Teachers have been striving to make their curriculum more fully reflect the history of all members of a community, to tell the stories not only of kings and generals, but of the young and the old, women and men, and those with both extraordinary and ordinary abilities and challenges. The lesson added to our resource library this week is an example of how to bring this perspective to the study of the Ancient World, using the words of writers at that time, as well as images of artifacts, and drawing comparisons with examples from U.S.
Early America: Maps and Exploration
Maps, Knowledge, and Power in Medieval and Renaissance Europe
Maps are a representation of geographical space. As such, they are valuable as a source of information. Yet their makers can also use them to control or alter perceptions of that same information. In the 14th and 15th centuries, cartography, or the science of map-making, changed rapidly due to the explorations of the Americas. Use the maps below to trace some of these changes.
Primary Sources:
Mappa mundi, Hereford, c.1300