Spain, Portugal, and the New World or Chapter 33 continued the violence theme but from a different perspective. I think it is important for children to understand that Europeans used to look at black-skinned or brown-skinned people as if they were not fully human. Also, that slaves were brought from West Africa and how this was done and why.
Conquistador mask with a pink beard
We got a chance to color a conquistador and to learn the word itself. We made a conquistador mask. My daughter was appalled that the mask had a beard. “I’m a girl! How can I wear this with a beard?” she asked. So she colored the beard pink. Problem solved.
The second story was about Cortes and Montezuma. My son liked it so much, he asked to hear it again. I read the narration paragraph to him. He wasn’t satisfied. I told him I would not read it again, but he could read it to himself later on.
These kids… they will ask for the moon. They push the boundaries over and over again. If you don’t stop and place firm edges to what you are willing to do, they will take away all your energy. Learn to say no. That’s my advice to you. It’s hard, I know, but for your own protection, you have to learn to say no to your kids.
The map work was rather easy. By now they know Portugal was not a part of Spain, but just another country. They understand where West Africa is. This lesson teaches the meaning of “West Indies,” too.
Chapter 33. Done. Check.
If I may amend a portion of one sentence, as I do believe it’s important and relevant to teaching our children about history and how it plays into our present: People were taken by force from their homes in West Africa and enslaved. They were not slaves when they were taken from West Africa.
It’s semantics and your sentence is not always true, either. The African tribes enslaved each other and sold each other to the Europeans and North Americans. So by the time they were placed on a ship while the ship was still anchored in Africa, those poor Africans were already slaves.