Revolutionary Reformers

Dorothea Dix

Dorothea Dix

            I am Dorothea Dix was born 1802. I was a school teacher and used my grandmother’s wealth to teach poor and neglected  students in my one room school house in Baltimore 1821.My book Conversations on Common Things was made in 1824 and was made with the task of encouraging women and girls to pursue their educational goals. It disgusts me to see the deplorable conditions that the mentally disabled are forced to live in, they are chained to beds and are ignored they sit on top of their own defecation. Women are supposed to care for even the most seemingly insignificant of creature but at the same time we are not supposed to be exposed to anything that should “dare be unsightly”! The mere outrage at the conditions that humans are living in, our country is founded on the basis of equality for all, but what of these men and women, the government has done nothing for them the most interest that the government has shown is in the action of rejecting and ignoring these men and women from society.

            Human nature is fundamentally good but the neglect of certain rights to all humans is wrong. Women were barred from voting, could not hold office, and did not present such testimonials themselves before the legislature meaning that a male representative had to read the text aloud. Pamphlets were the only means by which women could participate in the political “scene”. Are women not humans as well? “Moral treatment,” was developed from the work of French psychiatrist Philippe Pinel and from new practices used at hospitals such as England’s York Retreat My tireless work and dramatic testimonials highlighted the appalling conditions in existing institutions and promoted the inherent value of compassionate care.

            Society can be influenced by both active and withdrawal involvement in society. The betterment of education and the mentally challenged both deserve active involvement, both are pressing issues to society. A good society is made when education for all rich and poor, men and women are  made possible. Society has willed itself into believing that the mentally ill cannot be cured. Despite my strong involvement in the feminist movement I was never publicly involved. My vivid interpretations of the grueling circumstances had a powerful effect on politicians they were shamed into taking action on behalf of the “inmates” of mental institutions.

Dix hospital

APPARTS: DIX HOSPITAL

A uthor: none are credited
P lace: 1872 North Carolina
P rior knowledge: Dorothea Dix was an advocate for those who were mentally challenged, blind and death, she sought to better their living conditions.
A udience: citizens in North Carolina
R eason:  to show one of the first "Lunatic Asylum"s
T he main idea: The source illustrates a "Lunatic Asylum"s layout
S ignficance: Dorothea Dix was a devoted advocate for the mentally challenged. She donated land that she had inherited from her rich grandmother.

APPARTS: DIX HOSPITAL

A uthor: Dorothea Dix
P lace: not stated, most likely during an awareness campaign
P rior knowledge: Dorothea Dix was an advocate for those who were mentally challenged, blind and death she was disgusted with society's ignorance of those who were pushed away from public eye.
A udience: Those who supported her or wanted to learn more about Dix.
R eason:  Dix asserts her reasoning fro her fight against the conditions the mentally challenged are forced to live in.
T he main idea: The source states her purpose for advocacy of the "mentally challenged"
S ignficance: During this time women were exposed to be compassionate for all, but should not "witness the impurities of society". Dix challenged this idea, she wanted to give voices to those who were ignored.

Sojouner Truth

Sojouner Truth

            I was born Isabella Baumfree in Ulster County, a Dutch settlement in upstate New York, I was born into slavery and worked in the Hardenbergh plantation.  In 1827 I escaped the plantation owned by John Dumont with my infant daughter and I stated “I did not run off, I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be alright”. I was "overwhelmed with the greatness of the Divine presence" and inspired to preach. I began to attend the local Methodist church and, in 1829, left Ulster County with a white evangelical teacher named Miss Gear. I quickly became known as a remarkable preacher whose influence "was miraculous." . In 1844, still liking the Utopian cooperative ideal I joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in Massachusetts a 210 members  who lived on 500 acres of farmland, raising livestock, running grist and saw mills, and operating a silk factory. The Association was founded by abolitionists to promote cooperative and productive labor. We were strongly anti-slavery, religiously tolerant, women's rights supporters, and pacifist in principles. As a member I met and worked with abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and David Ruggles. Unfortunately, the community was  disbanded in 1846 amid debt.

            Human nature is corrupted by classes that humans are put into: gender, race, economic class. People lie, my slave owner had . Dumont had promised to grant me  freedom a year before the state emancipation, "if [I]  would do well and be faithful." However this promise was proved to be a fallacy, when he  claimed that  a hand injury had made me less productive. I  was enraged ,I had  understood fairness and duty to be the very principle of the master-slave relationship. So I continued working until I felt that I had done enough to satisfy my obligation to him  spinning 100 pounds of wool. I later became involved with the popular Spiritualism religious movement of the time, through a group called the Progressive Friends, an offshoot of the Quakers. The group believed in abolition, women's rights, non-violence, and communicating with spirits. In 1857, I sold my  home in Northampton and bought one in Harmonia, Michigan (just west of Battle Creek), to live with this community.

            The only way that society can be improved is through active involvement. Numerous times I have found myself traveling in order to give speeches on topics that most of the time are not made given importance in “normal society”.  In 1870, I began campaigning for the federal government to provide former slaves with land in the "new West." I  did  this for seven years, with little success.As a slave I was abused for years on end until I was fed up with it, I took my life into my own hands, what would have happened if I did not? Would I have been dead by now?

           

APPARTS: AINT I A WOMAN

A uthor: Soujouner Truth
P lace: Delivered: May 1851 Ohio at the Women's Right's Convention 
 Recorded: June 21, 1851 by Marcus Robinson in an issue of the Anti-Slavery Bugle 
P rior knowledge:Truth was once a slave herself. She was one of the first Black women to go against a white man in court over the recovery of her son.
A udience: People who were in the convention then anyone during that time.
R eason: to motivate people and to support women in their quest for equality
T he main idea:  One of Truth's first speeches (public)
S ignficance: Truth was not formally educated but what she did know she used in her favor to give power to her speeches and appealed to others.

APPARTS: MEETING WITH PRESIDENT LINCOLN

A uthor: none specified

P lace: October 29,1864 

P rior knowledge: After Truth freed herself from slavery she traveled and presented speeches for the abolitionist movement. Lincoln was not always in support of abolition.

A udience: Anyone during the time that was interested in Truth or Lincoln's movements

R eason: To gain people for the Abolitionist movement

T he main idea: During the time abolition was controversial as slavery became the South's source of economic power. The fact that Lincoln met with Truth, who was not only an abolitionist but a female abolitonist gave many hope.

S ignficance: Truth was a very strong woman and extremely educated to her work as both a feminist and abolitionist. 

case blog #2: Fletcher v Peck

In 1795, the Georgia state legislature passed a land grant awarding territory to four private companies. These lands were known as the Yazoo land territory, present day Mississippi and Alabama, the transaction was known as the Yazoo land act. These lands were sparsely populated and named after the Yazoo Tribe of Native Americans. Every member but one in the Georgia Legislature had been bribed into selling the 35 million acres to the private companies at two cents per  acre totaling five-hundred-thousand, this became known as the Yazoo Scandal.

Most of the legislators lost the following election and the new legislature passed a statute in 1796 essentially nullifying the transactions. In 1796 the new Georgia legislature voided the law and declared all rights and claims under it to be invalid. In 1800, John Peck acquired land that was part of the original legislative grant. He then sold 15, 000 acres to Robert Fletcher three years later, in 1803 for the price of three thousand dollars, claiming that past sales of the land had been legitimate. Fletcher sued Peck to establish the constitutionality of the 1796 act; either the act was constitutional and the contract was void, or the act was unconstitutional and Fletcher had clear title to the land.

The Supreme Court in a six to one decision ruled that the state legislature's repeal of the law was void because it was unconstitutional. Marshall held that the sale was a binding contract,  that according to Article I, Section 10, Clause I, the Contract Clause of the Constitution, cannot be nullified. Even if illegally secured and as a result the ruling lends further protection to property rights against pressures. It is the earliest case of the Court asserting its right to invalidate state laws that conflict with the Constitution. Fletcher v. Peck was the first court case in which state law was decreed to be unconstitutional. 

Court case #1 Cohens v. Virginia

Judicial Review was a form of separation of powers where actions by the legislative and executive branches are subject to review and can be invalidated by the Judicial Branch. This power is stated in the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution (Article 4 clause 2) which basically says that state laws are not supposed to violate the Constitution and all state courts must uphold the national law. They also decide the constitutionality of state laws under state constitutions. If state constitutions contradict the Constitution, or any other national law, the state constitution must follow the guidelines of the constitution. The highest state court to decide issues like these is the supreme court. The idea of judicial review was established in the Marbury v. Madison in 1803.

Cohens v Virginia was a court case that took place in Virginia in 1821. The Cohen brothers were illegally selling DC Lottery tickets in Commonwealth in Virginia. The United States Congress had authorized the selling of lottery tickets in the District of Columbia. State authorities tried and convicted the Cohens, and were fined $100. In this case, the Cohens were successfully prosecuted by the state of Virginia for selling lottery tickets from D.C. in Virginia, who were therefore violating Virginia state law. John Marshal chief justice of the Supreme Court maintained the state’s original decision however the larger issue the court had dealt with in their decision making was that of reviewing state court cases.

The Supreme Court under John Marshal practiced judicial nationalism which meant that its decisions favored the federal government at the expense of states. The Supreme Court decided to validate its ruling with Article 3 section 2 of the Constitution along with the Supremacy Clause Article 6 was used to reinforce their decision which made federal law superior to state law. Virginia, however, decided that this was unacceptable and declared the decision the Supreme Court made null and void, even though it had upheld the previous conviction, because Virginia felt the ruling limited its rights as a state.

Founding Fathers: William Paterson

          WILLIAM PATERSON    

                My name is William Paterson I was born December 24, 1745 in County Antrim  and moved to the United States at the age of two. When I was fourteen I entered the College of New Jersey , where I studied law with Richard Stockton. I was admitted into the bar in 17683, a culmination of my perilous efforts I founded the Cliosphic Society along with Aaron Burr.

               I was elected as Somerset County, New Jersey delegate for the three provincial congresses of New Jersey and as secretary I recorded the New Jersey Constitution.  I was appointed as the first Attorney General of New Jersey serving from 1776 to 1783, I established myself as one of New Jersey’s  most prominent lawyers. In 1787 I was sent to the Philadelphia Convention where I proposed the New Jersey Plan. This plan called for a legislative body with equal representation from each state, which was resolved by the Great Compromise:  the Senate had equal representation for each state and the House of Representatives.

Group Presentations: The Great Awakening

Group Presentations: The Great Awakening

            The Great Awakening was a religious revival during the 1730’s to the 1740’s, that created the questioning of the individual within religious society. The Great Awakening started when King Henry forced his subjects to follow his religion. The movement evolved into a personal approach instead of following doctrine. The Great Awakening evolved on the idea that religion should happen at a personal level directly between God and the Individual.  Protestant denominations established their own churches: Quakers, Anglicans, Baptists, and Presbyterians are some of the major denominations. The Great Awakening caused a break in the foundations of the established churches, making followers question otherwise injected ideals from the Mother Country. 

New Light Preacher: George Whitefield

Group Presentation: The Atlantic Slave Trade

Group Presentation: The Atlantic Slave Trade

            Between 1607 and 1775, Slavery in the southern colonies grew resulting from the “necessity” of profit. Blacks were removed from Africa and inhumanely treated in the colonies, leading to American dependence on profitable plantation systems that were reliant on slavery; thus, creating a new social system based on race.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave trade is a form of Triangular trade, which, as the names implies is trade in the form of a triangle connecting three countries. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade connected Africa, the New England colonies and Africa. Western Civilization labeled Africa as the “Dark Continent” , because they knew little to nothing about the people. Slavery had existed before the trade system, typically within Africa when tribes fought  members of the losing tribe might become slaves. Unlike Slavery in the Americas, known for its amount of sheer brutality and basis in inferiority , slaves in Africa had rights: they could marry, and live within their master’s houses. Africa was founded on powerful kingdoms: Ghana, Mali, and Songhuay, complex trade: with Arabs, Europeans, and other African communities, and wealth from resources: gold, salt, iron, copper and diamonds.  Once the Colonies of Georgia. The Slave trade ruined West Africa as entire villages wound disappear, guns and alcohol were introduced, tribes turned on each other. This is known as the Diaspora of the African people which marked the dispersal of the African people from their homeland. the Carolinas and Virginia established success on cash crops: tobacco, rice and indigo. Colonists had troubles adjusting to their new environments, the population declined as they suffered from outbreaks of Yellow Fever and Malaria; meaning that the southern colonies needed a new labor force. The colonies had resources while the England needed resources but had rum, and Africa had laborers. For example a skipper from England  would leave for the New England colonies, he would sail to the Gold Coast of Africa and barter their liquor for slaves. With their newly equipped cargo these skippers traveled  to the West Indies through the Middle Passage would  use either tight or loose packing to “organize” slaves . The Middle Passage took three weeks, slaves would be fed twice a day, and would have small breathing holes. Once they reached the West Indies slaves would be auctioned off to the Sugar islands, then the rest of the cargo would be taken to the colonies and join the cash crop business. The skipper would pick up a load of cash crops and take them back to England, and the Trade System would repeat. Two prominent figure in the abolition of the Trade System in America were the Religious Society of Friends (also known as the Quakers) and William Wilberforce. The Slave trade Act of 1794 did not allow American ships to be used for slave trade, in 1807 Congress outlawed the importation of slaves, while the Treaty of Paris in 1814 both France and England abolished slave trade. In 1859 the last slave ship to American soil which illegally smuggled slaves into Mobile, Alabama, Georgia.  

Atlantic Slave Trade Route

Group Presentations: The Glorious Revolution

Group Presentations:  The Glorious Revolution

                Thesis: English colonies fervently believed in the rights given to the British during the Glorious Revolution . However, the acts established by the British Imperial rule during 1736 and 1776 that were placed upon the colonists left many disillusioned with the government am  began to demand the republican values given to men in the Mother country. The governmental policies of England had a wavering effect on the political, economic and social issues of the American colonies. The English Bill of Rights inspired colonists to protest virtual representation and excessive British taxes.

                                                         Link: The English Bill of Rights

After the death of Queen Elizabeth I the country had to find an heir to the throne, since she left  no children, King James I succeeded as King. The Glorious Revolution originally took place in England with the overthrow of King James II and the replacement of William III (of Orange) and his wife Mary II of England. The Glorious Revolution in turn provided a chance for American colonist to claim their rights as Englishmen which should have rightfully been theirs. However, Parliament argued that everyone under the control of the English crown was represented, through virtual representation. England, passed the Sugar Act, Currency Act,  Quartering Act, and Stamp Act. This sparked resistance within Colonists, in the forms of rebellion specifically the Jacobite rising, the seven Years war and the American revolution . The Rights of the English were found in the English Bill of Rights; which stated freedom of speech, no taxation without representation, freedom to petition are only but a few examples that the Bill presented for Englishmen.  

Queen Elizabeth I

Group Presentations: The Seven Years War

Group presentation 2: The Seven Years War

            The seven Year’s war is regarded by many historians as the first World War, which involved the Spanish, French, and British. The war took place in Europe, Prussia, Russia, the Philippines, Africa and the Americas. The Seven Year’s war was a product of tension between the French and British over land in North America, the seven years was moved into action when the governor of Virginia ordered George Washington to lead troops into the Ohio area, which was French territory, in order expand its empire in North America. George Washington was forced to surrender, France saw this as a start of hostilities  and joined forces with Spain.  The “Mother country” passed the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Quartering Act, and the Proclamation of  1763 aimed at imposing taxes on Americans in order cover their fees for being involved in the war. These taxes made no sense to the Americans, they viewed, that after years of neglect suddenly Britain focuses attention to them only to tax them for a war they themselves did not choose. These colonist did not accept these taxes and in 1767 Britain  suspended the Legislature of New York for failure to comply with the Quartering Act. In 1768, two British regiments killed and wounded eleven citizens including Crispus Attucks, a mulatto.  In 1775 the a British cargo ship full of tea was stationed at the Boston Port, colonists dressed as Native Americans and dumped all of the tea into the Harbor, this became known as the Boston Tea Party. British parliament angered by this passed the Quebec Act, which closed Boston’s port, limiting Bostonian trade. Colonists were both resilient and dedicated to establishing their rights as British citizens, creating a basis for the ideas of the American Revolution and the Enlightenment.

George Washington

Group Presentations: "The Enlightenment"

Group Presentations: "The Enlightenment"

The Enlightenment was a revolutionary period in English history where people began to accept the ideologies of the inherent rights of man. The Enlightenment movement was concentrated in England and gradually spread into the New England colonies. John Locke, philosopher, believed in the “natural rights of man” which were: the right to life, liberty and property. John Locke’s “natural rights of man”, were later adopted into the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, where government is stated to protect the inherent right of man: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Baron de Montesquieu, another Enlightenment philosopher, believed in the separation of powers creating 3 branches: the legislative, executive, and Judicial. The separation of powers omitted corruption from one party to enter government, today of which is known as the system of checks and balances. The splitting into different branches gave  the governed the right to overthrow a government that they think is unfair. Thomas Hobbes, philosopher, believed in the idea of a “social contract”, a contract between the government and the governed which is not actually signed. 

Enlightenment philosopher John Locke

Blog #5 Colonial Individual

Blog #5: Historical Figure during the Colonial period
ANNE HUTCHINSON

Portrait of Anne Hutchinson

What specifically is it that sets me apart from the other women of her time? I, unlike other women of my time, was not passive or submissive; however, I proved to be one of the first prominent female figures within Colonial History for openly going against the Boston Church.

Anne Hutchinson statue in Rhode Island

                I born Anne Marbury in Lincolnshire, England in 1591 and was the daughter of an Anglican minister, Francis Marbury. Marbury, my father,  felt that the clergy should be well educated clashed with common ideas at the time and was imprisoned years before my birth, in 1580, he was released, he then preached and taught in the small market town of Alford, by 1585 he became schoolmaster at the local Grammar School. I was the third child out of fifteen, my father’s influence, provided me with a powerful insight to a better education than most girls my age. A female during the 16^th century within England, was privileged with education only if their family held a high social position; education, at the time was offered exclusively to  and dominated by males. My father died in 1611, in 1612 I William Hutchinson, my husband and I were exposed to preacher John Cotton; an English clergyman and colonist. Cotton moved to Boston, New England where he would study to become a minster,we were so inspired by Cotton that we decided to make the dangerous trip into the New World. I was specifically interested in Cotton’s theology of “absolute grace”, and his thoughts on the “elect”, “law”, and “work”; and saw myself as a participant in the power of the Almighty. Through this ideology, I was given a voice; an actual method of existing beyond the control of male “superiority”.

TRIAL

                My family of ten, arrived in Boston in the Summer of 1634, where we purchased half an acre creating one of the largest houses on the peninsula, in present day downtown Boston. Once in Boston, I became a midwife, assisting women during childbirth- within the New World twenty-percent of women died during childcare. I also created a Home Bible study group, for women, and later men, who wanted to discuss Cotton’s sermons, hosting at least sixty people on a weekly basis. Within my meetings I started to question the validity behind the legitimacy of the “elect”, stating that “an intuition of the Spirit” s was the only way to go through the gates of Heaven. However, ministers of the Boston Church began to oppose my so called “unauthorized” religious meetings that could confuse the faithful. In 1636, John Winthrop stated that I committed two errors: that the “holy Ghost” dwells in a justified person, and “that no sanctification can help to evidence our justification”. In late 1636 my followers and I were accused of having committed two heresies against the Puritan Church; antinomism and familism. In November 1637, I was put on civil trial by the General Court on the charge of damaging the minsters reputations, found guilty and put under house arrest. March 1638 marked my Church , which lasted nine hours; however, I was excommunicated (banished) from Massachusetts and made my way into Rhode Island along with Roger Williams. 

Blog #4 Explorer or Murderer?

Answer the  question Explorer or Murderer, identify the country of origin use at least 1 primary source (document, image, map, or video).

Juan Ponce de Leon

Juan Ponce de Leon

            Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish conquistador, born in 1474, is well known for discovering and naming Florida for Spain. De Leon was born in the present day Spanish province of Valladolid specifically in the village of Santervas de Campos, and was born into a rich noble family. In 1508, de Leon was given permission to carry out his first expedition with 50 men by Ferdinand II; he left Hispaniola and created the first settlement in Puerto Rico through a fortified house and storehouse. De Leon returned to Hispaniola but in 1509 returned with his children and wife; while enforcing the encomienda system in Puerto Rico on the backs of Tainos. Ponce de Leon ceased a Taino rebellion in 1511 with a small force of troops that were armed. By 1511 word spread in Spain that Hispaniola had more undiscovered land to claim; so, Ponce de Leon took this opportunity and was hired by the King and Queen to find these new lands. On April 2, 1513 Ponce de Leon and his crew sited land and named it La Florida, after the Eastern season. In May 1513 Native Americans approached with the initial intentions of trading, but quickly became hostile, escalating in 8 captive Indians. On June 4^th a similar event happened whereas the skirmish culminated in the sinking in a fourth of the Indian attackers. Ponce de Leon’s fleet disbanded by October 19, when de Leon returned to Puerto Rico and the rest of his crew returning to Spain.  In 1521 along with 200 men de Leon returned to Florida but were attacked by the Calusa (Indians) and de Leon's thigh was pierced by a poisoned arrow and died soon afterwords in Havana, Cuba. 

Map of De Leon's route

Blog # 3

Pick an Indigenous group and write about their lifestyles, using primary sources (pictures, text, or videos).

THE CHEROKEE

            The United Sates has become a melting pot of different ethnicities, and has become home to a variety of cultures and customs; but, how often do we become aware of the history behind the peoples of each unique culture? The Cherokee are only but one group of Native Americans whose numbers have dwindled since the era of colonization. The Cherokee refer to themselves as Tsalagi which means “principal people”; the Cherokee are linguistically part of the Iroquoian language system. They had contact with the European traders during the 1700’s. Cherokee society was divided into two different classes; the “white” class led by the elders of the tribe and the “red” class lead by the younger men of the tribe, which was eradicated in the 18^th century. These elders represented seven different clans within the Cherokee Nation, the role as a white man was priestly and hereditary. The white class, consisting of elders, were basically medicine men who held religious activities; such as, healing, purification and prayer. IN contrast the “red” organization’s primary duty was war and was composed of young men within the tribe. However, war was considered polluted; meaning that members of the “red” organization had to be purified by the “white” organization in order to reintegrate into their communities. The Cherokee, like a copious amount of Indian tribes, were governed in a matrilineal system; where power and authority is passed down through the female side of the family. Most elite men, before the 1800’s, practiced polygamy; a marriage with more than 1 partner. Unlike European society women were allowed to divorce freely and once married, women lived around their families homes. During the 1800’s white settlers referred to the Cherokees as “one of the five civilized Nations”, due to the fact that the Cherokee assimilated into cultural and technological aspects of European society. Article 8 in the 1817 Treaty with Cherokees stated that Cherokees could become legal citizens, marking themselves as the first non-white European group to become legal citizens. Similarly to other groups including the Muscogee, Seminoles, Chickasaw and the Choctaw, were pushed out of their ancestral lands with the passing of the Indian Removal Act. This law caused the forced move of these five tribes during the 1830’s which became known as the Trail of Tears; suffering from disease and starvation.

Trail of Tear Map

Blog #2 The Planting of English America

Blog #2 The Planting of English America

Learning Objectives

·         1. State the factors that led England to begin colonization

·          2. Describe the development of the Jamestown colony from its disastrous beginnings to its later prosperity

·         3. Describe the cultural and social change that Indian communities underwent in response to English colonization

                      In 1588 the Spanish Armada lost to British forces, paving a New path for Britain into the New World, but the New world brought about new opportunities and conflicts. Spain’s defeat meant British success in the Americas; regardless, the ecosystem was not the same and was home to Indians.

Britain utilized its rivalry with Spain in order to colonize the New World with ease, after years of tension. In spite of Spain controlling Central and South America of the New World there was a copious amount of land left within North America, the Spanish had Santa Fe, the French Quebec, and the British Jamestown. Tension between Spain and England only heightened when Pirate Francis Drake, who stole Spanish ships for gold, was knighted on his ship by Elizabeth I. Seeking revenge, the Spanish sent an Armada to attack Britain but were defeated in 1588, allowing British crossing through the Atlantic Ocean. As the British swarmed into the Americas; held  a positive effect on the country of Britain; the government was strengthened, religious unity, the Golden age of literature, and a sense of nationalism created, in  1604 Spain and Britain signed a peace treaty. The enclosure policy menat less jobs for labors; whereas, primogeniture only allowed first born sons to inherit all of their father’s land leaving younger sons in poverty pushing laborers and younger sons into North America.

            Despite Jamestown being the first settlement by the British in the North America, colonists managed to overcome its conflict with the land. Jamestown was founded in 1606 when King James I chartered the Virginia company to make a settlement in the New world, the Virginia company guaranteed settlers the same rights as Englishmen in Britain. Of the hundred English settlers only sixty survived; however, the swampy site honed poor drinking water and mosquitos that caused malaria and yellow fever, there were no women, and men looked for gold instead of properly establishing themselves. John Smith took control of the town and created the “no work, no food” policy enforcing discipline and authority amongst the colonists. Colonists began raiding Indian food supplies erupting in war: the First Anglo-Powhatan War ending with John Rolfe, a Jamestown colonist, marrying Pocahontas. Together Rolfe and Pocahontas created a different flavor of tobacco; sweet tobacco, which became Jamestown’s cash crop and was highly sought after by Europeans.

            The colonization of the New World by British settlers created a negative effect for Chesapeake Indians, who initially desired to be allies with the settlers. Indians believed that humans co-existed with nature, while the majority of the Old World, believed that according to the book of Genesis; god had given land to humans to be used. 17^th century Jamestown colonists, raided local Indian food supplies, engendering the First Anglo-Powhatan War. During the war chief Powhatan kidnapped Smith and held a mock execution where Smith was saved by Powhatan’s daughter as a sign of a friendly alliance, the first Anglo-Powahatan war was ended in 1614 when colonist John Rolfe married Pocahontas. But when the Jamestown sweet tobacco industry grew, so did the amount of tobacco began to take burden on the land as the soil was destroyed, and in 1622 the Indians led a series of attacks which resulted in the deaths of 347 settlers. In 1644 the Second Anglo-Powhatan War took place and culminated in 1646 with the Chesapeake Indians banished from their ancestral lands.

            After the defeat of the Spanish Armada the British rode on the rays of discovery, while their colonization in the New World allowed the sun to rise behind Britain at the expense of Indians who were banished from their homes.

Blog 1: New World Beginnings

 Blog 1: New World Beginnings

Learning Objectives

• 3. Explain developments in Europe and Africa that led to Columbus’s voyage to America
• 4. Explain the changes and conflicts that occurred when the diverse worlds of Europe, Africa, and the Americas collided after 1492
• 5. Describe the Spanish conquest of Mexico and South America and identify the major features of the Spanish colonization and expansion in North America

            New Technology and heightened interest in exploration led to the discovery of the Americas in 1492; meanwhile, its colonization by Spain in the 1500’s led to the collision of three different cultures, Europe, Spain, and Africa, within the Americas.

            Advancements in navigation left explorers starved for exploring the New World, while looking for new materials and trade routes. Columbus wanted to reach the Orient, or the Eastern part of the world, in order to locate and retrieve exotic spices from parts of Asia. He planned to sail west and pass around the African route which was owned and monopolized by Portugal. However, Bartalomeu Dias returned to Portugal with news of his successful rounding of the southern tip of meaning that an eastern sea route to Asia apparently at hand.  Once Columbus’s expedition caused his landfall in the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and there he claims the new world for Spain. The New world had different resources than the Old World, the new world provided raw materials; gold, silver and lumber.

            The collision of three different countries; Europe, Africa, and the Americas, brought a new social class, new diseases, and a new system: the encomienda system.  All three countries had distinct climates, natural resources and ecosystems also meaning that each country’s population had different immune systems; thus, when explorers, Columbus, conquistadores, Hernan Cortes and Pizarro, set foot on New World soil they were unaware of the diseases that their crews could have contracted in their home countries.  After 1492, diseases like smallpox, malaria, yellow fever, and even syphilis  originated in the Old World and quickly infected the inhabitants of the New world; approximately ninety percent of all pre-Columbus Indians died. After 1521, and the event of La Noche Triste, the events of La Noche Triste, where the Cortes led his men into the Aztec Capitol of Tenochtitlan and executed a violent takeover, won mostly accredited to the fact that the Spanish brought in foreign diseases which the Aztecs had no immunity against. Spain systematically conquered and took control of the New world, the Spanish who originally accompanied Conquistadores settled down in the Americas as they married Indians and created families. This new generation of children were not known as European or Indian, but were known as Mestizos; a person of mixed Native American and European ancestry, who had less rights in the Casta system compared to Creoles (persons born in the new world to two European parents) or Pennisulares (European born persons) but more rights than Indios (persons of African descent). With the Spanish control of the Americas, they enforced the encomienda system; promoted on ideas of work and religion while Indians were commended to Spanish land lords; in actuality, Indians were made enslaved on sugar plantations while the system was guised as “missionary work”.

            The Spanish control over the Americas evokde many changes but also brought forth the Black Legend, interest in sailing, and Presidios. The Black Legend, was propaganda  promoting the idea that the Spanish only committed atrocities for amusement,  also known as La Leyenda Negra was created by rival European countries such as England and the Netherlands as a form of Anti Spanish propaganda, during the height of Spain in order to disgrace the Spanish; exaggerating murders, disease, and slavery. Opposite to the Black Legend, the White Legend was created as a Pro-Spanish counter to the Black Legend, in which the Spanish Conquest is highly exaggerated to portray the Spaniards where the Spanish Colonization was “well-mannered” and ideal. The success of the Conquistadores led to an increased interest in sailing and exploring, new conquistadores and explorers rode the tides; da Gama, Cabbot, Balboa, Ponce de Leon, Cortes Magellan, and Pizarro all claimed new land for their home countries. The Spanish, desiring to maintain their control over the Americas , created forts all along America also known as Presidios in order to stop rival explorers; John Cabot, Giovanni de Verrnzo, and Jacques Cartier or any other rival country,  from claiming parts of America.

            The discovery of the Americas brought substantial change to Europe, Spain and Africa, as all three were forced to adapt.  New lifestyles included religious conversions, agriculture trades, and even slavery; these three countries were undoubtedly connected not only through their discoveries but through their lifestyles. 

practice blog

What was an important Historical figure that you learned about this year.

In US history, we learned about a variety of historical figures, I though that Lazaro Cardenas was an interesting individual during the Mexican Revolution.