1) Columbus first sailed at age 14 and made 4 voyages of exploration sponsored by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. 2) On his first voyage in 1492, he reached islands in the Bahamas and the Caribbean, believing he had found a route to Asia but actually discovering lands that would later be called the Americas. 3) This led to the beginnings of European colonization and the Atlantic slave trade, as European powers exploited native populations and increasingly relied on African slave labor to work plantations in the Americas.

1. Europeans Explore America:
Columbus and
the Beginnings of Slavery

2. Read this information about Columbus, then
answer the questions on the next page.
http://blog.wsd.net/kemoore/files/2012/07/Chri
stopher-Columbus-ws.pdf

3. Read the story on Columbus. Then, answer these questions.
1. What job did Columbus’s father have? He was a weaver.
2. At what age did he first begin to sail? 14
3. After 2 months, how did Columbus’s crew feel about the
voyage?
Restless and afraid, on the verge of mutiny (crew takes ship
away from captain’s controll)
4. List all of the islands that Columbus discovered on his first
voyage: Hispaniola (Haiti), Cuba, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico,
Jamaica
5. How many expeditions in total did Ferdinand and Isabella
send Columbus? 4
6. Columbus died thinking he…. arrived in the Far East (India)

4. Reading a Time Line
The following time line shows important dates and events concerning the voyage of
Columbus. Use it to answer the questions. Use the calendar on the next slide to help.
Left
Palos,
Spain
Reached
Canary
Islands
Left
Canary
Islands
Sailors
ready to
mutiny
Reached
San
Salvador
Returned
to
Spain
August 3
1492
Aug 12
Sept 7
Oct 10
Oct 12
March 15
1. How many days did it take Columbus to reach the Canary Islands?
2. How long did Columbus stay in the Canary Islands?
3. Columbus left the Canary Islands on September 7 and arrived in America on
October 12. This was a journey of ______________ weeks.
4. How many weeks did it take Columbus to sail from Palos Spain, to San Salvador?
5. Columbus’s voyage began on August 3, 1492, and ended on March 15, 1493, a
period of _____________ weeks.

5. 1492

6. Read the story on Columbus. Then, answer these questions.
1. What job did Columbus’s father have? He was a weaver.
2. At what age did he first begin to sail? 14
3. After 2 months, how did Columbus’s crew feel about the
voyage?
Restless and afraid, on the verge of mutiny (crew takes ship
away from captain’s control)
4. List all of the islands that Columbus discovered on his first
voyage: Hispaniola (Haiti), Cuba, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico,
Jamaica
5. How many expeditions in total did Ferdinand and Isabella
send Columbus? 4
6. Columbus died thinking he…. arrived in the Far East (India)

7. America:
named for map maker Amerigo Vespucci

8. Read page 566
Define the following:
Atlantic Slave Trade:
Buying and selling Africans to work in North & South America.
Triangular Trade:
Trading network between Africa, N/ & S. America and Europe.
Middle Passage:
Leg of trade network that brought African slaves to N. & S.
America.

14. Read page 566
Define the following:
Atlantic Slave Trade:
Buying and selling Africans to work in North & South America.
Triangular Trade:
Trading network between Africa, N/ & S. America and Europe.
Middle Passage:
Leg of trade network that brought African slaves to N. & S.
America.

15. http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/graphics/triangulartrade.jpg

16. Four reasons why Europeans needed to use Africans as
slaves in the New World:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Africans were immune to European diseases.
Skin color made slaves easier to catch.
Africans did not know the land = harder to escape.
They were good farmers.

17. Four reasons why Europeans needed to use Africans as
slaves in the New World:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Africans were immune to European diseases.
Skin color made slaves easier to catch.
Africans did not know the land = harder to escape.
They were good farmers.