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A certain Christopher Columbus, discoverer
A review of the different hypotheses about the probable origin of Christopher Columbus, by Luis Arranz
Here it is an animation based on an article by Luis Arranz "a Certain Christopher Columbus, discoverer", published in The Adventure of History, (year 8 nº91).You can get the animation text here. Next we propose some activities to be done.
Click here if you can not view the video.
Tasks:
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Christopher Columbus' origin, ¿ an "old" or "new" discussion? a. Put in a chronological way the different versions about Columbus' origin and compare the "old" with the "new" hypotheses. b. Taking into account your answer to the previous question, do you think the discoverer's origin has always been debated on or is it a rather recent question?
c. Consider and discuss with your classmates, in small groups, the reasons why you've come to the previous conclusion, trying to reach an agreement on the subject. |
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Is there a general agreement about the Discoverer's origin? a. According to Luis Arranz, what is the most probable hypothesis about Columbus' origin? What reasons does he give to reinforce this idea? b. Does the author's opinion agree with what your textbook says? And does it agree with what your teacher has taught you in class?
c. Do you think there are reasons to doubt about Columbus' origin? Why do you think there are so many hypotheses on the subject? |
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Columbus' language and his probable Sephardi origin. a. According to the author, probably Columbus spoke many languages but without being fluent in any of them. Why? Do you think this could explain the doubts about his origin? b. In the text, you can find more than one hypothesis which refers to Columbus' probable Sephardi origin. Identify them and answer this question: whatever the seaman's nationality was, could it make sense he tried to hide his nationality if he had Jewish roots? Why?
c. Make up a small project, using your textbook or with the help from the Internet, about the expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula and the diaspora of the Sephardi Jews. |
Tasks:
Next some tasks are suggested to be done with the students in the classroom. Green colour is used to indicate some suggestions for their development, if considered necessary. You can use the activities suggested in the "student" version, adapting them conveniently.
If you have the whole text, you'll be able to work with more detail the subject which is suggested here.
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Christopher Columbus' origin, ¿ an "old" or "new" discussion? a. Ask your students to put in a chronological way the different versions about Columbus' origin and help them to place chronologically those which are not explicitly set in the adaptation thanks to the information you can get from the complete version of the article, or through other sources. Next ask somebody to show his/her work to the other classmates or to draw it on the blackboard. (estimated time: 10 minutes) b. Explain your students that, according to the author, until the 19th century practically nobody discussed the Genoese origin of the Columbus and that since then most of these other theories have appeared. Discuss with them the possible reasons why "suddenly" the birthplace of the Discoverer is claimed from so many different places. (Estimated time: 20 minutes. You can uplift the subject talking about the nationalist movements that appear all over Europe since the 19th century and about their consequences in the 20th century) |
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Is there a general agreement about the Discoverer's origin? a. In small groups, ask your students, to search for information about the different hypotheses on Columbus' origin, with the help of the Internet. Ask them to document where they have got the information from and to prepare an outline to show to their classmates. (Some days could be given for this task, or a whole lesson could be devoted to it at the computer classroom). b. Once the previous exercise has been done and all the possible birthplaces have been presented , discuss with them what can be the most probable place and why (you can use the whole text from the article by Luis Arranz or provide some other source on the subject, textbooks for other levels included, some reference books on the topic you consider appropriate)
c. Compare the result of the previous debate with Luis Arranz's opinion and your own one, showing it to your students as the conclusion of this activity group. |
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Columbus' language and his probable Sephardi origin. a. According to the author, Columbus spoke many languages but without being fluent in any of them. Arrange a debate to discuss the probable reasons and if this fact is enough to doubt about his origin. (you can tell them about his sailor career since he was young and about the fact it was frequent among seamen to speak a kind of sailor's slang, as well as about his presence before the different courts and powers of the time)
b. A supposed Columbus' Jewish origin, which appears in several of Arranz's hypotheses (as well as in other authors) could be reasonable enough to explain why certain mystery about this matter still remains. Ask your students to make up a mural where they compare the time of peaceful coexistence among the three cultures (Christians, Muslims and Jews) with the expulsion of the Muslims and Jews ordered by the Catholic Monarchs to present it in the classroom. (you can suggest the use of a free tool to make up digital murals, http://mural.ly) |
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