Read Works
Read Works: Columbus Reports on His First Voyage, 1493
[Free Registration/Login Required] Abridged from the full text located at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, this passage provides a primary source and a discussion of Christopher Columbus' first voyage. Paired texts, a...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: What Was Columbus Thinking
These lesson plans guide students' thinking about the effects Columbus' journey to the New World had on Native Americans and uses primary sources such as excerpts from Columbus' diary and letters to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Other Worlds the Voyage of Columbus
This site has a lesson plan designed for grades 9-12. The lesson plan deals with understanding the culture from which Columbus came, Renaissance Europe, and the culture he found in the New World.
University of Maryland
Early Americas Digital Archive: Columbus, Letter From the Fourth Voyage
The complete text of a letter written by Christopher Columbus describing his fourth voyage.
University of Maryland
Early Americas Digital Archive: Columbus, Letter to Santangel
The complete text of a letter written by Christopher Columbus to Santangel describing the results of his first voyage.
University of Calgary
European Voyages of Exploration: 15th & 16th Centuries
This award-winning website from the University of Calgary's History Department is both impressive and extensive. It focuses on Portuguese and Spanish expeditions of the 15th and 16th centuries (the sitemap provides a good outline of...
Library of Congress
Loc: American Treasures of the Library of Congress: Columbus's Three Voyages
View one of the top treasures in the Library of Congress, the parchment on which is written the earliest description of Columbus's first three voyages to the New World.
Other
Ships of Discovery: Columbus's Lost Ships
We all know about the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria, but what about the rest of Columbus' ships? He was a busy man after the initial discovery. This site is by a group of archaeologists who try to find historic underwater wrecks....
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Columbus and the Egg" by Barbara Radner
This is a historical fiction story about Columbus, the explorer who came to the Americas from Spain in 1492. This is a story about what might have happened long ago when he was back in Spain. A specific purpose for reading and vocabulary...
The History Cat
The History Cat: The Voyages of Zheng He
Read about the Chinese explorer, Zheng He, who lived from 1371 to 1433. He commanded massive fleets and made seven voyages, traveling to East Africa, India, and Arabia, making stops in other regions along the way. He even brought a...
Curated OER
Christopher Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue in 1492.
For younger students, a brief history of Christopher Columbus's voyage to America that also features a printable word search and crossword puzzle.
Smithsonian Institution
National Postal Museum: Voyages of Columbus
The National Postal Museum publishes a captioned exhibition of U.S. postage stamps depicting Columbus's first voyage to the New World.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Christopher Columbus
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students recognize why we celebrate Columbus Day as related to the story of Christopher Columbus. Students explore the route taken from Spain to the Americas and how long this voyage took by using a...
The Newberry Library
Newberry: Exploration and Encounter: Map 1: The World Columbus Knew in 1482
Newberry Library presents historical map on the Age of Exploration with lesson plans for all ages k-12. Includes curator notes and a wealth of supplemental resource material.
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (between August 25 and October 31, 1451 - May 20, 1506) was a Genoese navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean-funded by Queen Isabella of Spain-led to general European awareness of...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Contact: First Impressions
English, Spanish, and Portuguese maps and letters of about the voyages of Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, and Portuguese explorer, Gaspar Corte Real, which describe impressions of the lands explored.
University of Calgary
Isabella I the Catholic
This page is part of the University of Calgary History Department's award-winning "European Voyages of Exploration" website. It provides biographical information on Queen Isabella I of Castile and includes several images of Isabella and...
Other
Radford University: Prelude to European Settlement of Virginia
This site traces the early voyages of explorers from Portugal and Spain who were trying to find new resources.
Bartleby
Bartleby.com: Washington Irving: Early Years
This Cambridge History of English and American Literature site provides biographical information and analysis of the works and literary contribution of Washington Irving. Use the forward arrows at the bottom of the web page to read a...
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: Christopher Columbus
(1451-1506) Famous for his voyage to the New World in 1492.
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: Christopher Columbus
An Italian explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American continents.
Library of Congress
Loc: Online Exhibition: The Cultures and History of the Americas
Examine some of the rare books, maps, prints and other artifacts in this online exhibition. The exhibition explores several themes on the cultures and history of the Americas. The collection focuses on the period of pre-contact through...
University of Maryland
Early Americas Digital Archive: Journal
The journal written by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage.
Geographypods
Geographypods: Renaissance Day: Discovering the 'Lost World'
Gain knowledge of how exploration, mapping, and voyages of the Renaissance period shaped and changed our understanding of the modern world.