The Americas boasted great civilizations prior to being designated "the Americas" by European adventurers during the Age of Exploration.  These earliest cultures of the Western Hemisphere were as large and as advanced as any of their European and Asian counterparts of the time. What we refer to as North and South America were populated and prosperous prior to European contact.

 

In the 1400s, however, Eastern and Western Hemispheres would collide like never before.  This was not the first time of contact, but it was the beginning of a relationship between Old and New Worlds that would alter the course of history forever.  As world's collided, a mixing of peoples gave rise to the modern civilizations that dominate the world today.

 

As we look at this, our first unit of study, we will explore the following questions:

~What do we know about Pre-Columbian cultures?

~What gave rise to European Expansion during the Age of Exploration?

~What did the people of the Eastern hemisphere bring to the West?

~How did the people of the Western hemisphere influence the East?

~How were the people of the Western and Eastern hemispheres affected by this cultural exchange?