Background to discovery Christopher Columbus, 1451-1506. (Skills Master 2).

During Columbus's lifetime, knowledge of our world increased enormously. The map below is based on a map drawn by Paolo Toscanelli in 1469. Columbus's view of the world was based on that map. Read the play on pages 16-19, study the Time Line below, then answer the questions.

Time Line

1453: European overland trade routes to the Orient are blocked when the Turks capture Constantinople.

1456: Exploring the Atlantic Ocean, Luigi da Cadamasto discovers the Cape Verde Islands about 300 miles west of Africa. He claims the islands for Portugal.

1469: Paolo Toscanelli draws a map (see above) that shows Japan, China, India, and the Indies on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean.

1477: Printed copies of Ptolemy's Geography and Marco Polo's book describing his travels to the Orient become available in Europe at about this time.

1487: Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias sails around the southern tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean.

1492: With the backing of the King and Queen of Spain, Columbus sails west to search for a new route to the Orient.

1506: At the time of his death, Columbus is still convinced that China can be reached by sailing west. But another explorer, Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512), reports that two huge continents block the way.

QUESTIONS

Write the letter of the correct answer in the space provided.

__ 1. Columbus was two years old when. an event spurred Europeans to search for a sea route to the Orient. What was the event? (A) Turks' capture of Constantinople; (B) Vespuci's first voyage; (C) publication of Toscanelli's world map.

__ 2. Young Columbus was inspired by accounts of overland travels to the Orient in the early 1300s by (A) Amerigo Vespuci; (B) Marco Polo; (C) Paolo Toscanelli.

__ 3. In 1456, what country gained islands in the Atlantic Ocean about 300 miles off the west coast of Africa? (A) France; (B) Spain; (C) Portugal.

__ 4. The first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa and into the Indian Ocean was (A) Amerigo Vespuci; (B) Bartolomeu Dias; (C) Christopher Columbus.

__ 5. According to the map, what lands could be reached by sailing westward from Spain across the- ocean? (A) North America; (B) South America; (C) India, China, and Japan.

__ 6. In 1492, Columbus sailed west from Spain to find (A) new continents; (B) a route around Africa; (C) a shortcut to Asia.

__ 7. Columbus's 1492 voyage was backed by the rulers of (A) Italy; (B) Spain; (C) Portugal.

__ 8. Columbus thought that the distance from Spain to Japan was about (A) 2,400 miles; (B) 3,600 miles; (C) 13,000 miles.

__ 9. When Columbus reached the Bahamas, where did he think he was? (A) Africa; (B) China; (C) islands in Asia called the Indies.

__ 10. Columbus actually had reached a continent unknown to Europeans at that time. The continent was later named in honor of (A) Columbus; (B) Vespucci; (C) Dias.

Skills Master 2, p. T-7

1. A

2. B

3. C

4. B

5. C

6. C

7. B

8. A

9. C

10. B