1. Since the people of the western and eastern hemispheres were unknown to each other before 1492, their meeting and their interactions changed the lives of both groups of people dramatically. Examine this graphic and then answer the questions below with a partner. Be ready to share your answers with the class.
What dietary changes were there for Americans? For Europeans?
Which group was more isolated from serious diseases before 1492? How can you tell?
Based on the visual, for which group of people was the Columbian Exchange most difficult? Why?

2. Which European nation dominated the exploration of the Americas between 1500 and 1550? In what way can their influence still be felt in the regions they explored today?

3. Columbus’s accidental discovery of an island in the Caribbean in 1492 would spark the creation of an empire in the Americas by Spain. He made four trips to the Caribbean, eventually finding more islands as well as the continent of South America.
* Make a list of symbols you see in the painting above that are examples of reasons that Europeans explored the Americas. Ex: The cross in the hands of the priest shows the desire of Europeans to convert as many people as possible to Christianity.

4. Other Spanish explorers followed Columbus
Other Spanish explorers followed Columbus. Vasco de Nunez de Balboa crossed Panama and claimed the Pacific Ocean for Spain in That same year Ponce de Leon explored Florida in search of gold and a fountain of youth. In 1519, Hernan Cortez conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico and seized its gold. Between , Cabeza de Vaca explored the American Southwest. Francisco Pizzaro conquered the Inca Empire of South America and seized its gold too. Francisco Coronado explored the American Southwest and Great Plains.
(Mexica = Aztec)
*What two native empires did the Spanish conquer in their race to control the Americas?

5. As native people began dying in great numbers from European diseases, the Spanish imported enslaved Africans to replace the Indians.
At first, Spanish settlers relied on the forced labor of Native Americans to work in their gold mines or on their sugar plantations.
*How might the relatively few Spanish settlers of the Americas have controlled large numbers of Native and African enslaved people?

6. The French explored much of Canada and the Ohio River valley
The French explored much of Canada and the Ohio River valley. Their heaviest area of settlement was along the Saint Lawrence River of southern Canada. Because the French were more interested in furs than farming, they did not try to conquer the Indians and put them to work as the Spanish had done. Instead the French made Native Americans their business partners.
*In the painting above, how have the two French fur trappers adapted to the harsh climate of Canada?

7. The English settle Jamestown, Virginia
The English explored much of North America too, looking for a water route to Asia. Their first permanent settlements were in modern Virginia and Massachusetts. The Indians alternately fought with and learned from the Indians during their first years in the “new” world.
The English settle Jamestown, Virginia
English Pilgrims settle Plymouth, Massachusetts
*Think back to other social studies classes you have taken. Can you name one Indian who helped early English settlers to the Americas survive the harsh conditions there?

8. Don’t forget to make a map key!
On the map your teacher gives you, recreate this visual showing which European countries colonized North and South America during the Age of Exploration.
Don’t forget to make a map key!