Explorers from Europe

Examine how new tools and intense competition led European nations to start crossing oceans.

About

In the 1400s, European rulers from nations such as Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain fought to be among the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean and claim new territories. They hired ambitious and eager explorers, gave them ships, and pointed them westward - with the hope of growing rich.

Essential Questions

How did Spain and Portugal benefit from exploration?
Why were northern European nations late to the exploration game - and how did they catch up?
What technology helped ships cross the oceans safely?

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Early Explorers 🔥

Spain and Portugal recruited men such as Vasco de Gama and Hernan Cortez to conquer new lands - and the people who already lived there.

Essential questions:

What motivated these rulers?
Why were Spain and Portugal so successful during this time?
Where did Spain and Portugal claim land?

Suggested Activity: Be The Teacher

Later Explorers 🔥

Playing “catch-up”, Great Britain and France sent ships west to the Americas where they found an unfamiliar and harsh climate, land that was difficult to farm, and tribes of Native Americans who, for many reasons, didn’t want them there.

Essential questions:

What motivated these rulers?
What lands did the English and French claim for themselves?
How did the arrival of these ships affect the people who lived there already?

Suggested Activity: A Different Point of View

The First Mapmakers ⚒️

As people began to travel the world, they began drawing what they found. These early maps - though not without mistakes - changed the way people saw the world.

Essential questions: