Across Europe, many powerful individuals sought to acquire objects taken from the Americas, as a way to know the unknown, to exert some control over the colonial processes underway, and to possess exotic and rare things. The Medici...

When the Spanish Crown (the monarchy) learned of the promise of wealth offered by vast continents that had been previously unknown to Europeans, they sent forces to colonize the land, convert the indigenous populations, and extract...

Given short summaries about the reasons for European exploration and colonization of North America, students will compare English and Spanish settlements in the New World.

[Free Registration/Login Required] An overview of all the materials that are available to students to explore the colonization and settlement of the Americas.

Learn about the Eurpoean colonization of America.

A brief slideshow that presents key ideas about the Spanish Empire in the Americas. Students must then answer four questions in an assessment.

Online exhibition from the Mariners' Museum chronicles the plight of African slaves from the beginning of their journey when they are torn from their homeland all the way to the shores of the Americas. Caught up in the lucrative...

In this lesson plan, 5th graders learn about the individuals and groups who first founded the different colonies in America and what their motivations were. Students participate in a reader's theater activity, create a poster that would...

A self-assessment of European colonization in the America's.

This informational text recounts America's road to independence, starting from the beginning of English colonization in North America and ending with the final battle of the American Revolution. A specific purpose for reading and...

Excellent site about Latin America from the Brooklyn Children's Museum. Explore ancient beliefs and rituals, celebrations, culture, the land, animals, and the history of Latin America.

Test your knowledge of the thirteen colonies with these interactive games. You'll find matching, concentration, flashcards, and a word search, along with a list of terms to refresh your memory.

Columbus' arrival laid the basis for encounters between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans. This unit examines how these contacts altered the way of life of peoples around the globe.

Visit such Spanish sites in Puerto Rico as El Morro, the fort that provided the keystone to protection of the Spanish Empire that spread across the Caribbean. Many photographs and drawings.

Read this fascinating information about Pope, the leader of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Learn how he was able to unite several tribes of Pueblo Indians who did not even speak the same language into a force that was able to push out the...

The Church, disease, and large urban centers dictated societal structure in European societies before the colonization of the New World. Read more about Europe during the Middle Ages.

God, gold, and glory motivated European nations to explore and create colonies in the New World. This article discusses the Crusades and how they influenced European colonization projects.

The America that greeted the first Europeans was, thus, far from an empty wilderness. It is now thought that as many people lived in the Western Hemisphere as in Western Europe at that time -- about 40 million. Estimates of the number of...

This sample task contains a set of primary and authentic sources about the early colonization of North America.

An overview of the French, Dutch, and English explorers in the late 1500's and early 1600's.

European arrival in the Americas decimated both indigenous people and previously-flourishing ecosystems.

Information on the fur trade and its impact on Native Americans. The demands of the Europeans for fur increased competition among the Native American groups. It changed the character of warfare among Native American populations and...

Outline text explaining how the French, Dutch, and English explorers began to make inroads into the Americans in the late 1500s and early 1600s.

After the Conquest, Spanish colonizers' first task was to convert the indigenous peoples to Christianity and eliminate their religious beliefs. Painted murals within their missions demonstrate the great fear and urgency of the...