Atlantic Exploration 1415-1522 — Portuguese (Henry the Navigator, Vasco da Gama) + Spanish (Columbus, Magellan), with ZHENG HE 1405-1433 PRECEDING by 87 Years

Display MG-21 Zheng He voyages map alongside MG-12 Portuguese + Spanish voyages 1488-1522. Ask: 'Which voyages came FIRST? By how many years?' Reveal Zheng He 1405-1433 preceded by 60-87 years.

• Display MG-21 + MG-12 side by side
• Ask the FIRST-voyages question
• Refuse the 'European discovery' framing — name MG-13a

M-7-S-GEO-10-B Map

24x36 inch wall poster MG-21 showing all SEVEN Zheng He voyages 1405-1433 with treasure-ship-vs-Santa-María scale comparison; refusal frame 'PRECEDE Columbus by 87 years' annotated.

MG-21 Map

ZHENG HE VOYAGES MAP 1405-1433 — 24x36 inch wall poster showing all SEVEN voyages routes: 1st 1405-1407 to Calicut; 2nd 1407-1409 to Calicut; 3rd 1409-1411 to Sri Lanka; 4th 1413-1415 to Hormuz; 5th 1417-1419 to Africa east coast Malindi; 6th 1421-1422 to East Africa; 7th 1431-1433 to Hormuz + Mecca + Africa. Treasure ship 400-450 feet shown to SCALE next to Santa María 62 feet — visual scale contrast. Annotated with: Ming Yongle Emperor decree text + Zheng He stone tablet at Liujia Harbor + Sri Lanka trilingual inscription (Chinese-Tamil-Persian) Galle 1411. Refusal frame: 'Zheng He's voyages PRECEDE Columbus by 87 years.'

Atlantic exploration 1415-1522. Portuguese — Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) funded Sagres; Ceuta 1415; Cape Bojador 1434; Madeira 1419 + Azores 1427 + Cape Verde 1462 colonization with sugar plantations 1450s (using enslaved labor — slave trade begins, see Lesson 17); Diogo Cão 1482; Bartolomeu Dias 1488 Cape of Good Hope; Vasco da Gama 1497-1499 Calicut Kerala via Cape + Malindi pilot Ahmad ibn Majid; Pedro Álvares Cabral 1500 Brazil 22 April; Afonso de Albuquerque 1510 Goa + 1511 Malacca + 1515 Hormuz. Spanish — Columbus 1492-1504 funded by Castile (Ferdinand+Isabella); 12 October 1492 Bahamas (Guanahani/San Salvador); convinced he had reached 'the Indies' (he had not); Treaty of Tordesillas 1494 divided Atlantic at meridian ~370 leagues west of Cape Verde — Pope Alexander VI's intervention. Magellan-Elcano 1519-1522 first circumnavigation — 5 ships + 270 men depart; 1 ship + 18 men return; Magellan killed Philippines 1521. CRITICAL — Zheng He 1405-1433 SEVEN voyages PRECEDE Columbus by 87 years; Indian Ocean monsoon trade network already 1000+ years old when Portuguese arrived (Periplus 1st c. CE + Tang/Song + Mali/Songhai + Swahili + Gujarat + Tamil ports). The word 'discovery' is Eurocentric — refuse it.

• This vocabulary discipline carries throughout the unit.

  model Every land Europeans 'discovered' 1488-1522 was already home to people. The Bahamas had Lucayan Taíno ~40,000 population; Calicut had ~50,000 + bustling port; Hispaniola had ~1-3 million Taíno. 'Discovery' implies the land was previously unknown — but it was unknown only to Europeans. The Indian Ocean had been the world's busiest maritime network for 1000+ years before Vasco da Gama. MG-13a Promise: every encounter from at least TWO perspectives.

  prompt Why is the word 'discovery' problematic?
• MG-7 Q5 NMAI: WHOSE VOICE IS SILENT? Chinese maritime history was silenced until Levathes 1994 + Dreyer 2007 + Hansen re-centered it.

  model Zheng He's first voyage 1405-1407: ~317 ships + 27,800 men; Columbus 1492: 3 ships + ~90 men. Zheng He's largest treasure ships ~400-450 feet vs. Columbus's Santa María ~62 feet. Zheng He reached Hormuz + Mecca + East Africa Malindi 1417-1419. Western histories often omit Zheng He.

  prompt Zheng He vs Columbus scale comparison.

• Trace 3 voyages on MG-12 with captain + sponsor + key stop.
• Why is 'discovery' problematic?
• When did Zheng He's voyages begin vs. Columbus's?

M-7-S-GEO-10-A Map

30x36 inch wall map MG-12 showing major global voyages 1405-1525 with color-coded routes: Zheng He 1405-1433 SEVEN voyages (yellow); Henry the Navigator-era 1419-1460 (orange); Dias 1488 + Columbus 1492-1504 + Vasco da Gama 1497-1499 + Cabral 1500 + Magellan-Elcano 1519-1522 + Cortés 1519 + Pizarro 1532. Indian Ocean monsoon arrows in faint gray show pre-existing networks.

MG-12 Map

GLOBAL VOYAGES Atlas — 30x36 inch wall map showing all major global voyages 1405-1525 with color-coded routes: Zheng He 1405-1433 SEVEN voyages (yellow) + Henry the Navigator-era West African voyages 1419-1460 (orange) + Dias 1488 (red) + Columbus 1492-1504 four voyages (purple) + Vasco da Gama 1497-1499 (green) + Cabral 1500 (blue) + Magellan-Elcano 1519-1522 (white) + Cortés 1519 + Pizarro 1532. Each voyage shown with dates + ship type + major stops. Indian Ocean monsoon arrows in faint gray showing the network's pre-existing PRECEDENCE of Portuguese arrival.

• Pairs: trace 5 voyages on MG-12 Atlas with date + captain + sponsor.

  scaffold Voyage-card handouts with dates pre-filled.
• Source-card practice: apply MG-7 Q1 SOURCING + Q8 ENCOUNTER MULTI-PERSPECTIVE to Columbus's 1493 Letter to Santangel. What perspective is Columbus writing from? Whose perspective is silent?

  scaffold MG-7 sentence frames + Letter excerpt highlighted.

M-7-S-GEO-10-C Photograph

Photograph of Zheng He's trilingual stone inscription Galle Sri Lanka 1411 (Colombo National Museum) — Chinese + Tamil + Persian text honoring Buddha + Vishnu + Allah; primary source for Zheng He's diplomatic + multi-religious approach.

• Name 3 voyages with captain + date.
• Why refuse 'discovery'?
• Sticky to MG-23 about voyages.

• Recite FIVE PROMISES
• Add stickies
• Preview Lesson 11 — Columbian Exchange + Mexica conquest (trauma-informed)

• Find one image of any European exploration-era ship (caravel/carrack/galleon) OR any non-European ship from the same era (Zheng He treasure ship, Arab dhow, Tamil ship); name type + date.