Age of Exploration (1450-1700) - Exodus Books

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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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Used Books & Materials

	Around the World in a Hundred Years From Henry the Navigator to Magellan by Jean Fritz from Penguin Putnam Biography for 2nd-5th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Atlas of North American Exploration From the Norse Voyages to the Race to the Pole by Glyndwr Williams, William H. Goetzmann Oklahoma Paperbacks Ed from University of Oklahoma Press for 4th-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $14.00 (1 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)
	California Missions Activity Book by Arlan Dean and Kay Ward 1^st edition from Rosen School Supply for 4th grade in California (Location: HISA-19CGR) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Christopher Columbus Sowers Series by Bennie Rhodes from Mott Media for 4th-6th grade in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW) $8.99 $5.00 (2 in stock)
	Christopher Columbus Sowers Biographies by Bennie Rhodes from Mott Media for 4th-6th grade in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW) $5.00 (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) $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the New World by Jim Gallagher from Chelsea House Publishing for 4th-6th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	Columbus by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire First BCE from Doubleday & Company in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $26.25 (1 in stock)
	Columbus and the Renaissance Explorers by Colin Hynson from Barron's for 4th-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $4.00 (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 (2 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)
	Coronado and His Captains by Camilla Campbell, illustrated by Harve Stein from Follett Publishing Co. for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $9.00 (1 in stock)
	Cultural History of Women in America: Finding an Identity 1492-1774 Early America and the Colonial Period A Cultural History of Women in America: Volume 1 by Alex Woolf from Chelsea House Publishing Women's History for 3rd-8th grade in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF) $8.00 (1 in stock)
	Discovery of New Worlds Story of the World Series #2 by M. B. Synge from Yesterday's Classics History Reference for 4th-8th grade in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE) $13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
	DK Atlas of Exploration by Anita Ganeri, Andrea MIlls from DK Publishing for 4th-6th grade in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER) $14.00 (2 in stock)
	DK Eyewitness: Explorer by Rupert Matthews from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 4th-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	DK Eyewitness: Explorer DK Eyewitness Series by Rupert Matthews 1^st edition from DK Publishing HIstory Reference for 4th-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $4.00 (1 in stock)
	Early American History for Intermediate Grades (really old) A Literature Approach by Rea Berg from Beautiful Feet Books for 4th-6th grade in Old Edition History & Geography (Location: OHIS) $4.00 (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 The Americas After Columbus: 1500-1620 by Betsy & Giulio Maestro 1^st 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 The Americas After Columbus: 1500-1620 by Betsy & Giulio Maestro 1^st 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 Thematic Unit by Mary Ellen Sterling from Teacher Created Materials, Inc. for 4th-6th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $2.50 (1 in stock)
	Explorers Literature-Based Activities for Thematic Teaching CTP Theme Series by Glenda Nugent from Creative Teaching Press for 4th-6th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Explorers News Columbus In Japan? 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)
	Explorers Who Got Lost by Diane Dreher from Tor Classic Non-fiction for 4th-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $5.00 (2 in stock)
	Explorers Who Got Lost by Diane Sansevere-Dreher, Illustrated by Ed Renfro from Starscape for 4th-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Ferdinand Magellan First to Sail Around the World by Milton Meltzer from Benchmark Books for 4th-6th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.50 (1 in stock)
	Ferdinand Magellan and the First Voyage Around the World by Jim Gallagher from Chelsea House Publishing for 4th-6th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Friar and the Knight Padre Olmedo and Cortez by Flora Strousse, illustrated by William Wilson from P.J. Kenedy & Sons for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Golden Book History of the United States - 12 Volume Set by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Alton S. Tobey and Richard P. Kluga from Golden Press for 3rd-6th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $56.25 (1 in stock)
	Great Explorers by Joyce Grosseck & Elizabeth Attwood for 4th-8th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	Henry Hudson English Explorer of the Northwest Passage Library of Explorers and Exploration by Josepha Sherman from Rosen Central for 4th-6th grade in Biographies (Location: BIO) $6.00 (1 in stock)
	History News: Explorers by Michael Johnstone from Scholastic Inc. for 4th-8th grade in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER) $3.00 (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 (1783-1801) (Location: HISA-18NN) $9.00 (1 in stock)
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	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)
	Juan Ponce de Leon and the Search for the Fountain of Youth by Daniel E. Harmon from Chelsea House Publishing for 4th-6th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.00 (2 in stock)
	Long and Uncertain Journey The 27,000-Mile Voyage of Vasco da Gama 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 (1 in stock)
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	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 (1 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)
	Pedro's Journal A Voyage with Christopher Columbus by Pam Conrad from Scholastic Inc. Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF) $6.99 $4.00 (3 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)
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	Questions and Answers About Explorers by Christopher Maynard from Kingfisher for 4th-6th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $3.00 (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) $4.50 (1 in stock)
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	They Put Out to Sea The Story of the Map by Roger Duvoisin from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. for 4th-8th grade in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS) $43.50 (1 in stock)
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	Westward With Columbus Set sail on the voyage that changed the world by John Dyson from Scholastic Inc. for 4th-6th grade in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP) $6.00 (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 Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C) $4.00 (1 in stock)
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