Christopher Columbus and the Age of Exploration for Kids: With 21 Activities
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
Acknowledgments HANK YOU TO AUTHOR Dr William Wallis for encouragement and support regarding all my writing efforts Our frequent lunches keep me hungering for more Thank you to author Dr LaVergne Rosow for taking such an interest in this book and providing valuable sug gestions regarding the activities Thank you to Dale Beck for being there as my first editor and as my critic supporter and provider of research material Furthermore I want to offer a special thank you to Lisa Reardon senior edi tor at Chicago Review Press From the moment this book idea was conceived Lisa has been there with the enthusiasm devotion and expertise all authors yearn for Last but never least thank you to Karen my devoted wife for all you do in aiding my writing
Introduction N 1892 THE WORLD rushed to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christophe Colum bus's arrival in the West Indies or at least the United States did In America the glorification of the discoverer took its most lofty form in the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago In a nation with 63 million people the fair attracted 24 million visitors It cost as much to put on the extravaganza as it would to build the Panama Canal more than a decade later The Columbian Exposition had but one purpose to celebrate America's magnificence a result of Columbus's brave and daring initial voyage its surprising revelation and its mar velous impact on world history Clearly in 1892 Christopher Columbus held center stage Not so 100 years later in 1992 when the 500th anniversary of the discovery rolled around No longer it was said should Columbus's achievement be considered an unmixed blessing Nor should the man himself be viewed with uncritical
