China and Europe at Sea: Zheng He and Christopher Columbus

Slides:

#21-Europe and China at Sea

Lecture:

  • November 25th at 10:30 am
  • Optional background reading for lecture: World History, Chapter 12, pages 474-476.

The Columbian Exchange

Slides:

#22-The Columbian Exchange

Lecture:

  • November 27th at 10:30 am
  • No reading.

Assignments

  • Short Essay Version 2 due on November 27th. For more information, see:Short Essays
  • Don’t forget to submit your answer to our weekly question on Moodle. You have until Sunday December 1st to get it done. 

Tutorials this week

Tutorials this week will focus on the Chinese and European Maritime Exploration. It is your last week of tutorial!

Readings (all available in Sources for the Frameworks of World History):

  • 14.2a Inscription of World Voyages by Zheng He
  • 14.2b Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores by Ma Huan
  • 14.3a Letter Describing His First Voyage by Christopher Columbus

Questions to think about:

  • Zheng He/Ma Huan and Christopher Columbus went on their maritime voyages for very different reasons. How do those reasons influence the way they’ve written these documents and what is included within them? How might the potential audience (or intended audience) influence what they had to say?