Assignment: Norse Discovery of America
You've read the Answer the following questions before moving on with this unit:
1. How did Erik the Red end up in Iceland?
2. Why does Erik quit his seafaring ways and turn things over to his son?
3. Describe the first encounter with the Native Americans? What were they called by the Norse?
4. Why do you suppose that Columbus has typically been credited with being the first European in North America when others beat him there by around 500 years?
5. Do some quick searches, why didn't the Norse settlement in North America last? Based on what you've found, what do you think happened to them? Why do you think they eventually left settlements in Greenland as well?