The Men Who Found America: Lives of the New World Explorers - Columbus, Raleigh, Cabeza de Vaca and More, Told for Children

by Frederick Winthrop Hutchinson

This collection of biographies focuses on the discoverers and explorers of the New World – written for young readers, this is a superb introduction to the Age of Discovery. Beginning with Christopher Columbus, the man who found the Americas, we proceed to a variety of the world’s finest explorers. These bold navigators braved lengthy sea voyages, as well as dangers upon the sea and the land. Some were commissioned by the leaders of different countries, while others strove to explore independently. All were brave and their adventures made many great story books. Some even founded the first colonial villages and little ports in new lands, starting the recorded history of many a new territory. Illustrations of the great explorers accompany the biographies, and the author seeks to make the stories of these historic people entertaining yet accurate. Various legends of the time, such as the golden city of El Dorado, are mentioned. Finding mythical treasure and claiming it would not only make the finder a person of huge wealth, but also secure fame and a legacy that would last long after they had left the world.

Genres: History

82 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1909

Reviews

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

The text is captivating, sometimes speaking directly to the reader, but always in an informal, guiding tone. The occasional full-page color illustrations are detailed and appealing. The book covers a good range of explorers, introducing students to the big names. Not everyone is presented as a hero, and some are explicitly and repeatedly described as "wicked" for their cruel behavior, mostly (though not exclusively) towards American Indians. In general, the French come off best, the Spanish the worst, with the English and Dutch somewhere in between. The chapters are fairly short and this works beautifully as a read-aloud.

[Isabella Leake · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unlikely candidate to live in my affections forever, this school book was probably the one I was least excited about reading for 4th grade. Columbus, Cortez, Pizarro: meh. Raleigh, Pocahontas: nice enough, but I still didn't imagine the narrative captivating my son's imagination. It didn't seem at all like his cup of tea, and I find the whole topic kind of unpleasant.

But—subject matter aside—the book is written in a such a storylike, friendly, engaging way that it was a smooth transition from the chapter books Anselm had been reading to this one. He was able to move from fiction to non-fiction without a loss of narrative style or readability or (even!) enjoyment.

We started out buddy reading, but very soon he could read it confidently by himself! And even give good narrations—some of the best he's ever done! And then it became a book that he showed genuine interest in—he often talks, off the clock in an offhand way, about Cortez's descent from virtue to vice, Pizarro's pre-conquest life as a swineherd, which of the Spaniards was most "wicked" (the book's term), de Soto's bravery (he calls him "Ferdinand"), and "Sir Waliter" Raleigh (a first delightful example of not knowing how to pronounce a word learned in a book!).

Our curriculum assigns this book not as history but as biography, and I think the clue to its success lies therein. These are stories centered around people—all brave, all adventurous, some greedy, everyone good or bad to some degree—and history is so very captivating when personalized in this way. Last year, covering this same time period and many of the same events in our history text, my son was completely lost. Now, he grasps the main events, the main cause-and-effect, because he has entered into an acquaintance with the actors themselves. And the book's moral compass seems very appealing to him. There is a fairly clear distinction between good and bad: treat the Indians well, and you are admirable and your accomplishments are praiseworthy; treat them badly, and you are wicked despite your impressive deeds. Columbus, de Soto, Raleigh, John Smith: good. Balboa, Cortez, Pizarro: bad. Of course history and ethics (and for that matter theology) are more complicated than this, but for 4th grade, I am satisfied that this is a fine place to start.

I finished the book ahead of him—buddy reading turned into pre reading, hallelujah!—but I'm excited for him to get to the English and French explorers and start to recognize more places that he is familiar with. He has voiced surprise that the book promises to talk about "America" but so far it has all been about South America (which led to some world-expanding conversations around our globe). And I'll be interested to see if he picks up on the trend of the English and especially French explorers to be more friendly with the Indians than the Spanish.

Far from remaining a book we both feel indifferent to, I now believe it will live long in his memory, as it will in mine.

[Rachael Stoldt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled liking this book. The only thing I liked is that it introduced all these different explorers which was interesting. It was poorly written, it used derogatory terms for Native Americans, and was written from a perspective that the the land of the Americas was largely uninhabited by indigenous people groups. I don’t want to discount explorers’ contribution to our history, but I felt like this history depiction was one-sided. I wish I knew more authors/books that wrote from the perspective of the indigenous people of each area.

[Hugs]

I just can't.

[Jean Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hutchins was really rather harsh on Cortez but in general a good history book of explorers.

[Darlene Nichols]

Read with Malachi, year 3. The author did a good job highlighting the bravery of the early explorers in American history without passing over the wickedness that also scars our country’s history.

[Sarah Coller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this lovely 1909 edition over the last couple months with my nine year old daughter, Avalon. We really enjoyed most of the stories---especially the ones about the founding of New France. When we read these chapters, I told Avalon about our own ancestors who came to Quebec as early settlers and eventually immigrated to America about the time this book was written. I'll save it on our shelf until the next child is ready to learn about The Men Who Found America.

Finished a second time after reading slowly over several years with my son, Liam.