Customer Reviews

National Geographic: America Before Columbus

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In spite of its misleading title, this National Geographic video isn't really about America "before Columbus." It is about America _after_ Columbus, specifically the transformation of North America's ecology due to the impact of European settlement.

The video's production quality is excellent, with beautiful photography and a competent but introductory-level story line. Most people who have read some history won't find anything new here, since the information is presented at about a junior-high-school level. However, the video can be effortlessly enjoyed by the general public, and would also be a suitable introduction to the Columbian Exchange for supplementary use (about grades 6-10) in the classroom or homeschool.

I am a teacher of 4th through 6th graders and this movie - about 90 minutes long - held everyone's interest throughout. It is really about the Columbian exchange, but it brings up the broader issues of the exchanges that happen when two places explore and trade with each other. Was the Columbian exchange good, bad, a bit of both? Is the exchange inevitable? Can we prevent invasive (non-native) species from coming into our waters and land? Can anyone?
One of the most important ideas the video so aptly makes is that the North America that Europeans settled in was a continent that looked very different than it would have if they had come 300 years earlier, before the Columbian Exchange had bee in full swing for 300 years. Imagine them finding a large population of settled, farming native peoples - would history have been different?
An interesting point in the movie that I hadn't really considered before was the one-sidedness of the Columbian Exchange. Why are horses running wild in the American West and dandelions sprouting in every American lawn, but bison don't roam Europe and our native wildflowers haven't taken over Europe's roadsides? The movie gave me a more in depth look at the Columbian Exchange.
If you are considering it for a school setting or younger than 12, there is a thirty second mention of syphilis about 70 minutes in. Other than that, no worries.
I highly recommend the video.

National Geographic videos are consistently high quality, and I plan to use this one in my American literature course to introduce Native American creation stories and lead into the European conquest of North America.

This is good history lesson for all Americans on the continent before Columbus who came and conquered. It was wonderful that native Americans made a great civilization in temples, pyramids and monuments for us to admire and understand.

Native Americans shared their corn, pepper, pumpkin,squash,tomato and potato to feed the hunger. However, they faced an unhappy outcome after one hundred years of contact. It is not until recently, scholars are able to decode Maya codes as books were burnt and code knowledgeable priests were killed.

This is the rest of the story on the explorer Columbus.

I previewed this on youtube and found it useful for my needs as a high school history teacher. As other reviewers have pointed out the video quality is excellent and it focuses on the Columbian Exchange. For example, I appreciate the more in depth look at simple foods such as potatoes and corn. They were highly engineered for their day.
I'll use select portions of this video as it is overall a grade or two lower than what I need. The story line is good, but I'm going to focus on select tribes' intelligent management of their landscapes. I think we tend to pass over just how advanced their techniques were. I'm sure the younger kids will enjoy the full presentation.
I would not really call it a critique, but if you have "climate change doesn't exist" kids this video might ruffle some feathers. There is an overriding reverence for the American landscape (it's Nat Geo so what else would you expect), and direct comparisons between the European deforestation and exploitation of their landscape. The antecedents and consequences of European actions are logically explained, and this leads to some modern day direct comparisons such as over fishing.
Overall, excellent and I'll actually shell out the $$$ for this.

I am an 8th grade social studies teacher. Excellent video to show when discussing the Columbian Exchange. Anyone who teaches exploration of the Americas should have this video.

We got this video and another, to use as fill in background material for a US History to 1877 course. It's great for filler, but leaves some of the nuances of the reasons why some of the stuff happened. I like the video and will watch it several times.

This video is very well done, about the Columbian Exchange. Perhaps the most important world event in terms of world ecology, agriculture and culture. Worth every penny!

I saw this on NGO and had to order it. I,ve watch it over and over again. The narrator,s voice is magnificent.

The story was done well, photography good, was just a little slow....interesting and informative but not exciting. Not one of those stories you would watch over and over again.