Website Spotlight: Voyages of Exploration

Website URL: http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/

Introductory Note:

Welcome to one in a series of posts which spotlight quality websites that I use with my U.S. History survey course students at Azusa Pacific University to enrich the regular material in our learning modules.

In this post, I limit myself to those specific aspects of the website which I find fit particularly well within our face-to-face class sessions (each student is required to bring a laptop to class) or as the basis for the students' regularly-assigned written reactions.

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Here are the main web pages I ask my students to focus on:

1. Portuguese Exploration:

Prince Henry the Navigator
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/henry1.html

The Atlantic Islands
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/atlantic.html

Asia
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/asia.html

Sea Route to India
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/vasco.html

Early Voyages to the Far East
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/vasco3.html

Ferdinand Magellan
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/magellan.html

2. Spanish Exploration:

The Caribbean: First Contact
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/carib.html

Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Empire
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/columbus.html

Conquest of the Aztec Empire: Cortes
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/aztec.html

3. Various Other Pages of Interest:

Technical Advances in Shipbuilding and Navigation
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/ship.html

European Way of War
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/eurowar.html

Communicating with Indigenous Populations
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/communicate.html

Religion and Exploration
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/relex.html

The Sugar and Slave Trades
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/Trade.html

Conclusion
http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/conclus.html

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Here is a complete outline of all the web pages available on this site:

Introduction
   Crusades
Iberian Pioneers: Portugal and Spain

Major Section #1: Portugal:

Overview
Prince Henry the Navigator (several screens):
   Knights Templar
   Ceuta
   Lure of Trade
The Atlantic Islands (plantations, slaves, sugar):
   Madeira
   Azores
   Canaries
Africa
Ceuta: First step
Search for gold and slaves
Asia:
   China was exploring toward Africa but halted
   The Ming Dynasty's Maritime History
Vasco da Gama 1: Sea Route to India
   Bartolomeu Dias
Vasco da Gama 2: Red Sea Trade
Voyages of Imperialism (lengthy article)
Initial contacts with China and Japan
   Saint Francis Xavier
Magellan: His Biography and his Circumnavigation of the Globe (Great article!)
Brazil

Major Section #2: Imperial Spain

Castile
Aragon
Isabella and Ferdinand consolidate their power
Caribbean
   First contact
   Christopher Columbus
The Americas and the Conquistadors
   Cortes and the Aztecs
   Pizarro and the Incas

Major Section #3: Special Topics

Knowledge and Power
Geography/Cartography
Technical Advances in Shipbuilding and Navigation
European Maritime Superiority
European Way of War
Communicating with indigenous populations
Religion and Exploration:
   St. Francis & the Franciscans
   St. Dominic & the Dominicans
   The Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
Trade: Sugar and Slaves
Sugar plantation
African slavery
Middle passage
Predominant Winds and Explorers' Routes

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Concluding Note:

I hope you will use this blog post in conjunction with both the modules on my Learning Professor wiki and the numerous other posts in my Website Spotlight series.

1. The website spotlighted in this post fits within the following U.S. History survey course module on the wiki:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/Exploration

2. The other blog posts in my Website Spotlight series--chronologically displayed by U.S. History survey course module-- can be found on this wiki page:
http://thelearningprofessor.wikispaces.com/WEBSITE+SPOTLIGHT