Teaching with primary sources can be simpler than you think
Do you need help using primary sources to teach about the Age of Exploration? I have spent hours digging through the Library of Congress and National Archives to find the best, student-friendly primary and secondary sources. (Click here for lists of kid-friendly primary sources for other topics.)
Why use primary sources in the first place? The answer is summed up in this great quote from docsteach.org (the National Archive’s tool for teaching with primary sources).
“When we ask students to work with and learn from primary sources, we transform them into historians.”
Here are 5 primary and secondary sources from the Age of Exploration for your junior historians to analyze:
World Map (1507) – Primary Source
Description of Primary Source:
This map by Martin Waldseemüller is often called “America’s Birth Certificate” because it is the first map that labels America and shows it as a separate land mass.
Class Discussion Questions:
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What do you see?
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After looking at the map, what places do you see?
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What decorative illustrations do you see? What could they mean?
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Why do you think this map was made?
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How does it compare to a current world map?
Resources for this Primary Source:
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View the map (I recommend having students view this one on the computer so they can zoom in. The details are amazing!)
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Lesson plan (Library of Congress)
The First Voyage Print (1893) – Secondary Source
Description of Primary Source:
This print shows Christopher Columbus bidding farewell to the Queen of Spain before he departs for the New World (August 3, 1492).
Class Discussion Questions:
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What are the people doing in the illustration? What objects do you see?
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Who do you think created the artwork? How does the artist feel about Columbus?
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What symbols do you see?
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What is the main idea of the artwork?
Resources for this Primary Source:
Extract from the diary of a Virginia settler (1607) – Primary Source
Description of Primary Source:
This is from the diary of a Virginia settler (possibly Captain Gabriel Archer) discussing encounters with Native Americans in 1607. Note: Students will need help reading the transcript since the spelling is not standardized.
Class Discussion Questions:
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Who wrote this document?
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What is the date?
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What is the main idea? Write down a quote that helps support the main idea.
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Why do you think this document was written?
Resources for this Primary Source:
“Discovery” of the Mississippi by Ferdinand De Soto (1876) – Secondary Source
Description of Primary Source:
This engraving depicts Ferdinand De Soto’s “discovery” of the Mississippi.
Class Discussion Questions:
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What are the people doing in the illustration? What objects do you see?
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Write two words that describe the artwork.
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Who do you think created the artwork? How does the artist feel about Ferdinand De Soto?
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Why do you think it was created?
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What is the main idea of the artwork?
Resources for this Primary Source:
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Article about this Illustration (Gilder Lehrman Institute)
Slave Ships Illustration (1788) – Primary Source
Description of Primary Source:
This illustration shows how African captives were stowed on British slave ships under the regulated slave trade act of 1788.
I highly recommend pairing this primary source with Olaudah Equiano’s description of his voyage as a captive on a slave ship.
Class Discussion Questions:
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What do you see?
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Who created this sketch? Why do you think it was created?
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How many people did they fit on the ship? Why do you think people were forced to live so close together?
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What do you think life was like for people on a slave ship?
Resources for this Primary Source:
Want a FREE Map Lesson for teaching about European Colonization of the Americas?
In this lesson, students map the key areas of the Americas that were colonized by the English, Dutch, French, Portuguese, and Spanish and compare their locations and relative size.
The second part of the lesson is about how the political boundaries of colonies have changed over time (Did you know that Delaware was claimed by Sweden and the Netherlands before it became a British colony?). Your students will love studying these mesmerizing animated maps.
Enter your email below to grab your free Colonization of the Americas lesson!
More Teaching Resources
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Related posts:
- Age of Exploration Videos for kids
- Columbian Exchange Food Activity (Free lesson)
- More US History Primary Sources
Thank you so much! My first time teaching 5th grade and I didn’t know where to begin. Lucky for me, History is my favorite. I will put your lessons to good use.
You have some great resources here but I think you might have mislabelled those two paintings as primary sources, they are not primary sources since neither of the artists could have been present at the event
Thanks so much for your comment, Dan! I’ve clarified the blog post to indicate that they are secondary sources.