THE AGE OF EXPLORATION
THE COMING OF THE EUROPEANS
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson students should be able to:
1. Define an explorer giving at least two examples
2. Write a brief autobiography of Christopher Columbus
3. Describe the relationship between Columbus and the “House
of Castile”
4. Explain the relationship between Spain and Portugal.
5. Name the three ships that were a part of Columbus’ first
voyage.
6. Identify at least two islands discovered by Columbus on each
of his three voyages.
7. Assess the outcome of Columbus’ discoveries on the
indegenous population and Spain.
LETS ASK OURSELVES A FEW
QUESTIONS SO WE CAN
BETTER UNDERSTAND OUR
LESSON …..
FOCUS QUESTIONS
1. Who is Christopher Columbus?
2. How did Columbus get support
for his voyages?
3. What type of relationship did
Columbus,Queen Isabella and
King Ferdinand have?
4. What were the terms of the
agreement between Columbus
and his sponsors?.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
Christopher Columbus was born
in Genoa Italy in 1451. As a boy,
Columbus was The adventurous
type and he went on many
sailing expeditions from the
Mediterranean to the east.
Columbus was one who opened
the way for widespread
European exploration and
colonization of the Americas.
Columbus's quest to reach the “East” appealed to Queen
Isabella of Castile, who was marriage to King Ferdinand of
Aragon. The unification of both territories led to the formation
of Spain.
Queen Isabella saw Columbus's request as an opportunity to
beat her arch-rival Portugal so she agreed to support his
expedition.
Columbus and the monarchy entered into an agreement
which stipulated that all lands discovered and colonized,
should be under the control of Spain; (House of Castile) and
Columbus should gain a tenth of all wealth and trade. Also,
Columbus would gain the title of “Viceroy” of all the lands
discovered.
Focus Questions
1. Name of Columbus's three ships.
2. Why were the Pinzon brothers
chosen by Columbus to
undertake the first voyage?
3. How did the “trade winds” affect
the outcome of Columbus's
voyage.
4. Name two islands discovered by
Columbus on his first voyage.
5. Give the name of the first
Spanish colony in the New
World.
COLUMBUS’
FIRST VOYAGE
Columbus set sail from Palos in
Spain, on August 3rd 1492 with
three ships the “Nina,Pinta and the
Santa Maria”,( the flagship). The
Pinzon brothers were chosen by
Columbus because of their
expertise in navigational
instruments. Columbus's journey
lasted for six weeks driven by the
tradewinds,( permanent east to
west prevailing winds),once he
sailed out into the Atlantic ocean.
Islands discovered by Columbus:
● October 12th 1492 -San Salvador ,Watling
Island Bahamas.
● October 28th 1492- he took possession of
Cuba.
● December 16th 1492 -Hispaniola... Columbus
built a colony called La Navidad. Here he was
able to acquire wealth which he took back to
Spain.
● January 4th 1493 Columbus went back to Spain
Focus Questions 1. Why was the second voyage taken?.
2. How was the second voyage different
from the first?.
3. Name at least two islands discovered
by Columbus on his second voyage.
4. When Columbus returned to
Hispaniola,what was the condition of
the colony?
5. Why did they indigenous peoples find
Columbus unpopular?
COLUMBUS
SECOND VOYAGE
Encouraged by the success of his
first voyage Columbus was petition
by the king and queen of Spain to
undertake a second Expedition
between the islands formerly and
begin serious settlement. By the 26th
of September 1493, Columbus set
sail with Seventeen ships ,1500 men
and 12 missionaries. He also had
nine Tainos from the previous trip
who served as interpreters, along
with horses cattle,sheep and goats.
Islands discovered and outcome of the second voyage:
● Dominica, Nevis St. Kitts,Montserrat,Saint Croix…..
● May 3rd 1494 Columbus sighted the island of Jamaica.
Columbus had heard about Jamaica, then called
“Xaymaca” from the Cubans who described it as the
“land of gold”.
● Columbus however found LA Navidad destroyed by the
Tainos and many Spaniards had died. Columbus was
unpopular with the indigenous people due to the fact that
they were forced to do manual labor. As a result of mutiny
occurred when Diego Columbus was left in charge by
Columbus. The king and queen of Spain petitioned that they
returned to Spain in March 1496.
Focus Questions
1. Name at least three islands
discovered by Columbus
on his third voyage.
2. Explain three outcomes of
Columbus's third voyage.
3. Read more on Bobadilla
and Nicholas Ovando
COLUMBUS
THIRD VOYAGE
The king and queen of Spain
still believed in Columbus and
promised him a third voyage
even though there was growing
opposition against him.
Consequently Columbus found
it very difficult to raise a crew do
to the failure to find gold and the
islands were plagued with
infectious diseases and
dissatisfied natives. He however
set sail on the 30th of May
1498.
Islands discovered and Outcome of the third voyage….
● Trinidad and Tobago Grenada,St.Vincent and Santo
Domingo. He also Revisited Hispaniola.
● Unfortunately there were serious outbreaks in Hispaniola
which were led by the Tainos in retaliation for Spanish
cruelty.
● Queen Isabella enacted laws which forbid the enslaving of
the Tainos. ( The Laws of Burgos)
● Christopher Columbus and Diego were sent back to Spain
in chains.
● Bobadilla was sent as the governor to Hispaniola to restor
order.
Focus Questions
1. Name two territories
discovered by Columbus
on his fourth voyage.
2. Describe the outcome of
Columbus's fourth and
final voyage.
COLUMBUS
FOURTH VOYAGE
Queen Isabella agreed to send
Columbus on a 4th expedition
beyond the realms of islands he
had discovered for the house of
Castile,(Spain). Columbus had to
promise Isabella that he and his
ship would not call on Hispaniola
but he failed to honor this
agreement. He had to stop at
Hispaniola as his ship was badly
in need of repairs. Governor of
van do refused Columbus Port of
Entry to the island of Hispaniola.
Columbus discovered Central America which includes Panama and
Honduras. He also discovered Cayman Islands on the fourth voyage
1. Isabella died in 1504 and King
Ferdinand had no loyalty towards
Columbus.
2. Columbus was stripped of his title of
“Viceroy” of the islands.
3. Columbus was allowed to die poor.
4. Columbus's body was removed several
times but was eventually taken back to
Hispaniola in 1542.
COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITY:
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●
●
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HISPANIOLA
PUERTO RICO
JAMAICA
CUBA
For each of the islands
listed above….state
1. Year of settlement
2. The Individual responsible
for settlement.
3. Name given to the islands,(
name changes if any)