1) Looking at all the readings, describe the role of both religion and economics in driving European exploration. Which do you think was more important?

2)Looking at the extracts from Columbus's Diary, consider how he describes the Native Americans he encounters. How does he describe them and why does he seem them that way? What does it foreshadow about the relationship between Europeans and Native Americans?

3)Using both Cortes letter to Emperor Charles V and the Aztec account of the conquest of Mexico, craft a single narrative of the fall of the Aztecs.

4)Compare and contrasts Spanish, French, and Dutch approaches to colonization.

Articles :

1. The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico edited by Miguel León Portillo

2. Christopher Columbus: Extracts from Journal

3. Hernan Cortés: from Second Letter to Charles V, 1520