1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created

1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created

• Genre: Nonfiction; history; economics; ecology
• Originally Published: 2011
• Reading Level/Interest: College/adult
• Structure/Length: 4 parts; 10 chapters; approximately 690 pages; approximately 17 hours, 46 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: In this nonfiction text, Charles C. Mann explores the profound global changes set in motion by the Columbian Exchange, the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the “Old World” in the 15th and 16th centuries. Mann examines the ecological and economic consequences of this exchange, revealing how the interactions reshaped the world in ways that are still being felt today. From the spread of new crops that altered land use and diets to the slave trade and the silver flow that impacted economies, the book presents a sweeping narrative of the interconnectedness of the globe following Columbus’s voyages.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Discussions of slavery, colonialism, and their brutal impacts; environmental changes that led to the extinction of species; the spread of diseases and their catastrophic effects on Indigenous populations

Charles C. Mann, Author

• Bio: Born 1955; American journalist and author known for his detailed writing on scientific topics and history; focuses on the intersection of ecology, economics, and cultural history
• Other Works: The Aspirin Wars: Money, Medicine, and 100 Years of Rampant Competition (1991); Noah's Choice: The Future of Endangered Species (1995); 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus (2005)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• The Widespread Impacts of the Columbian Exchange
• A New Evolutionary Era: The Homogenocene
• The Humanitarian Cost of Expansion

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Teaching Guide, students will:

• Explore background information on the pre-Columbian world to increase their engagement with and understanding of the text.
• Read/study paired texts and other brief resources to deepen their understanding of themes related to The Widespread Impacts of the Columbian Exchange, A New Evolutionary Era: The Homogenocene, and The Humanitarian Cost of Expansion.
• Demonstrate their understanding of the widespread impacts of the Columbian Exchange by creating a map tracing the movement of several organisms around the globe and by creating a game demonstrating the cultures and goods involved in the Exchange.
• Analyze in structured essay responses the construction of Mann’s central argument; Mann’s use of detail, language, and other elements to accomplish various rhetorical purposes; and other topics.