New
New
Year 8

Impact of European settlement in the Americas

I can describe some of the consequences of colonialisation on Native Americans.

New
New
Year 8

Impact of European settlement in the Americas

I can describe some of the consequences of colonialisation on Native Americans.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Europeans settled in the New World by taking land from the native peoples.
  2. Europeans believed they had a moral duty to convert Native Americans to Christianity and thus can take land.
  3. European conquests of land were often violent and pushed Native Americans out of their home lands.
  4. Europeans accidentally introduced new diseases into the land, killing around 80% of Native Americans.
  5. Indigenous beliefs and practices continued despite European attempts to remove them.

Keywords

  • Dispossess - to dispossess someone is to take their land away

  • Indigenous - indigenous people are the original inhabitants of a specific area

  • Conquest - conquest involves taking an area of land by force; 'La Conquista' is the name for the Spanish conquest of the Americas

  • Immunity - if you have immunity to a disease you will not catch it

  • Convert - to convert someone is to change their beliefs

Common misconception

Pupils assume that European settlement completely destroyed indigenous communities.

Native Americans were devastated overall by European colonisation but indigenous communities persisted and were never completely overwhelmed.

For the task on slide 17, pupils normally assume conflict or deliberate murder killed most Native Americans. You may reveal that the population fall of 80% = 40 million Native American deaths. Ask pupils if war at the time was likely to kill so many.
Teacher tip

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).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Who did Spain sponsor to sail across the Atlantic?
Marco Polo
Correct answer: Christopher Columbus
Vasco da Gama
Ferdinand Magellan
Q2.
Write the missing word: The Americas were also referred to as Europeans as the __________ World.
Correct Answer: New, new
Q3.
Match the definitions with their correct defintions.
Correct Answer:settlement,creating new communities in an area

creating new communities in an area

Correct Answer:empire,group of countries ruled by one ruler or one single group

group of countries ruled by one ruler or one single group

Correct Answer:conquest,taking land by force

taking land by force

Q4.
Which empire's growth motivated Europeans to search for direct sea routes to Asia?
Aztec
Chinese
Mali
Correct answer: Ottoman
Q5.
Why can the Taino nation be described as indigenous to Hispaniola?
speak Spanish
biggest group on the island
Correct answer: original inhabitants of the island
richest inhabitants of the island
Q6.
Identify an example that shows Spanish settlement in Hispaniola was interested in gaining wealth.
The Spanish built churches for the indigenous population.
Correct answer: The Spanish forced Tainos to work in mines.
The Spanish monarchs claimed to control the island.

6 Questions

Q1.
What caused the most deaths of Native Americans as a result of Europeans arriving in the Americas?
conflict and war with Europeans
mistreatment by Europeans
Correct answer: diseases from Europeans
Q2.
Write the missing word: Millions of Native Americans died from European diseases because they lacked __________.
Correct Answer: immunity, Immunity
Q3.
Why did Europeans argue that it was justified to dispossess Native Americans?
Correct answer: Native Americans were not Christians
Native Americans had sold their land
Native Americans had stolen the land
Q4.
How did Spain become wealthy from Potosi?
traded with Native Americans there
created factories and workshops there
Correct answer: forced Native Americans to mine for silver there
Q5.
Sort the events into chronological order.
1 - Columbus arrives in the Americas.
2 - Smallpox first reaches the Americas.
3 - Smallpox spreads through Tenochtitlan and the rest of the Aztec Empire.
4 - Spanish explorers and soldiers conquer the Aztec Empire.
5 - Spain becomes the most powerful country in the Americas.
Q6.
Identify the two examples of indigenous resistance to complete Spanish control.
Some indigenous nations allied with the Spanish against the Aztecs.
Correct answer: The Maya mixed Christianity with their own pre-existing religious beliefs.
Correct answer: The Aztecs and other nations fought against Spanish attempts at conquest.
Over one million Native Americans died working in the silver mines at Potosí.

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