19 The Discovery of the Americas

North America before the Arrival of Europeans

Who explored the “New World”? This video is a detailed explanation of the conquest of the Americas. It is a lot of information, but it illustrates the European Conquest of the Americas.

GeoHistory. “European Conquest of America – Summary on a Map.” European Conquest of America – Summary on a Map, YouTube, 27 Mar. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=er4CMhp6hqc.

Prior to the “discovery” of what would become the United States, millions of people inhabited the land. Most of these native people organized into tribes and lived more in tune with nature than those that followed. The Europeans did not find the kind of civilizations they were familiar with or even the powerful empires of the Aztec or Incans, which may have made it easier for them to think of themselves as discovering the land rather than conquering it. Consider what the native populations had versus what they did not have that impacted the Europeans thinking.

In what ways does the Crash Course video, “The Black Legend, Native Americans, and Spaniards” differ from things you learned about the “discovery” of the Americas?

“The Black Legend, Native Americans, and Spaniards: Crash Course US History #1.” YouTube, uploaded by Crash Course, 31 Jan. 2013.