CAUSES OF EXPLORATION
This cultural movement brought new ideas and learning that sparked European interest in the world beyond their borders.
What is the Renaissance?
This Spanish conquistador led the conquest of the Aztec Empire starting in 1519.
Who is Hernán Cortés?
These three powerful African kingdoms are compared to European explorers in the worksheet
What are Ghana, Mali, and Songhai?
From this perspective, conquistadors believed they were bringing Christianity and civilization to indigenous peoples.
What is the Spanish perspective?
The worksheet asks students to compare GPS, internet, and smartphones to these 1400s navigation tools.
What are the compass and astrolabe?
Europeans sought these new pathways to Asia after Ottoman control made traditional routes difficult and expensive.
What are trade routes?
The Aztec Empire fell to Spanish forces in this year, just two years after Cortés arrived.
What is 1521?
According to the Venn diagram activity, students must identify these characteristics that African kingdoms and European explorers shared.
What are [similarities like trade, wealth, organized societies, or military power]?
From this perspective, the Spanish arrival meant cultural destruction, theft, and death from disease.
What is the Aztec (or indigenous/Native American) perspective?
These are examples of how different cultures meet in modern times, similar to historical encounters.
What are immigration, travel, and internet communication?
This type of motivation drove Spanish explorers to spread Christianity to indigenous peoples they encountered
What are religious motivations?
This Spanish conquistador conquered the Inca Empire in 1532.
Who is Francisco Pizarro?
The year 1312 on the timeline likely refers to the reign of this famous Mali emperor who made a legendary pilgrimage to Mecca.
Who is Mansa Musa?
The worksheet asks students to evaluate and decide this controversial question about Spanish conquistadors' actions.
What is "Who was justified in their actions?"
The museum exhibit activity asks students to create this number of main sections for "Clash of Civilizations."
What is three?
These technological advances, including the compass and astrolabe, made long-distance ocean voyages possible.
What is improved technology/navigation tools?
These invisible weapons killed more indigenous people than Spanish swords ever could.
What are diseases (or European diseases)?
African kingdoms controlled these valuable resources and trade goods that attracted European interest
What is gold, salt, or other trade goods?
These were the three main justifications Spanish conquistadors used for their conquests, according to the Spanish perspective.
What are spreading Christianity, acquiring gold for Spain, and technological superiority?
When comparing modern cultural encounters to Spanish-Native American meetings, students must identify both these types of effects.
What are positive and negative effects?
According to the worksheet, students must identify this as the MOST important cause and defend their answer with evidence.
What is [student's reasoned choice with supporting evidence]?
Both the Aztec and Inca conquests shared this key factor that helped small Spanish forces defeat large empires.
What is superior technology/weapons, diseases, or local alliances?
By the year 1000 CE, African kingdoms had already established these sophisticated systems that Europeans would later encounter
What are trade networks, government systems, or complex societies?
This critical thinking skill requires examining an event from multiple viewpoints, as demonstrated in the Spanish-Aztec scenario.
What is historical perspective analysis (or perspective-taking)?
This higher-order thinking skill involves using historical knowledge to understand current situations, as demonstrated in the Modern Connections section.
What is application (or applying knowledge)?