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Age of Exploration (1450-1700)

The early history of New World exploration reads like an old-style fantasy novel. Men from Europe literally traversed the North American continent looking for things like the City of Gold and the Fountain of Youth. With such a vast terrain ripe for discovery, there was really no way to prove those things couldn't be found, though not even someone as diligent as Juan Ponce de Leon was able to find any trace of such mystical destinations.

What they found instead was firm ground, mountains, jungles, rivers, deserts, exotic animals, and native inhabitants sometimes happy to greet them, sometimes happy to attack the newcomers. There are a lot of opinions and versions about the European exploration of North and South America, some of them accepted as standard, a few relegated to the conspiracy theorists' corner of shame, and one or two downright shocking.

Most historians agree that the initial Spanish and Portuguese insurgence, particularly in South and Central America, was occasioned primarily by greed and political jockeying. The big villain of this period was Hernan Cortes, a Spaniard who dealt freely in death, communicable disease, treachery, and gold between the Aztec empire and his own nation. It was said he pilfered so much gold his ships sank under it on the return journey.

Christopher Columbus has fared slightly better in the annals of history, though even his methods and motivations have fallen under suspicion. That he claimed the work of a missionary is now seen more as a burden for the Christian community to explain than as a noble mark in his favor. He also took gold, swapped diseases with the Indians, and provoked many to combat.

So what's the truth of all this? Are Europeans just a bunch of terrible people out to exploit everyone else? Is this merely liberal revisionism? The truth (as usual) is probably somewhere in between. Many of the explorers were pretty ruthless, but then again, the kind of personality that could accomplish something as arduous as the years-long journey to an unknown part of the world is bound to have some equally heroic flaws.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Used Books & Materials
Around the World in a Hundred Years
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
Biography for 2nd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Big Golden Book of Christopher Columbus and Other Early Adventurers
by Russell Bourne, illustrated by Thomas LaPadula
from Golden Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Book About Christopher Columbus
by Ruth Belov Gross, Illustrated by Syd Hoff
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
by Elaine Murray Stone
500 Anv from Tyndale House
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus and His Brothers
by Amy Hogeboom
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Columbus and the Renaissance Explorers
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (3 in stock)
Columbus Discovers America - Coloring Book
by Peter F. Copeland
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$4.99 $3.00 (2 in stock)
Columbus: The Triumphant Failure
by Oliver Postgate & Naomi Linnell
from Franklin Watts
for 2nd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Early American History for Primary Grades - Guide
by Rea Berg
3rd edition from Beautiful Feet Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Beautiful Feet Books (Location: HISCUR-BFB)
$29.95 $20.00 (1 in stock)
Eric the Red & Leif the Lucky
by Barbara Schiller
from Avyx, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$4.50 (3 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers News
The History News
by Michael Johnstone
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.99 $4.50 (4 in stock)
Friar and the Knight
by Flora Strousse, illustrated by William Wilson
from P.J. Kenedy & Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Great Explorers
by Jim Pipe
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
How Men Discovered the World
by Hans R. Hecke, illustrated by Nikolaus Plump, freely translated by Moya Gillespie
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
How Our Nation Began
Christian Social History Series
by Don Sharkey, Sister Margaret, and Rt. Rev. Msgr. Philip J. Furlong
from W. H. Sadlier
for 2nd-4th grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
If You Were There in 1492
by Barbara Brenner
1st ed from Bradbury Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
In 1492
by Jean Marzollo
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
In 1492
by Jean Marzollo
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Juan Ponce de Leon
by Tamara Green
from World Almanac Library
for 2nd-4th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Long and Uncertain Journey
by Joan Goodman, Illustrated by Tom McNeely
from Mikaya Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$9.00 (2 in stock)
Magic of Spices
by E. Joseph Dreany
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Makon and the Dauphin
by Nan Hayden Agle, illustrated by Robert Frankenberg
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Marco Polo
by Struan Reid
from Heinemann Library
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Marco Polo: Voyager to the Orient
by Carol Greene
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Meet Christopher Columbus
Second Series Landmark / Step Up reprints
by James de Kay
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.99 $2.50 (2 in stock)
Meet Christopher Columbus
by James de Kay
from Random House
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
Pizarro and the Incas
Stories From History
by Nicholas Saunders
from School Specialty Publishing
for 3rd-5th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Ponce de Leon
by Trish Kline
from Rourke Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Prince Henry the Navigator
by Leonard Everett Fisher
1st edition from Atheneum
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Real Book About Explorers
by Irvin Block, illustrated by Jules Gotlieb
from Garden City Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Real Books series (Location: VIN-RBA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ship's Boy with Magellan
by Milton Lomask, illustrated by William Plummer
from Doubleday & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Sieur de La Salle
by John Paul Zronik
from Crabtree Publishing
for 3rd-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Time Travelers: New World Explorers - CD-ROM
Time Travelers History Study on CD-ROM
by Amy Pak
from Home School in the Woods
Unit Study for 3rd-8th grade
in Time Travelers (Location: HISRF-TT)
$19.00 $9.00 (3 in stock)
Tomatoes, Potatoes, Corn, and Beans
by Sylvia A. Johnson
1st edition from Atheneum
for 3rd-7th grade
in Food & Farming Around the World (Location: HISMC-FOOD)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Traveling Man
by James Rumford
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
What Was the Lewis and Clark Expedition?
What Was?
by Judith St. George
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus?
by Jean Fritz
childrens book from Putnam Juvenile
for 2nd-4th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Christopher Columbus?
Who Was?...Series
by Barbara Bader
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Who Was Christopher Columbus?
Who Was?...Series
by Barbara Bader, illustrated by Nancy Harrison
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 3rd-5th grade
in Who Was? biographies (Location: BIO-WHO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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