History activity about the discovery of Brazil, proposed to students in the fourth or fifth year of elementary school.
You can download this activity in editable Word template, ready to print in PDF and also the answered activity.
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SCHOOL: DATE:
PROF: CLASS:
NAME:
Sir;
[…] And so we went our way through this sea; even on the Tuesday of Easter week – it was April 21st – we found some signs of earth: a large amount of long herbs called botelhos, as well as others that give the name of ass-tail. The next day – Wednesday morning – we came across birds they call wormholes. That same day, at the end of the afternoon, we sighted land! First a big hill, very high and round; then other lower ranges south of the hill and more land with large groves. The high mountain, the Captain named Pascoal, and the land, Terra de Vera Cruz.
Then […] we dropped anchors. There we remained for the entire night. The next day, Thursday morning, we sailed and headed straight ashore, where we dropped anchors in front of a river mouth. Anchoring was completed around ten o'clock. From there we saw men walking along the beach […].
The Captain General ordered Nicolau Coelho to land with a boat and inspect that river. And when he began to make his way there, men appeared on the beach in groups of two, three, so that when the boat reached the mouth of the river, eighteen or twenty men were already there. They were brown, all naked […] they had bows and arrows in their hands. They all came quickly towards the boat. Nicolau Coelho motioned for the bows to be put down. And they did so […]
Pero Vaz de Caminha. Finding letter from Brazil. (Text adapted)
1) What was the reason that led Pero Vaz de Caminha to write a letter to the king?
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2) Who was the Captain-Major described in Pero Vaz de Caminha's letter?
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3) Who were the people who showed up on the beach?
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4) Why were the people on the beach armed?
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5) Was the first contact between Europeans and Indians peaceful or violent?
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6) According to the letter, how does Caminha describe the natives of these lands?
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For ACCESS
At answers are in the link above the header.
