Beyond Columbus: World History in the Year 1492

About this curriculum

As everyone knows, 1492 was the year Christopher Columbus sailed three small ships across the Atlantic Ocean. But that is only a fragment of the story of what transpired around the world in that pivotal year. This book provides a global view of the people, places, and events of 1492, presenting a multicultural approach that illustrates the outsized influence that one year can have on the course of history. As everyone knows, 1492 was the year Christopher Columbus sailed three small ships across the Atlantic Ocean. But that is only a fragment of the story of what transpired around the world in that year. There was much more happening in 1492, including events of notable significance. And those events weren’t only occurring in Spain and America; they were occurring all over the world—politically, socially, culturally, technologically, artistically, architecturally, religiously, and more. So why do most children learn little more than that “In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”? It’s a narrow, stripped-down, simplified fact that leaves out much of the important history that was unfolding in all parts of the world.…