Khan Academy
Khan Academy: French and Dutch Exploration in the New World
Outline text explaining how the French, Dutch, and English explorers began to make inroads into the Americans in the late 1500s and early 1600s.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Britain in the New World: Early Ventures Fail
Several Englishmen sailed to the New World to establish settlements for England. Read about Sir Humphrey Gilbert's fate, and the mystery of Roanoke. Follow Sir Francis Drake on the map as he circumnavigated the globe.
Curated OER
Cbc: Adventurers and Mystics: Europe and the New World
From the CBC television series about Canadian history comes this summary of the English and French search for a Northwest Passage. Find out how these explorations laid the basis for their claims in the New World.
Wisconsin Historical Society
American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts Early American Exploration/settlement
A collaborative project of the Wisconsin Historical Society and National History Day, this site contains over 18,000 pages of primary source, eyewitness accounts of North American exploration starting with the Vikings.
Library of Congress
Loc: Exploring the Early Americas: Competition for Empire
Part of a larger site, the primary sources here deal with the competition among the European countries in establishing a foothold in the New World.
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Blank Space: Mapping the Unknown
How did early maps show the mapmakers' perception of the known world? Early mapmakers used maps drawn from coastal explorations, land travels, and even information heard word of mouth from American Indians or from colonists or traders....
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: American Passages: Puritan and Quaker Utopian Promise
This unit explores the documented perceptions of Native Americans, religious faiths, physical challenges of new lands and how the combination of immigrants and Native Americans shaped the New World. Click on "Activities" for related...
Other
The Norse Settlers in the New World
Features a time line of the events of the Viking voyages to Canada. Identifies different events that occurred during this time period of early Viking exploration.
Library of Congress
Loc: The Atlantic World: America and the Netherlands
Available in both English and Dutch, this Library of Congress and Library of the Netherlands collaborative project offers over 11,000 digitized images relating to the Dutch in America. Includes a letter describing the purchase of...
Mayflower History
Mayflower history.com: Women of Early Plymouth
An interesting account of the decisions that had to be made about whether or not to bring women along on the Mayflower. There was a higher mortality rate among the women it turned out, but that may have been due to the fact that women...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Mapping the Past
Students will examine European world maps from the Middle Ages, the Age of Discovery, and the period of New World exploration. They will then look at maps that record the early exploration of the American West and collect present-day...
State Library of North Carolina
N Cpedia: John W. Kinchelo, Iii: American Indians at European Contact
Native Americans inhabited the New World long before European explorers began establishing settlements on the land. This entry addresses the challenges the natives had to face upon Europe's arrival, trials in relationships, and how...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Europe's North South Conflicts Reach the Americas
An essay detailing early English and French exploration and settlement in the New World to challenge Spanish control.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Robert De La Salle
Read about one of the early French explorer and his ambitions in the New World. (In Spanish)
British Library
British Library: Teaching Resources: The Tempest: Who Is Savage & Who Is Civilised?
These activities encourage students to explore the 'brave new world' of The Tempest in light of thought-provoking texts on early modern colonization. Included are discussion questions, primary sources, links for extended reading,...
British Library
British Library: Teaching Resources: The Tempest: Slideshow Who Is Savage & Who Is Civilised?
These activities encourage students to explore the 'brave new world' of The Tempest in light of thought-provoking texts on early modern colonization. A link to a slideshow featuring images of Native Americans and Europeans which...
Library of Congress
Loc: Drake's West Indian Voyage 1588 1589
While studying early American exploration pupils will view the maps Sir Francis Drake used in his attacks of the Spanish in the New World. This lesson plan makes use of primary source maps to help the students learn how to analyze them.
Digital History
Digital History: The Meaning of America
Although brief, this article points out the opposing views of the New World of America in European eyes during the exploration and early colonization period.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: The Explorers
[Free Registration/Login Required] Using video content and assessment integration, students will learn about the early explorers to the New World.
PBS
Pbs Frontline: From Jesus to Christ
PBS FRONTLINE explores the life of Jesus and the rise of Christianity. Drawing upon new and sometimes controversial historical evidence and interviews with the nation's leading New Testament scholars, the website challenges familiar...
PBS
Pbs Nova: The Other Elevator Inventor
Explore the early world of elevator technology. You will find out that there were actually two people with the name of Otis involved in the invention of the elevator: Elisha Otis and Otis Tufts. The practical technology won out. Click on...
A&E Television
History.com: Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian-born merchant and explorer who took part in early voyages to the New World on behalf of Spain around the late 15th century. By that time, the Vikings had established settlements in present-day North...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Planning for the End of Oil
As the world's attention focuses on the perils of oil exploration, we present Richard Sears' talk from early February 2010. Sears, an expert in developing new energy resources, talks about our inevitable and necessary move away from oil....