European Explorers

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Chapter 1: Alien Encounters: Europe in the Americas

Primary Sources

European Explorers

Please read the following selections and then answer the questions in the space provided.

Christopher Columbus, Letter to Luis de Sant’ Angel (1493)

Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, "Indians of the Rio Grande" (1528-1536)

Bartolomé de Las Casas, "Of the Island of Hispaniola" (1542)

This activity contains 3 questions.

Are any of these reports more reliable than the other two?

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

Considering that each report is in some manner biased and self-serving, how can we claim to know anything about early Native cultures?

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

Did the European explorers and missionaries confront the Native Americans with an open mind? What kind of preconceptions did they have?

To create paragraphs in your essay response, type at the beginning of the paragraph, and at the end.

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