New
New
Year 8

European arrivals in the Americas

I can explain how the Europeans came to arrive in North America.

New
New
Year 8

European arrivals in the Americas

I can explain how the Europeans came to arrive in North America.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. During the Renaissance, European thinkers began to learn more about navigating the globe.
  2. Christopher Columbus was able to sail across the Atlantic Ocean and land in the Americas in 1492.
  3. First European involvement in the Americas was for trade and exploration.
  4. Europeans called the Americas the 'New World'.
  5. Europeans began to claim land in the 'New World' for themselves.

Common misconception

Pupils think that America was ‘discovered’ by Europeans or that it was a 'new' place.

Remind pupils that there were long-established communities in the Americas before European arrival - they did not need to be discovered.

Keywords

  • Renaissance - the Renaissance was a period of new thinking and ideas in Europe inspired by Ancient Rome and Greece

  • Empire - an empire is a group of countries or provinces ruled from the centre by a person or group of people

  • Native American - Native Americans are members of any of the peoples who were the original inhabitants of North and South America and the Caribbean Islands

  • Colony - a colony is a country or area under the control of another country and occupied by settlers from that country

  • Settlement - settlement is the process of establishing new communities in an area

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
What was the dominant religion in medieval Europe?
Correct Answer: Christianity, christianity, Catholicism, Roman Catholicism, christian
Q2.
Write the missing word. The __________ Ocean separates Europe from the Americas.
Correct Answer: Atlantic, atlantic
Q3.
Match the key words with their definitions.
Correct Answer:indigenous,people inhabiting an area before the arrival of colonists

people inhabiting an area before the arrival of colonists

Correct Answer:Native American,original inhabitants of the Americas

original inhabitants of the Americas

Correct Answer:empire,a group of countries ruled from the centre by one group

a group of countries ruled from the centre by one group

Q4.
When did Europeans first settle in the Americas?
9th century
Correct answer: 11th century
13th century
15th century
Q5.
Select the statement which is most accurate about empires.
Empires have only ever been created by European countries.
Empires have only existed over the last 600 years.
Correct answer: Empires have been created by European and non-European countries.
Empires only existed in ancient history.
Q6.
Which of the following groups is indigenous to the Americas?
Chinese
Romans
Correct answer: Aztecs
French
Egyptians

6 Questions

Q1.
Which country sponsored Columbus' voyages across the Atlantic?
Correct Answer: Spain, Spanish
Q2.
What happened to the Taino population of Hispanoila between 1509 and 1518?
Increased
Reduced by 50%
Correct answer: Reduced by 80%
Completely destroyed
Q3.
Where was Columbus trying to reach when he sailed west in 1492?
Correct Answer: Asia, asia, India, East Indies, Indies
Q4.
What word best describes the Taino population of Hispaniola?
Indian
Correct answer: Indigenous
Immigrant
Q5.
How did Spain view Hispaniola after Columbus travelled there in 1492?
Correct answer: As a colony
As a foreign state
As an uninhabited island
As a place of little value
Q6.
What were most enslaved Taino people forced to do by the Spanish?
Accept Christianity
Move islands
Fight wars for Spain
Correct answer: Mine for gold

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