34 Matching Annotations
  1. Feb 2016
    1. Race War in Virginia

      How, generally, do the colonists view people of the Powhatan Confederacy? Colonist generally view people of the Powhatan Confederacy as savages who had used all of the English supplies, eaten at their tables, and stayed in their homes; and then turned around and attacked them. The English, however, as mentioned in the text, encroached on Powhatan's land.

      After the attack, what does Waterhouse feel the colonists are free to do? After the attacks, Waterhouse suggests the colonists are free to take over the land (without fairness), and "destroy them who sought to destroy us".

    1. dour killjoys

      dour: relentlessly severe, stern, or gloomy in manner or appearance.

      killjoy: a person who deliberately spoils the enjoyment of others through resentful or overly sober behavior.

      Both definitions sourced to Google.

    2. savages

      Were the Europeans not the real savages?

    3. Southern slavery was born.

      Tobacco was the cause for slavery in the Atlantic plantations as well.

    4. 1618: any person who migrated to Virginia would automatically receive 50 acres of land and any immigrant whose passage they paid would entitle them to 50 acres more.

      Aside from migrating to Virginia, were there any other catches to the 50 acres?

    5. They dug up graves to eat the corpses of their former neighbors. One man was executed for killing and eating his wife.

      I can't even imagine a sense of desperation so intense.

    6. intervened to save his life. She would later marry another colonist, John Rolfe, and die in England.

      Powhatan's people spoke an entirely different language, did they teach the Europeans' the native language, and vice versa?

    7. 10,000 Algonquian-speaking Indians in the Chesapeake. They burned vast acreage to clear brush and create sprawling artificial park-like grasslands so that they could easily hunt deer, elk, and bison. The Powhatan raised corn, beans, squash, and possibly sunflowers, rotating acreage throughout the Chesapeake. Without plows, manure, or draft animals, the Powhatan achieved a remarkable number of calories cheaply and efficiently.

      Native Americans were clearly not far behind in regards to advancements; I wonder, if their population numbers met that of the Europeans, how would the outcome have differed?

    8. Moreover, he said, the New World could provide an escape for England’s vast armies of landless “vagabonds.”

      Vagabong: a person who wanders from place to place without a home or job. (as defined by Google)

      In what way would The New World provide an escape for the vagabonds? Was it an easy way to get rid of them? Were they going to use them for work?

    9. touted more than economic gains and mere national self-interest. They claimed to be doing God’s work.

      Could this go back to the Genesis reading, where God speaks of "dominion", but clearly in a more extreme sense?

    10. How do the English colonists view themselves? What early difficulties do they face and how are they viewed by Powhatan? English colonists view themselves as superior. Early difficulties they face include: resistance from Native Americans; investors wanting quick profits while profits were slow; and financial struggles that caused conflict between settlers. Powhatan viewed the English as potential allies in his attempt to hold authority.

      What role does tobacco play in establishing the Virginia colony? What tensions arise due to this crop? Tobacco plays a role in establishing the Virginia colony because it became such a large cash crop. Tensions that arose due to this crop included the need for more and more land and the need for laborers.

      Who are the Puritans and what is their criticism of the Church of England? Puritans were those who wanted to abolish the church of hierarchy, free the church of political interference, and create a stricter memberships.

    11. St. Augustine.

      Wasn't the Fountain of Youth thought to have been in St. Augustine?

    1. King Affonso, the Congolese leader, was cooperative with the Portugueseslave traders, letting them take lower-class citizens and prisoners of war.

      It seems so wrong that a leader would sell his own people.

    2. freed and exempt men; and very often it happens thatthey kidnap even noblemen and the sons of noblemen, and our relatives, andtake them to be sold to the white men

      Massive expansion and a lust for riches, once again Europeans overstepped their boundaries.

    3. Why do you think that King Affonso let the Portuguese enslave his subjects at first? Inthe letter below, why does the king now request regulations?

      It seems that King Affonso may have allowed the Portuguese to enslave his subjects at first without knowing the possible repercussions. As the saying goes, "if you give an inch, they'll take a mile". In addition, the Portuguese began kidnapping the people, including noblemen. After seeing all that was happening, King Affonso must have came to a realization that there was something wrong, leading to his request for regulations.

    1. But without the rich gold and silver mines of Mexico, the plantation-friendly climate of the Caribbean, or the exploitive potential of large Indian empires, North America offered little incentive for Spanish officials.

      This definitely reiterates what we've read throughout recent text; the goal was riches, whatever the cost.

    2. steppes

      Image Description Sacred Valley in Peru.

    3. A massive pyramid temple, the Templo Mayor, was located at the city center (its ruins can still be found in the center of Mexico City).

      Image Description Image Description The top image is the Templo Mayor ruins in Mexico City. The bottom image is a drawing of what Templo Mayor looked like. I thought these were interesting.

    4. encomienda

      Image Description

      This is an image I found on the internet of the five classes of people in New Spain.

    5. What were the goals of the Spanish (individually and as a nation) in establishing an empire in the Americas? In religious regards, the goal of the Spanish was to win the land and people for the Catholic church, as mentioned in the lecture. In regards to power and expansion, the goal was to gain power over the Americas (central and southern) and to seek out the fortunes that were rumored to be there.

      In the biological exchange between Europeans and Native Americans, what diseases, plants, and animals were exchanged? The diseases exchanged from Europeans to Native Americans included smallpox, influenza, and measles. Plants and animals exchanged between Europeans and Native Americans include: large, domesticated animals; corns, beans, squash, and potatoes; and tobacco plants.

      What are the ways that European powers claim their right to claim land in the Americas? The ways that Europeans claim their right to claim land in the Americas include: authority extended by the pope; claims of discovery of the land; claiming they commandeered the land from the previous people; occupying the land; and improving the land.

    1. How did human beings arrive in the world? In this story, human beings arrived in the world because the Chief in what is now heaven, had tried healing his ill daughter. During this, a young boy shoved the daughter into the hole in which they were digging up a fruit bearing tree. She then gave birth to her daughter in the world, who then gave birth to twin boys.

      How were animals helpful? Animals were helpful in that they brought food to the future humans.

      What did twins do to create the world? To create the world, the twins separated and created their own portion. They then took turns showing one another what each had created. Upon disagreeing on each other's creations, they begin to fight (to the death), and Djuskaha killed Othagwenda, his twin brother.

      Also, what is the difference between the relationship between animals and humans in this story and the Christian origin story? The difference between the relationship between animals and human in this story and the Christian origin story is that in this story, humans live in somewhat balance with one another, as the twins disagreed on quite a few of each others creations, making it not so easy to live; whereas in the Christian origin story, humans are dominant over all life on earth.

    2. The grandmother inquired where the tree stood, and he told her; whereupon then they went there and brought the other boy home again

      Has the grandmother now changed her feelings towards her shunned grandson?

    3. a young man came along. He was very angry and said: "It is not at all right to destroy this tree. Its fruit is all that we have to live on." With this remark he gave the young woman who lay there ill a shove with his foot, causing her to fall into the hole that had been dug.

      Was the young man punished for shoving the Chief's daughter into the hole? Also, did this cause the Chief and his daughter to lose contact with one another? As he is not mentioned in the rest of the text.

    1. So ended the great flood.

      This story reminds me of something similar (to an extent) Noah's Arc.

    2. He was told he would need a gold chain long enough to reach below, a snail's shell filled with sand, a white hen, a black cat, and a palm nut, all of which he was to carry in a bag.

      Aside from the obvious, as the text later mentions what the items are for, I'm curious, what is the significance of the items? For example, why a gold chain? Why a snail shell? Why does it have to be a white hen and a black cat? Why the palm nut as apposed to other trees?

  2. Jan 2016
    1. Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

      God created humans with dominion over everything living on earth, and we have destroyed it at alarming rates.

    2. 16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18  and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

      God didn't create day and night with intention of good or evil, positive or negative. He provided both day and night with light to rule them, and he did so with the intention that it was good.

    1. Columbus described them as innocents. “They are very gentle and without knowledge of what is evil; nor the sins of murder or theft,” he reported to the Spanish crown. “Your highness may believe that in all the world there can be no better people … They love their neighbors as themselves, and their speech is the sweetest and gentlest in the world, and always with a smile.”

      Knowing the outcome, this quote looks much less like Columbus is holding the Arawaks in high regard, but more so confirming what Columbus later reports that "they can all be subjugated and made to do what is required of them".

    2. Spain, too, stood on the cutting edge of maritime technology. Spanish sailors had become masters of the caravels.

      Portugal advanced in maritime technology through use of caravels and astrolabes. What advancements in technology, aside from mastering the caravel, did Spain accomplish?

    3. Pueblo Bonito

      Image Description

      Pueblo Bonito ruins.

    4. As many as 15,000 people lived in the Chaco Canyon complex in present-day New Mexico. One single building, Pueblo Bonito, stretched over two acres and rose five stories. Its 600 rooms were decorated with copper bells, turquoise decorations, and bright macaws.6

      With a population of only 15,000 people, the creation of such a massive building for that time is impressive. Especially considering the tools used at the time, as well as the building material (adobe clay). Not to mention that this was not the only building.

    5. The Mississippian’s signature mounds–enormous earthworks that could span acres and climb several stories tall–physically set priests and elites above the general population of craftsmen, agricultural workers, and slaves.

      This can relate even to modern day social status, as the higher up on a hill a property lies, the more expensive it tends to be.

    6. but for some, it also may have accompanied a decline in health. Analysis of remains reveals that societies transitioning to agriculture often experienced weaker bones and teeth.3

      While I can see why their bodies may have suffered from agricultural work due to stress on the body and repetitive motion, what caused the damage specifically to bones and teeth? In addition, are these symptoms found in modern day farmers?

    7. Nomadic hunter-gatherers, they traveled in small bands following megafauna–enormous mammals that included mastodons and giant horses and bison–into the frozen Beringian tundra at the edge of North America.

      Image Description

      I find it amazing that the nomadic hunter-gatherers traveled in small groups, but followed these massive creatures. Looking at this photo of the size comparisons, I can only imagine what it must have been like to hunt them.