Spanish American History

This lesson falls under our homeschool curriculum on European American History. We recommend that this lesson be taught after the lesson on Russian Americans.

1. Internet Access – Pull up the following:

1. World Map

2. Europe Map

3. United States Map

2. Ponce de Leon Maze

1. Teacher: Last week, we learned about the Russian Americans who invented great things like the helicopter and T.V. The Russian Americans came to the United States they wanted to find better opportunities for their families. Today, we will learn about the Spanish Americans. The Spanish Americans come from the country of Spain [point to Spain on the Europe Map].

2. Teacher: You’re going to learn that the Spanish come from a country that was once the strongest country in the world. Why, even though we speak English in this country, you probably heard people speaking Spanish. Do you know where that language came from? That’s right, it came from Spain.

3. Teacher: So are you ready to learn about the Spanish Americans? [Get positive response from Student and begin lesson].

1. Teacher: Now, as I said before, Spain was once the strongest country in the world. This was long ago. But during that time when Spain was the strongest, the first Spanish people came to the United States to look for gold and treasure. In fact, there was one person named Ponce De Leon who was the first person to claim Florida as belonging to Spain.

2. Teacher: You may not know that name, but Ponce De Leon was famous for looking for something fantastic that the Indians told him about. It was a water fountain that, when you drank from it, would make you young again and stay young forever. How would you feel if you could be young forever? [Engage the Student in conversation].

3. Teacher: Anyway, this fountain was called the Fountain of Youth and it was Ponce De Leon that made the idea of the Fountain of Youth famous today. Before we leave Ponce De Leon, one last thing I want to say about him is that Ponce De Leon was the one who gave the state of Florida its name. “Florida” means “land of flowers” because there were probably many flowers and trees when he found the place.

4. Teacher: So, as you can see, the Spanish, with their great power, came to the United States in search for riches and youth. The Spanish also took over a bunch of land South of the United States in what is now known as Central America [point to Central America on the World Map], and so all these countries in Central America like Mexico, which is the biggest country in Central America, all spoke Spanish because it was the Spanish that took over their lands long long ago.

5. Teacher: Sadly, the Spanish lost most of their power to the English (just like the Dutch and French) and for a while, Spanish people didn’t come to the United States.

6. Teacher: But as time went on, the country of Spain began to get crowded with too many people. These people took up a lot of the farming land and so, the Spanish began to move to the United States because there was plenty of land there, and the Americans would pay the Spanish more money for doing the same work in Spain.

7. Teacher: Another thing that made the Spanish move to the United States was war, or I should say, wars. There were wars against France and even wars against one group of Spanish against another group of Spanish, which is called a civil war, which made some of the Spanish move to the United States.

8. Teacher: And most of the Spanish first came to New York [point to New York on the United States Map]. But because of earlier Spanish discoveries, the Spanish also lived in Florida, California and the Midwest [point to Florida, California and the Midwest on the United States Map].

9. Teacher: And what did the Spanish do when they first got here? Many started out in farming, mining (working in coal mines), ship building, and metal working. And as time went by and the Spanish Americans made enough money in the United States, some of them moved back to Spain. And so, there aren’t too many Spanish Americans today in the United States, compared to other European Americans.

10. Teacher: However, the Spanish Americans did some great things for the United States. For example, Walter Alvarez was the first scientist to explain to the world that the dinosaurs might have all died because an asteroid hit the earth and created all sorts of weather problems. Another scientist named Luis Walter Alvarez, who was actually Walter Alvarez’s father, was one of the most important scientists that help create the world’s deadliest weapon, the nuclear bomb and was named one of the best scientists of modern times.

11. Teacher: On the lighter side, some famous Spanish Americans or Spanish celebrities that live in the United States are Antonio Banderas, who played the role of Gregorio Cortez in the Spy Kids movies and the voice of Puss in Boots (the cat) in the Shrek movies, and Alfred Molina, who played the role of Dr. Octopus in the Spiderman II movie.

12. Teacher: One last thing about the Spanish Americans - even though England beat Spain long ago as the strongest country in the world, the signs of Spain still live on today with the Spanish language. It’s still spoken in many countries in Europe, Central America, even Asia in a country called the Philippines [point to the Philippines on the World Map]. In fact, some people think that more people will speak Spanish than English in the coming future and that’s all because of all the lands that the Spanish controlled long long ago when Spain was the strongest country in the world.

13. Teacher: Ok – time for an activity. Remember we talked about Ponce de Leon and the search of the Fountain of Youth? Well, you’re going to help Ponce de Leon find the Fountain of Youth by solving this maze. Also, after you’re done with the maze, you can color both Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth. [Hand out the maze worksheet and give Student 10 minutes to complete the exercise].

14. Teacher: Wow, you solved the maze for Ponce de Leon! OK – time for review. Get in front of the class. [Have the Student stand in front of you (consider inviting other members of the family also to set the stage) and ask her the following:

1. What state did the Spanish discover in the United States and what does the name of the state mean? Florida, the land of the flowers

2. What was Ponce de Leon looking for when he claimed Florida as part of Spain? Gold and the Fountain of Youth

3. Why did the Spanish come over to the United States? Mostly, to make money and provide for their families. Also, to escape wars going on in Spain.

4. What weapon did Luis Alvarez help invent? The nuclear bomb.

Next Lesson: African American History >>