Curated OER
Coronado: Misfortune's Explorer
Fourth graders discuss the importance of Coronado's expedition through Texas and the trials his men endured during the journey. They view and discuss a map of Coronado's route, the effects of weather on the Great Plains, and Buffalo....
Curated OER
Why did the Aztec and Inca civilizations disappear?
Middle schoolers can analyze primary source documents to answer the question, "Why did the Aztec and Inca civilizations disappear?" They will read the provided excerpts then answer 11 different questions to uncover the ultimate answer.
Curated OER
Inca Artifacts and Civilization Lesson Plans
By learning about Inca artifacts and this ancient civilization students can delve into history, geography, and much more.
![Spain's Empire in the Americas [Ppt] Unknown Type](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Spain's Empire in the Americas [Ppt] Unknown Type")
Other
Spain's Empire in the Americas [Ppt]
A brief slideshow that presents key ideas about the Spanish Empire in the Americas. Students must then answer four questions in an assessment.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Exploration and Colonization of America
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.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Introduction to the Spanish Viceroyalties in the Americas
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...
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.
Other
Don Quijote: Spanish History
This is an overview of Spanish history from Romans to actual time, through the Inquisition, the Spanish Flag, and art. It offers links to more information about each topic.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Foreign Policy 1890 1914: Spanish American War and Overseas Empire
Looks at the development and evolution of the Spanish-American War, at Americans' views on imperialism at the end of this war, and at the relationship of this war with America's other international interests.
Curated OER
National Park Service: The Forts of Old San Juan: Guardians of the Caribbean
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.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History Unit: Period 7: 1890 1945: Intro.: Age of Empire
The study resource from Khan Academy provides an overview of Period 7: 1890-1945 in American History. The Age of Empire is discussed in this lesson. This resource is designed as a review for the AP US History Test.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Empire Building
[Free Registration/Login Required] A lengthy essay about American focus on foreign affairs after the Civil War, expanding particularly in the late 19th century. Read about U.S. exploits in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific...
Digital History
Digital History: Spanish America
Read about Spanish influence in the northern part of its empire in America. See what American cowboys borrowed from the vaqueros, and how Spanish architecture came to spread across the Southwest.
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Hard Road to Texas 1836 1845: Spanish Texas
Texas was home to a "clash of three European empires" long before it became part of the United States. How did the Spanish claim Texas, and how was Spain outed by the Mexicans? Read about it all in this article, and check out related...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Spain's Territorial Conquest in the Americas
The history of Spanish territorial conquest in the New World is the history of the succession of conquistadors who often overwhelmed native empires, but were sometimes overwhelmed themselves. Read about the conquistadors who came to the...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Two Wars, the Gilded and the Gritty: America, 1870 1912
A political cartoon depicting a Union and a Confederate veteran united in support for the Spanish-American War. A painting entitled Twelve-Inch Gun depicting elegant officers and ladies aboard a battle ship, civilizing gentility and the...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: Texas Treasures:the Long Expedition
On this website from the Texas State Library you can read about an early attempt by Americans, led by James Long, to establish a "Republic of Texas." Click on the document to see an enlargement of the list of men captured by the Mexican...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Bernardino De Sahagun and Collaborators, Florentine Codex
The Florentine Codex contains an unparalleled wealth of information regarding the people and culture of central Mexico immediately preceding the Conquest and its discussion of the Conquest itself. View pictures and descriptions of the...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Jamestown, Quebec, Santa Fe: Three North American Beginnings
Explore the origins of Canada and the United States as Jamestown, Quebec, and Santa Fe celebrate their 400th anniversary.
Open Door Team
Open Door Web Site: The Struggle Between France and Britain for North America
Although France and England were fighting in Europe, wars spilled over into North America too before the French and Indian Wars.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Missions, American Beginnings: 1492 1690
A Spanish Franciscan and a French Jesuit report on the reciprocal relationship between natives and Catholic missionaries as Europeans settled New France and New Spain.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Cities & Towns, American Beginnings: 1492 1690
Four accounts of the visits to and growth of colonial cities in Spanish, British, and French New World settlements that demonstrate why certain communities developed successfully.
Success Link
Success Link: Explorer Poetry Booklet
After a study of explorers in the Americas, students write poetry to show what they know about individual explorers. This lesson plan gives guidelines, ways to adapt the lesson, a graphic organizer, and scoring guide.
McGraw Hill
Mc Graw Hill Higher Education: Old World, New Worlds
This article from McGraw-Hill Higher Education discusses European exploration in the late 1400s and 1500s and its impact on English colonization hundreds of years later.