Going Eastwards

WALT  Who was Columbus and what were his ideas?  Why did Columbus find it hard to test his ideas about the world?  Where did Columbus try to sail to, and what did he find?

So far….  The great sailors that we have talked about so far all tried to find a route to the east by sailing eastwards – that is around the coast of Africa and into the Indian Ocean. However, a few people at the time had a much more daring and exciting idea…That it was possible to sail westwards and still get to the spice islands in the east.

Danger!  As most people still thought the world was flat, this seemed to many like a totally ridiculous idea as it was believed if you sailed too far westwards you would eventually fall off the edge of the world!  One man who was determined to prove that it was possible to sail west and still arrive in the east was an Italian called Christopher Columbus

Checkpoint  What did Christopher Columbus have new ideas about?  Where was he born?  In which direction did he believe it possible to sail to the Spice Islands?  Name a word which describes how people felt about Columbus’ ideas. GREEN AMBER RED

Background  In 1476 Columbus had moved from Italy to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Here he made and sold maps and lived among Europe’s most experienced sailors.  He went on voyages to Iceland, the Canary Islands, Madeira and West Africa.  Columbus had read Marco Polo’s stories about the wonders and riches of the East and wanted to see them for himself.

…contd  He believed that as the world was round and not flat, it must be possible to sail around in a circle.  Columbus was not a rich man, so he needed to persuade the rich people of Portugal to give him money to buy ships and hire men to sail with him.  However, no-one in Portugal was prepared to give Columbus money as his idea seemed so crazy! I’m not crazy! I just need money to prove that you can get to India by sailing west.

…contd  Columbus then went to Spain hoping someone there might be prepared to help him.  It took five long years for Columbus to persuade the Queen of Spain, Isabella that his idea could work, and in 1492 she agreed to give Columbus the money he needed.

task  Arrange yourselves in two’s.  Collect a set of Christopher Columbus statements.  On your desk make two columns – TRUE & FALSE.  Read each statement and decide which column it goes in.  Copy the TRUE statements into your jotter.