VII (who turned him down, much to the...
Essay American Indians Elliott West Economics, World History 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ If history is the story of what people have done, then American history began thousands of years ago, and by far most of it is that of Indian peoples and their ancestors before Europeans arrived. Historians, however, disagree over...
Essay The Americas to 1620 Christopher L. Miller Geography, World History 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ At the end of the first millennium, most people in the Eastern Hemisphere had a firm sense of how the world was arranged, who occupied it, and how they had come to be where they were. Various sacred texts as well as long-standing folk...
Essay The Discovery of the Americas and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Ira Berlin In the middle of the fifteenth century, Europe, Africa, and the Americas came together, creating—among other things—a new economy. At the center of that economy was the plantation, an enterprise dedicated to the production of exotic...
Spotlight on: Primary Source The Doctrine of Discovery, 1493 Geography, Religion and Philosophy, World History 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ The Papal Bull "Inter Caetera," issued by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493, played a central role in the Spanish conquest of the New World. The document supported Spain’s strategy to ensure its exclusive right to the lands...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Columbus reports on his first voyage, 1493 Geography, World History 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from Spain to find an all-water route to Asia. On October 12, more than two months later, Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas that he called San Salvador; the natives called it Guanahani....
Spotlight on: Primary Source Spain authorizes Coronado's conquest in the Southwest, 1540 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ This letter, written on behalf of the king of Spain by Francisco Garcia de Loaysa, the president of the Council of the Indies, acknowledges Francisco Coronado’s report of the famous Niza expedition of the previous year and authorizes...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Landing of Columbus, 1492 Geography, World History 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ This engraving depicts Columbus’s first landing in the New World, on the island he called San Salvador, on October 12, 1492. Columbus is surrounded by his men on the beach. Discussing the landing in his journal, Columbus wrote that he...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Landing of Henrick Hudson, 1609 Geography 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ In 1609, Henry Hudson was chosen by the Dutch East India Company to search for a passage to Asia. In September of that year, Hudson landed on the shores of the river that would be named for him and claimed the lands along it for the...