1492 and 1620 - important dates in history...Columbus and Pilgrims...stories learned as little kids. But what does it all mean? While visiting Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts, why do people ask, "Is this where Columbus dropped off the pilgrims?" and, "Did the Mayflower crash into this rock?" These 128 years represent one of the most unprecendented eras of exploration in all human history - the opening of the Americas to the rest of the world. They described this place as "a garden of Eden". Verrazano wrote that he could smell America before he saw it! The smell of trees, cedar trees where he was, was thick in the air.
There are thousands of stories from this time, this time period that Americans today know very little about. Thus we begin our look at the Great Age of European Exploration as it pertains to America. Mr. M shared the story of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. We learned what the Columbian Exchange was. And, finally, Mr. M introduced the homework - "Were there other individuals or groups to come to the Americas before the Great Age of Exploration?
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