CONQUEST AND COLONISATION IN THE AGE OF EXPLORATION
7
(i) Give one reason why Vespucci said that the people whom he had met were ‘worse than pagans’. (ii) How secure were the houses in which the natives lived? (iii) How many did Vespucci find lived in ‘one single house’?
(iv) Which one of these statements reflects the difference in the attitude to wealth between the Europeans and the native people mentioned here? Explain your answer. (a) They valued gold and jewels. (b) They were contented with what nature gave them. (c) They worked to get pearls and other riches.
(v) Which one of these statements, do you think, would best reflect what Europeans would think of the people in the New World after reading the above account? Explain your answer.
Europeans would: (a) think they were superior to the native people. (b) think they would not like to live like the people in these lands. (c) think that these people would be better off if they were converted to Catholicism.
2. Exam Question 1492
Christopher Columbus' First Voyage
NORTH AMERICA
Canary Islands Bahamas MEXICO Cuba Yucatan
Jamaica Hispaniola Panama
(i) The map above shows the route taken by Christopher Columbus when he went to the Americas in 1492. Why did people such as Columbus leave Europe in search of new lands?
(ii) (a) Name a European conquistador you studied who went to South America during the 1500s.
(b) Give an account of the conquest undertaken by the conquistador you have chosen, based on the evidence you have studied.
(iii) How did the coming of the conquistadors affect the native people who lived in the Americas? Give reasons for your answer.
(iv) In 2020, many statues of Christopher Columbus in the United States and elsewhere were targeted by people protesting about injustice and discrimination against people of colour. Similar attacks have taken place in recent years. In August 2017, protestors threw red paint at a statue of Columbus in Buffalo, New York.
Why are many people unhappy that explorers such as Christopher Columbus are commemorated with statues?
(NCCA JC History Assessment Items)
See Chapter 7 in the Skills Book for further questions.
119 AFRICA Newfoundland Genoa Azores ATLANTIC OCEAN Portugal Spain