Curated OER
Illus., Alexander Barclay, the Ship of Fools, 1509, Poem
Five literary responses to exploration and discovery-poems, fictional accounts, a play, and journal entries-that reflect European desire, frustration, and enchantment with the New World.
Curated OER
Slideshow
Thirty primary sources-historical documents, literary texts, and visual images-that explore motivations, visions, patterns, goals, challenges, and relationships with indigenous peoples offered by Europeans in their settlement of the New...
Curated OER
Coat of Arms, Lord Baltimore
Three maps of European settlement in Virginia, the Pacific Northwest, and the Spanish New World, and the accompanying official instructions from lenders and monarchs about the obligations, opportunities, and hopes that those...
Curated OER
Slideshow
Fifty seven primary sources-historical documents, literary texts, and visual images-and one secondary historical account that explore imperial conflict, European economic rivalry, and the impact of colonial rule on native peoples.
Curated OER
Depicting the New World
A variety of paintings and drawings that display European images of their first encounters with the land, plants, animals, and native peoples of the western hemisphere.
Curated OER
Facial Reconstruction of Skull Excavated in Jamestown
Three English, a French, and a Spanish primary account of the staggering losses, misery, and deprivation that characterized early European settlement as well as the resilience needed to overcome those challenges.
Curated OER
The New and Unknown World, 1671
An online exhibition of images of European settlement to accompany two English, a French, and a Dutch set of promotional accounts that offer advice, encouragement, and occasional warning to prospective immigrants to newly settled areas...
Curated OER
An Aleut in His Baidarka, Ca. 1744
Two excerpts from the explorations of the Pacific coast by Sir Francis Drake and Vitus Bering as well as maps drawn to reflect those journeys.
Curated OER
American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts...
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.
Siteseen
Siteseen: Land of the Brave: John Cabot Facts
Overview and biographical facts on the life of John Cabot, the second European to find North America (after Christopher Columbus).
Curated OER
The Boston Massacre
The History Place provides this timeline broken into six different sections that highlight the important events from the early European exploration of America through to the United States becoming a country. Features include informative...
British Library
British Library: The Search for the Northwest Passage
Detailed third grade lessons help students understand what skills and knowledge were required in order to become an explorer. Includes specific lessons on John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, and Henry Hudson.
Curated OER
Gutierrez, Map of the Western Hemisphere, 1562, Detail
Eleven documents and two maps detailing the almost two hundred year struggle between England and Spain for hegemony in the Caribbean.
Curated OER
Slideshow
Three documents reflecting official views of how to rule and regulate a successful colony in New France, Jamaica, and the Spanish Indies.
CommonLit
Common Lit: Text Sets: The American Colonies
Collection of 14 Grade-Leveled texts (4-11) on the topic "The American Colonies." What was life like for European settlers in the New World? How did American colonies function before the Revolutionary War? Explore life in the...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Text Sets: Native American History
This is a collection of 27 Grade-Leveled texts (4-12) on the topic Native American History. Before European settlers came to North America, millions of native people lived in many unique societies. Explore the history of Native Americans...
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.
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools
Loon Lake Elementary School: Jacques Marquette
A biography of Jacques Marquette (1637-1675), a French explorer and Roman Catholic missionary who was one of the earliest European explorers in North America. He joined the French explorer Louis Jolliet on a trip down the Mississippi...
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: Giovanni Da Verrazzano
Giovanni da Verrazzano (c. 1485 - c. 1528) was an Italian explorer of North America, in the service of the French crown. He is renowned as the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between South Carolina and...