Document-Based Questions - Debra J. Housel, M.S. Ed. 2008

The Journey that Proved Earth Was Round
Great Adventures

Five hundred years ago, sailing—even in familiar waters—was an adventure. There were no radios, weather reports, or good maps. Sailors were on their own. Many died in shipwrecks. So little was known about Earth and its seas that no one was sure that the world was round.

Then Ferdinand Magellan led a crew of 265 on a voyage. They were the first men to sail around the world. They were also the first Europeans to cross the Pacific Ocean.

Magellan had sailed to the Spice Islands for King Manuel of Portugal. When the king turned on Magellan, he went to the Spanish King Charles. Magellan wanted to try to reach the islands from the other direction. King Charles paid for the voyage. That made King Manuel angry. He sent men to interfere. They were three of the four captains. But Magellan did not know this when he set sail in September 1519. He commanded the Trinidad. The other ships in his fleet were the San Antonio, Concepcion, Victoria, and Santiago.

Along Africa’s coast, strong thunderstorms battered the fleet. Next, they drifted for three weeks. They had to wait for the weather to change and wind to blow. In the meantime, the ships started to leak, and the heat made water and wine barrels burst. Some of their food rotted. At last they headed southwest. One captain planned a rebellion, or mutiny. He wanted to seize command. Magellan put him in chains.

In November they reached Brazil’s shore. They rested there. On Christmas Day they started going down the South American coast. On the way they explored each river and bay. They moved slowly and ended up in a cold, barren place on April 1 (fall in that hemisphere). The three captains rose up against Magellan. He killed two and left the third on the shore in chains.

The crew built huts and set up camp. For food, they caught black and white “geese” that didn’t fly (penguins) and “legless sea wolves” (seal lions). The Santiago sailed south to scout ahead. It was wrecked. Just two men made it back to camp. The fleet set out in August 1520. In October, they found a bay. Magellan sent two ships to explore it. A violent two-day storm began. The ships took shelter in a small inlet. They found that it was a long waterway. Although it had land on both sides, the water was salty. They had discovered the Strait of Magellan at the tip of South America! They came back and got the rest of the fleet. For the first time, people sailed from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. It took one month.

The weather was awful, and the captain of the San Antonio turned his ship around and fled. It took the remaining ships from November 1520 until March 1521 to cross the Pacific Ocean and reach the Philippines. Magellan was killed when he tried to force the natives there to become Christians. But enough of his crew survived that two ships returned to Spain in September 1522. Only 18 men had survived the trip. One had kept a log about this adventure that proved once and for all that the world was round.

The Journey that Proved Earth Was Round

The Journey that Proved Earth Was Round

1. Which of Ferdinand Magellan’s ships sank along the coast of South America?

a. the San Antonio

b. the Victoria

c. the Santiago d. the Trinidad

2. The men ate “geese” in South America. What were these animals?

a. penguins

b. puffins

c. ducks

d. Canadian geese

3. We know so many details about Magellan’s trip around the world because

a. Magellan wrote a book describing his adventure.

c. one of his sailors kept a journal about the voyage.

b. reporters were aboard on one his ships and sent reports back to Europe.

d. King Charles made Magellan a national hero and had him tell the story over and over again.

4. Mutiny is when captains/sailors rise up against a commander to try to take control of a ship. True or False? Explain.

5. Which two oceans did Magellan’s fleet not sail through? Why didn’t they go through these oceans?

6. Would you have like to have been a sailor on one of Magellan’s ships that went around the world? Why or why not?