Geographical studies of South America. History of the discovery and development of South America. Doubts about the authenticity of the Bible

Discovery of South America

In the history of geography, the 15th century is usually regarded as a transitional period from the late Middle Ages to the era of the Great geographical discoveries.

From Western Europe there was a continuous flow of gold to the East, for the Europeans bought there much more than they sold. Moreover, the trade in spices and other oriental goods had to be carried out through the mediation of the Arabs, which aggravated the high cost of these goods. In the middle of the 15th century, a new obstacle arose in the way of the development of economic relations between Western Europe and the countries of the East - Turkish conquests. In 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople, and by the end of the 15th century, almost all trade routes Eastern Mediterranean.

In the 70s and 80s of the 15th century, several expeditions were equipped in Portugal to search for the legendary islands of the Atlantic Ocean, but there is almost no information about these expeditions.

Random travel photos

These voyages were the source of rumors, which subsequently gave rise to some researchers to dispute the priority of Columbus * in the discovery of America. In the 16th century there were rumors about the discovery by the Portuguese of some "gold" and "silver" islands. Such legends served as the basis for some Portuguese historians to assert that their compatriots discovered Brazil as early as 1447 and almost in 1342.

Ferdinand Magellan *** made circumnavigation. His ships departed from Seville on August 10, 1519; in November of the following year, Magellan passed the strait that now bears his name, and after a four-month voyage across the Pacific Ocean reached the Philippine Islands.

Attempts to refute the priority of Columbus meet with many reasonable objections. However, it is possible that some navigator of the 15th century. could accidentally reach the shores of America before Columbus, but it would hardly be correct to consider such an event as its discovery, because it did not play any historical role, it did not affect the geographical ideas of mankind, not to mention those colossal economic and political consequences, to who led the voyages of Columbus.

It was his first voyage through Atlantic Ocean in 1492 is considered to be the beginning of the era of the great geographical discoveries. The result of this voyage was the discovery of the islands of the Bahamas, Cuba and Haiti (Hispaniola). The second expedition of Columbus (1493 - 1496) led to the discovery of some islands from the Lesser Antilles group, Puerto Rico and Jamaica; in addition, the southern coast of Cuba (which Columbus took for part of the mainland) was examined. During the third voyage (1498) it was discovered north coast mainland South America with the mouth of the Orinoco and the island of Trinidad. finally, the last expedition of Columbus (1502 - 1504) resulted in a survey of the coast of the mainland from Honduras to the Gulf of Darien.

In 1499 - 1500, with the participation of wealthy Spanish shipowners, the Pinzon brothers, and a representative of the Florentine trading house in Seville, Amerigo Vespucci ** (see below) to northern shores South America was equipped with four expeditions. One of them, under the command of Vicente Pinzon, explored the coast for 700 - 800 miles - up to Cape St. Augustine (S. Rock) - and opened the mouth of the Amazon. In 1501 - 1505, the Spaniards continued to sail off the South American coast.

In 1500, the Portuguese Pedro Alvaris Cabral, who was heading to India, was driven back by a storm to the coast of Brazil, which he named the island of Santa Cruz. In 1508, the Spaniards Juan Diaz de Solis and Vicente Pinson discovered the shores of the Yucatan and proved that Cuba is an island, and the next year they went south along the coast of South America to 40 degrees. S in 1515 - 1516 Solis discovered La Plata, mistaking it for the desired passage.

Amerigo Vespucci, sailing off the coast of South America, at first hoped to find Malacca and Cattigara there, but in 1503, in a letter to Lorenzo Medici, he expressed the opinion that the countries he visited should be considered the New World. This saying by Vespuccip has been published in various languages. The Lorraine geographer from San Die Martin Waldseemüller, also known by the Latin name Hylacomylus (1470 - 1527), in 1507 proposed to name New World America. But for a long time this name was not generally accepted, and if it was used, then only in relation to Brazil (which was often also called the Land of Santa Cruz).

The voyages of the Spaniards off the coast of South America (1500 - 1501) showed that in tropical latitudes high mountains covered with snow. Pedro Martir de Anguiera tried to explain this phenomenon, as well as some other natural scientific facts contained in the reports of the conquistadors. Thus, the growth of powerful trees, which struck the imagination of the first explorers of South America, this scientist pointed out that, since the latter are stony, more gold can be expected there, but for the same reason they are less fertile and less suitable for settlement.

Sailing across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans gave an idea of the belts of calms, trade winds and westerly winds; Columbus discovered the equatorial current in the Atlantic, and Ponce de Leon (in 1523) discovered the Gulf Stream; Pedro Martir gave a diagram of the currents of the Atlantic Ocean. Since the expeditions of Columbus, magnetic declination has become known.

Voyages of Columbus

August 3, 1492 Three ships sailed from the port of Palos: Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina with 90 participants. The crews of the ships mostly consisted of convicted criminals. After the repair of the Pinta ship, weary days dragged on near the Canary Islands. 33 days have passed since the ships left the Canary Islands, and there was still no land. Soon there were signs of the proximity of land: the color of the water changed, flocks of birds appeared. The ships entered the Sargas Sea. Shortly beyond this sea, on October 12, the lookout saw a strip of land. It was small island with lush tropical vegetation, which Columbus named San Salvador and declared the possession of Spain. Columbus was sure that he had reached Asia.

Columbus left several people on the island of Hispaniola, led by his brother, and sailed to Spain, taking as evidence several Indians, feathers of unseen birds and several plants. March 15, 1493 in Palos he was greeted with triumph as a hero.

Having equipped immediately new expedition, Columbus set off from the city of Cadiz on his second voyage, which lasted from 1493 to 1496. Many new lands were discovered in the ridge of the Antilles (Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua), Puerto Rico, Jamaica, explored southern coasts Cuba, Hispaniola. But this time, Columbus did not reach the mainland. With rich booty, the ships returned to Spain.

The third voyage of Columbus took place in 1498-1500. on six courts. He sailed from San Lucar. On the island of Hispaniola, Columbus was expecting a heavy blow. The treacherous rulers of Spain, fearing that Columbus might become the ruler of the lands he had discovered, sent a ship after him with orders to arrest him. Columbus was shackled and brought to Spain. Columbus spent almost two years to prove his innocence. In 1502, he again embarked on his voyage to the west. This time Columbus visited many of the islands he had discovered, crossing from south coast Cuba Caribbean Sea and reached the coast of South America. From the fourth voyage, Columbus returned in 1504, his glory faded. In 1506 Columbus died in one of the small monasteries.

Amerigo Vespucci

At the very beginning of the 16th century, a native of Italy, a merchant Amerigo Vespucci, took part in one of the voyages to the shores of the West Indies. Having been off the coast of South America, he came to the conclusion that the land that Columbus discovered was not Asia, but an unknown vast land, the New World. He reported his guess in two letters to Italy. Word of this quickly spread. In 1506, a geographical atlas was published in France with a map of the northern part of South America. The author of the maps called this part of the New World the land of Amerigo. Cartographers of subsequent years extended this name to Central and North America. So the name Amerigo Vispucci was assigned to a whole part of the world and illegally immortalized by cartographers.

Magellan

(real name Magallans) was born in Portugal around 1480. A poor Portuguese nobleman fought in North Africa where he was wounded. Returning to his homeland, he asked the king for a promotion, but was refused. Insulted, Magellan left for Spain, where he signed an agreement under which Charles I equipped 5 ships with supplies for 2 years. Magellan became the sole head of the expedition.

On September 20, 1519, the flotilla left the port of San Lucar at the mouth of the Guadalquivir. On September 26, the flotilla approached Canary Islands, on November 26 it reached the coast of Brazil near 8 S, on December 13 - Guanabara Bay, and on December 26 - La Plata.

Indians of very tall stature approached the wintering place. They were called Patagonians (in Spanish "Patagon" - big-footed). Since that time, their country has been called Patagonia.

September 21, 1520 at 52 S a bay or opposite leading to the west was found after Magellan discovered the Atlantic coast of South America. Magellan walked south for several days through narrow straits until he saw 2 channels near about. Dawson: one to the southeast, the other to the southwest. Magellan sent one sailor to the southeast, another to the southwest. The sailors returned 3 days later with the news that they had seen the cape and the open sea. The admiral shed tears and for joy called this cape "Desirable".

The discovery of South America is directly related to the name of Christopher Columbus - famous navigator, who was looking for India. His search continued for about a month, three ships "Pinta", "Santa Maria" and "Nina" left Spain in 1492 to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Then Columbus saw the land that is now the Bahamas. Then the famous navigator was sure that he was in Asia, and called the islands of Western India - the West Indies. After that discovery, the navigator made three more sea voyages.

And only in 1498, Columbus visited the territory of South America - he landed on the coast, located opposite the island of Trinidad. Columbus was sure that he had discovered India.

Real discovery South America happened with the help of another navigator - Amerigo Vespucci. This happened at the beginning of the 16th century, when an Italian took part in a journey to the shores of the West Indies.

Then Vespucci realized that his predecessor had discovered not India, but an unknown continent, which was then called the New World. The name came from the name of Vespucci himself - the territory was called the land of Amerigo, which later turned into America.

The proposal to name the mainland in this way came from the German scientist Waldseemüller. Subsequently, one of the countries in South America was named after Columbus. The significance of the discovery of the mainland of South America is still being discussed. Indeed, in those days, the inhabitants of Europe did not know anything about the other part of the world, and the bold journey of Columbus forever changed the ideas of mankind about our planet. This is the largest geographical discovery.

But after the discovery, a long process of colonization began. After it became known about the discovery of new lands by Columbus, conquerors headed there from Europe, who wanted to find incredible treasures, riches and appropriate the lands. These conquerors were called conquistadors.

But in order to implement their ideas, they needed to exterminate and enslave indigenous people South America. This process was accompanied by constant looting and devastation of the newly discovered territories.

Simultaneously with the conquest, many geographical studies of new lands took place: maps of the coast were created, long passages overland.

One of important points In the history of the development of South America, the expedition of the scientist Alexander Humboldt is considered. The German researcher set himself the goal of studying the nature of the mainland and studying its indigenous population.

His works are invaluable - he described the nature around him, studied about 12 thousand plants and even created a map of South America, which can be called geological.

He conducted such in-depth research for 20 years that the book he subsequently wrote was called almost the second discovery of America.

This work has a special scientific significance, since the studies of the German scientist are extensive and relate to many geographical factors.

Russian scientists were also studying South America. For example, the botanist Vavilov investigated the origin of many cultivated plants in 1932-1933 These plants are native to South America.

Goals:

Formation of students' ideas about the GP of the mainland, the ability to compare the GP of South America and Africa, familiarizing students with the history of the discovery and exploration of the mainland and its significance for humanity;

Implementation of the educational process: man is part of nature;

Development of skills in working with an atlas, a contour map, additional literature, independent work skills, the ability to analyze and draw conclusions.

Method: independent work in groups.

Type of lesson: learning new material.

Equipment: Physical map of South America, TSO, additional literature, textbook, atlas, contour map.

During the classes

1. Organizational moment.

2. Learning new material.

Guys, today in the lesson we will continue the study of the continents. And the mainland that we will get to know today is South America. I would like to start the lesson with a video clip (review of South America with comments - 2 minutes).

Geographers call South America the continent of natural records. It is here that the most high waterfall the world - Angel (1054 m) and the most beautiful Iguazu; the heaviest and longest snake Anaconda lives (length - 11 m, weight - up to 230 kg); the largest butterflies and the smallest hummingbirds. And this list can be continued. You can learn about this and many other things from the books presented at the stand. The fact that South America is the continent of natural records is also proved by Rozhdestvensky's poem, which I took as an epigraph to the lesson:

May it dawn on you South Cross,
The titles are almost like music.
Huts in the middle of the trash
May the Southern Cross be with you!
Herds tired of grazing
Hungry regal gauchos.
And birds are smaller than butterflies
And butterflies - with the scope of birds.

So, the topic of the lesson: "South America. GP. History of discovery and research". What tasks should we solve today in the lesson? (Problems on the board). In order to solve the tasks assigned to us, we will be divided into four groups: “Young Geographers”, “Analysts”, “Pioneers”, “Researchers”. Each group solves a specific problem assigned to it, using a hint plan (appendices 1-4). 10 minutes are allotted for group work. At the end of the time, the groups report on the work done.

"Young geographers":

1. South America, island Tierra del Fuego, which is separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan; Galapagos Islands, Falkland Islands.

2. Relative to the equator most of the mainland lies in the southern hemisphere, relative to the zero meridian, the mainland lies in the western hemisphere.

3. Length from north to south for 70 buildings - 66 x 111 km = 7326 km.

4. The length from west to east is 10 yush - 42x109.6 = 4603.2 km.

5. Extreme north point cape Galinas 12 sch 72 bld.

extreme south point Cape Forward 54 SW 71 Building (island Cape Horn 56 SW 68 Building).

extreme western point Cape Parinas 5 yush 82 bld.

extreme eastern point cape Cabo Branco 7 yush 34 bld.

6. Separated from North America by the Panama Canal, from Antarctica by the Drake Passage. Washed in the west Pacific Ocean, in the east - by the Atlantic Ocean, in the north - by the Caribbean Sea. The coastline is poorly dissected - La Plata Bay. Currents: warm - Brazilian, Guiana; cold - Falkland, Peruvian.

"Analysts":

Using the maps of the atlas, give a comparative description of the GPs of South America and Africa:

a) South America, like Africa, is crossed by the equator, with the only difference being that Africa is almost in the middle, and South America is in the northern part.

It follows from this that South America is mostly located in the southern hemisphere, and its smaller part is located in the northern hemisphere;

b) South America, like Africa, is located in the equatorial, subequatorial, tropical, subtropical climatic zones. However, the ratio of territories within the same zone is different. Thus, the tropical zone of Africa is larger than that of South America, however, the South American subtropical zone prevails over the African zone in area, moreover, in the south of South America there is a temperate zone, which is absent in Africa.

c) the prime meridian crosses Africa in the western part, hence it is located in the western and eastern hemispheres. Unlike Africa, South America is located entirely in the Western Hemisphere, as it lies to the west of the prime meridian.

d) The Atlantic Ocean washes (what?) The eastern shores of South America and (what?) The western coasts of Africa. From the west, South America is washed by the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

e) South America is closest to the mainland. North America. These continents are interconnected panama canal. From other continents: Antarctica - by the Drake Passage.

"Pioneers":

date	Traveler	Opening
1492-1493	H. Columbus	First expedition - Large Antilles and San Salvador.
1493-1494	H. Columbus	The second expedition - Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico.
1498	H. Columbus	The third expedition - Trinidad Island and the northern coast of South America.
1500-1502	A. Vespucci	Eastern shores of South America, "New World"
1520	F. Magellan	Atlantic coast, Tierra del Fuego, Strait of Magellan

"Researchers":

Significance of the history of discovery and research

a) Discovery of new, unknown lands - the “New World”;

b) The colonization of the lands by Spain and Portugal, which led to the disappearance of the civilization of the Indians, the plundering of the Indian peoples and their enslavement.

c) The discovery of cultivated plants that are grown today in many countries of the world: corn, potatoes, peanuts, pumpkins, tomatoes, beans, tobacco.

3. Fixing.

Test. By answering the test questions correctly, by the first letters of the names you will recognize the strait, named after the traveler who discovered it.

Common name for extreme points (Cape)
The heaviest and longest snake. (Anaconda)
The extreme northern point of the mainland. (Gallinas)
Complete the statement by N.M. Przhevalsky: "Ah ... life is beautiful because you can travel." (More)
Gulf of South America. (La Plata)
Tall-grass savannas of the plains of the Orinoco river basin, which were investigated by G. Langsdorf. (Llanos)
The mainland, which is separated from South America by the Drake Passage. (Antarctica)
The name given open lands A. Vespucci. (New World)
Island in the south of the mainland. (Tierra del Fuego)
Russian botanist who discovered the centers of cultivated plants. (Vavilov)

ABOUT

4. Homework: paragraph 40, prepare reports on travelers and explorers (optional).

GP. History of discovery and exploration of South America

Target: to form in students a general idea of the geographical position, size and shape of the mainland; to consolidate the practical ability of students to characterize the FGP of the mainland using maps of the atlas; deepen students' knowledge about the history of the discovery and exploration of the mainland; develop memory, logical thinking, the ability to draw conclusions and generalizations.

Lesson type: learning new material.

Equipment: physical map South America, atlases, contour maps, portraits of explorers of the mainland, pictures of the nature of the mainland, textbooks.

Supporting and basic concepts: mainland, part of the world, geographic location; hemispheres, meridians, parallels, Gondwana, parts of the World Ocean; constituents coastline, the area of the continent, the equator, Prime Meridian, extreme points, researchers.

Geographic nomenclature: continents: South America, Africa, North America, Antarctica; capes: Gallinas, Frouerd, Cabo Branco, Parinhas, Horn; Caribbean Sea, La Plata Bay; Strait: Magellan, Drake; islands: Tierra del Fuego, Falkland.

During the classes

I. Organizational moment

Psychological mood of students for further productive work. Pay attention to the image of the faces of children with different moods, find out who feels how. Students take turns raising their hands to analyze each drawing.

II. Updating the basic knowledge and skills of students

Reception "Blitsoprosk"

Name the continents you have studied. Show them on the map.

According to what plan are they studying the mainland?

Why is it important to know the geographical location of the mainland to determine the features of its nature?

III. Motivation of educational and cognitive activity of students

Reception "Surprise everyone"

Teacher. The mainland was named New world". The heroes of Jules Verne's book "Children of Captain Grant" wandered on this mainland. Here flows the most deep river peace. On this continent are the highest volcano and waterfall on Earth, the driest desert, the smallest bird, bloodthirsty fish. with this mainland related words"carnival", "football", "tango".

Pupils determine the mainland, supplement the teacher's story (leading homework).

IV. Learning new material

1. Reception "Creative Lab"

Task (work in groups)

I-II groups. Using the maps of the atlas, determine the coordinates of the extreme points of the mainland.

II-IV groups. Using the maps of the atlas and the student's reference book, determine the features of the physical geographical location mainland.

V-VI groups. Determine distinctive and common features geographic location of South America, Africa and Australia.

Summing up the work of each group. Conclusions.

2. Reception "Geographical laboratory"

Apply to contour map the names of the extreme points, the oceans washing the mainland, and the continents with which South America borders.

3. Teacher's story (supplemented by students' messages - ahead of time homework)

Teacher. How was South America discovered? The land routes to India were blocked by the Arabs. Therefore, the Europeans were forced to seek sea routes to the state, where it was possible to buy pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, which were highly valued in medieval Europe sometimes worth its weight in gold. Christopher Columbus believed in the sphericity of the Earth, so he decided to go to India in reverse direction- Across the Atlantic Ocean. On October 12, 1492, the sailors saw the land, it was an island from the group Bahamas, Columbus named him Salvador ("holy savior"). Having discovered Cuba, Columbus decided that this was the eastern outskirts of Asia. October 12, 1492 is considered the official date for the discovery of America.

Why discovered by Columbus land received the name Vespucci? Amerigo Vespucci, having studied in 1501-1502. east coast, proved that this land is a mainland, and described its nature, gave the name New World. Therefore, the Lorraine cartographer Waldseemüller in 1507 named this continent after him, and then this name spread to both western continents. The first scientists - explorers of South America in 1735-1743. The French and Spanish participants of the Equatorial Expedition became. At the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. the mainland was explored by the German scientist Alexander Humboldt, he published the results of his research in the 30-volume book Journey to the Equinoxes of the New World Region. The study of the South American continent prompted the scientist Charles Darwin to develop an evolutionary theory of the development of the organic world of the Earth. Great importance had a botanical and agronomic expedition of Nikolai Vavilov (1932-1933), during which the formation of cultivated plants in South America was established.

V. Consolidation of the studied material

Reception "Press Conference"

Name the features of the geographical location of South America.

Name the extreme points of the mainland, seas, oceans, it is washed. Show them on the map.

Why is the mainland named after the person who discovered it?

VI. Lesson summary

1. Reception "I draw a conclusion"

The mainland of North America is located in the Western and predominantly Southern hemispheres, has a significant length from north to south.

The first Europeans were the Portuguese and Spaniards, who turned the mainland into colonial possessions.

A. Humboldt and N. Vavilov made a significant contribution to the study.

2. Returning to the test at the beginning of the lesson in order to obtain information about the well-being of schoolchildren after working in the lesson.

VII. Homework

Paragraph ___

Fill out the map

The discovery of South America is directly related to the name of Christopher Columbus, the famous navigator who was looking for India. His search lasted about a month, three ships Pinta, Santa Maria and Nina left Spain in 1492 to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Then Columbus saw the land that is now the Bahamas. Then the famous navigator was sure that he was in Asia, and called the islands of Western India - the West Indies. After that discovery, the navigator made three more sea voyages.

And only in 1498, Columbus visited the territory of South America - he landed on the coast, located opposite the island of Trinidad. Columbus was sure that he had discovered India.

The real discovery of South America happened with the help of another navigator - Amerigo Vespucci. This happened at the beginning of the 16th century, when an Italian took part in a journey to the shores of the West Indies.

But in order to implement their ideas, they needed to exterminate and enslave the indigenous population of South America. This process was accompanied by constant looting and devastation of the newly discovered territories.

Simultaneously with the conquest, many geographical studies of new lands took place: maps of the coast were created, long passages overland.

One of the important moments in the history of the development of South America is the expedition of the scientist Alexander Humboldt. The German researcher set himself the goal of studying the nature of the mainland and studying its indigenous population.

His works are invaluable - he described the nature around him, studied about 12 thousand plants and even created a map of South America, which can be called geological.

He conducted such in-depth research for 20 years that the book he subsequently wrote was called almost the second discovery of America.

This work is of particular scientific importance, since the studies of the German scientist are extensive and relate to many geographical factors.

Russian scientists were also studying South America. For example, the botanist Vavilov investigated the origin of many cultivated plants in 1932-1933. These plants are native to South America.