Michael's+page

http://kids.britannica.com  __Christopher columbus__ (1451–1506). On the morning of Oct. 12, 1492, Christopher **Columbus** stepped ashore on an island in what has since become known as the

Columbus married a Portuguese woman, Felipa Moniz Perestrelo, in 1477. She came from a semi-noble family with useful maritime connections. She died giving birth to a son, Diego, in 1479 or 1480. In 1485, while in Córdoba, he met young Beatriz Enríquez de Trasierra, and they lived together for a time. She bore him an illegitimate son, Fernando. Columbus made many friends during his travels and he corresponded with them frequently. His friends included Dukes and other noblemen as well as powerful Italian merchants. These friendships would prove useful during his frequent hardships and bouts of bad luck.
 * || Section 2: pp. 76-77, "Exploring the Spanish Borderlands." ||

**__Websites that could be used for your research:__** @http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/spanish-conquistadors.htm

@http://www.pbs.org/opb/conquistadors/mexico/adventure2/a1.htm

@http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/theconquest/a/09armsconquest.htm

@http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/topics/spanish_conquest.html

@http://kids.britannica.com/

@http://encarta.msn.com/

@http://everything2.com/title/Peninsulares

@http://www.answers.com/

@http://www.about.com/

**Included below is an example of researching, cut and pasting important information, paraphrasing the information, citing the website, and posting on your wiki for your group presentation.

Mr. Martin-section 5: pp. 78-80, "Harsh Life for Native Americans." A key point that I found interesting is found on page 79 and how the priest Bartolome de Las Casas tried to intercede on behalf of the Native Americans for better conditions. I used the website:** ****http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/theconquest/a/09armsconquest.htm****

** In the search box at the top of the page, I typed in "Bartolome de Las Casas," and was given different options of researching this individual and I chose the first option. **


 * I found something very interesting in that it showed that Las Casas did more than petition the government for better conditions for the Native Americans, he actually tried to do something about. It also showed me that throughout history, there were always people who were involved with social justice even with the chance of placing themselves in great harm.

(From the website) First Experiments: Las Casas convinced Spanish authorities to allow him to try and save the few remaining Caribbean natives by taking them out of slavery and placing them in free towns, but the death of King Ferdinand in 1516 and the resulting chaos over his successor caused these reforms to be delayed. Las Casas also asked for and received a section of the Venezuelan mainland for an experiment: he believed that he could pacify the natives with religion, not weapons. Unfortunately, the region that was selected had been heavily raided by slavers, and the natives’ hostility to the Europeans was too intense to overcome.

The Verapaz Experiment:  In 1537, Las Casas wanted to try again to show that natives could be controlled peacefully and that violence and conquest were unnecessary. He was able to convince the crown to let him send missionaries to a region in north-central Guatemala where the natives had proved particularly fierce. His experiment worked, and the natives were brought under Spanish control peacefully. The experiment was called Verapaz, or “true peace,” and the region still bears the name. Unfortunately, once the region was brought under control, greedy colonists took the lands and enslaved the natives, undoing almost all of Las Casas’ work.  This is an example of my paraphrasing the above section from the website, citing my source, and how it would look on your expert group wiki:  **

A key point that I found interesting is found on page 79 and how the priest Bartolome de Las Casas tried to intercede on behalf of the Native Americans for better conditions. I found something that I found very interesting section very interesting because it showed that Bartolome did more than petition the government for better conditions for the Native Americans, he actually tried to do something about. It also showed me that throughout history, there were always people who were involved with social justice even with the chance of placing themselves in great harm.
 * Mr. Martin-section 5: pp. 78-80, "Harsh Life for Native Americans."**

Las Casas found that even with his interventions on behalf of the Native Americans, he needed to show the government that more needed to be done. He was allowed to take the remaining Caribbean natives to Venezuela to start a free town, but his first attempt failed due to slave traders and hostility from the local natives. His second attempt found him using missionaries in Guatemala to subdue the natives using peaceful means and was successful. That area of Guatemala is still called "true peace." Unfortunately, the greed of the colonists undid Las Casas work as they took native's land and enslaved many of the residents. (Retrieved on November 1, 2009 from [] )