1. Activator 15 min Groups of four
Assign roles: Sourcing, Contextualization, Close Reading, Corroboration
Read the source, sourcing note, and (alleged) excerpt from Admiral Columbus’ journal.
Answer the “Reading Like a Historian” questions associated with your role
Share out
15 min

2. What were the consequences of early Portuguese and Spanish exploration, conquest and settlement in the New World for native peoples?
Unit 1. Lesson 5.

3. Key Concepts
Imperialism: Empire-building. Takes many forms: military, political, social, economic, religious, sexual, intellectual, ecological
Presentism: Applying modern beliefs, values, and attitudes to the evaluation of the past.
7 min

4. Context: birth of slave trade
Turning point:
~1450 Portugal builds the caravel ship, masters the wind to access sub-Saharan Africa
Causes/consequences:
~1450 Portugal enters the Arab, African slave trade.
Slave trading became a big business:
~40,000 Africans  Atlantic sugar islands in late
Millions more post-1492.
Origins of the modern plantation system

5. Context: Encomienda system
Turning point:
1494 Spain signs the Treaty of Tordesillas, dividing the “heathen lands” of the New World.
Causes/consequences:
Spanish hegemony in New World fuels conquest, colonization and empire-building
Established the encomienda system: government to “commend,” or give, Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to try to Christianize them.

6. Consequences 15 min Triads
Jigsaw the documents, each representing one consequence
Close Reading:
What claims does the author make?
What evidence does the author use to support those claims?
How is this document make me feel?
What information does the author leave out?
Share out
15 min

7. Resistance
In spite of slavery, Africans’ cultural and linguistic adaptations to the Western Hemisphere resulted in varying degrees of cultural preservation and autonomy.
Maroon Communities in Brazil, the Caribbean, the Americas
Mixing of Christianity and the traditional African/Indian religions
Pueblo Revolt of 1680
"day-to-day" resistance—from simple malingering to subtle but systematic acts of sabotage.
3 min

8. Processing
Answer today’s historical investigation: What were the consequences of early Portuguese and Spanish exploration, conquest and settlement in the New World for native peoples?
3/4. Your post answers the question directly; contains a historical claim and warrant, evidence, and reasoning; and refers to source material from class activities.
4/4. Your post answers the question directly; contains a historical claim and warrant, evidence, and reasoning; and refers to source material from class activities; and contains evidence of historical thinking (sourcing, contextualization, corroboration, close reading).
5 min