U.S.

History
Monday, August 28th
 Mindset Monday
Read the quote and answer the questions (3
sentence minimum per answer):
By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions,
one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or
destination. Christopher Columbus
1. What goal or destination do you want to arrive
at?
2. What does it look like for you to prevail over all
obstacles and distractions?
 Today in History
1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his I Have
a Dream speech at the March on Washington to
over 250,000 people.
The demonstrators demanded voting rights for
African Americans and an end to racial
segregation and discrimination.
https://youtu.be/3vDWWy4CMhE
 Age of Exploration
What drove the explorers to sail into
uncharted area?
 Age of Exploration
Marco Polo
Venetian Merchant
Spent over 20 years
in Asia
Described the riches of silks, spices and
gold in Description of the World that sparked
European interest in trade with the East.
Silk Road
 Age of Exploration
Challenges of the Silk Road:
 Age of Exploration
Challenges of the Silk Road:
Muslim traders controlled roads routes
Dangerous mountain passes
Weather
Time consuming
Competition
 Age of Exploration
SOLUTION:
Find a way around these challenges.
Spice Route
 Age of Exploration
Key Portuguese explorers:
1488: Bartholomeu Dias sailed around
the Cape of Good Hope.

1498: Vasco de Gama sailed around the

Cape of Good Hope to India
Age of Exploration
Age of Exploration
 Age of Exploration
Christopher Columbus
Columbus was looking for a quicker
passage to the East Indies for better
access to trading.
He based his route calculations off Greek
mathematician Ptolemy.
 Age of Exploration
2 problems:
1. Ptolemy underestimated the
circumference of the earth by 5,000
miles.
He also overestimated the size of the
continents.
 Age of Exploration
As a result, Columbus believed that Japan
was only 3,000 miles from Europe when its
really 11,000.
 Age of Exploration
On October 11, Columbus landed on an
island in the Bahamas.
He believed he was on an island in the
Orient.
He made 3 more voyages and died believing
he had reached Asia.
 Age of Exploration
Did Columbus discover the new world?
 Age of Exploration
Did Columbus discover the new world?
15th Century 71 years before Columbus,
supposedly a Chinese explorer landed on the
West Coast.
10th Century evidence of Viking settlements in
Nova Scotia have surfaced in the last few decades
6th Century Irish legend says a monk sailed
across the ocean and arrived in Canada
 Age of Exploration
Did Columbus discover the new world?
A Long Time Ago indigenous people walked
across the Bering Land Bridge and made their
way south.
 Age of Exploration
Amerigo Vespucci realized that it was a
whole new continent and made two trips to
the New World.
1507 German mapmaker Martin
Waldseemller named the new discovery
America in his honor.
 Age of Exploration
Key explorers:
1497: John Cabot arrives in Newfoundland to
search for a passage to China
1519-1522: Ferdinand Magellans crew
circumnavigates the globe for the first time.
 Age of Exploration
Magellans crew faced:
Starvation
Lack of water
Unfriendly natives
Only 1 ship and 18 of the 300 original crew
members returned to Spain after 3 years.
 Activity
Complete Activity 1.2