Christopher Columbus and the Age of Exploration for Kids: With 21 Activities
To Austin Theo and Riley brothers in arms
Note to Readers HE IDENTIFICATION INDIAN To describe the indigenous people of the Americas has been a source of discussion and dispute in recent decades The term is historically incor rect since Columbus gave the name to inhabi tants of the New World who he thought were the Indians of Asia Today the names Native Americans American Indians Indians indige nous Americans Amerindians and others as
well as names of specific tribes or peoples have all found wide use I use these designa tions interchangeably throughout the book Since Indians is still the word most often used by the most people however that is the term used most frequently here The various and sometimes contradictory images depicting Columbus are also worth noting No paint ing of the discoverer was made in his lifetime and no physical description of Columbus written in his life time has been found Portraits of Columbus were painted from descriptions usually written long after his death However Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas who met Columbus in Hispaniola in 1500 gave this description As regards his exterior person and bod ily disposition he was more than middling tally face long and giving an air of authority aquiline nose blue eyes complexion light and tending to bright red beard and hair red when young but very soon turned gray from labors Regardless of the variations you will see in portraits of Christopher Columbus you can rest assured that to those who knew him he appeared a man of determined bearing and personali
