Mr. Streit

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Unit 1 - Worlds Meet: Conflict, Challenges and Change

  • Unit Question - When is conflict excused as means to an end?
  • Historical Context - Renaissance, Reformation, Early Explorers, Age of Exploration, Old World meets the New Word
  • Final Assessment – Columbus vs. Taino People Debate

In the Beginning - The First Americans 


Who were the first Americans?  Some examples of the first Americans in what is now the U.S.A can be found here: Native Americans PPT Slideshow How did they get here?  Try this video for further explanation:  NatGeo - Native Americans Video or CRASH COURSE: First Americans.  Some of these first Americans continued their journey and settled in what is now Mexico or South America.  They are the Mayan, Aztecs, and Incan civilizations and you can learn more about them here:  Mayan Aztec Inca PPT Slideshow


The Age of Exploration

  

THINKING MAN'S TIME (This means you!):  

  • What was the Age of Exploration?
  • What events in the past needed to take place before the Age of Exploration was made possible?  The answer is many indeed, right?
  • Was the Age of Exploration destined to happen?

MORE THINKING MY MAN (and WOMAN)  

  • When is conflict excused as means to an end?  Meaning how do we understand and justify the exploitation of the Native Americans by the conquistadors, desperadoes, and explorers?  
  • Discuss the impact of the Renaissance and Reformation on the Age of Exploration – Meaning without these series of events do Europeans travel to the New World? If yes, when and how would that have happened? Explain.
  • During the Age of Exploration, European adventures explored the Americas. Some historians say that these men were motivated by God, gold, and glory. What do you think historians meant by this?
  • What is the Columbian Exchange?

Age of Exploration Resources:  

We will start with the importance of the Protestant Reformation:  

Da Vinci's Thinking Man 

Martin Luther

Why Spain?  

Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition


   Have you ever heard someone say "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition"? The line comes from a series of sketches by British comedy troupe Monty Py­thon. In the sketches, one character gets annoyed at another character for asking him question after question. At the height of his frustration, he yells, "Well, I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition!" Suddenly, three Catholic Cardinals burst into the room to comically "torture" the first two characters into admitting their sinful ways.

    From the sketches, you can guess that the Spanish Inquisition must've involved torture and the Catholic Church. But why? Who was on the receiving end of that torture?  Read more:  HowStuffWorks: How the Spanish Inquisition Worked 


   For many in Europe and the world for that matter, it was a huge surprise that Spain was to lead the path to the New World.  Remember, they were just recently conquered by the Moors prior to the expeditions of Columbus, Pizarro, and Cortes.  


Spanish Inquisition Resources:  


Our Mixed-Up Civilization 


After reading pages 9-14 in your Making Thirteen Colonies mini-book answer the Our Mixed-Up Civilization questions in your COMP books:  

  1. Where is the area known as the Fertile Crescent?  Why is called the Fertile Crescent?
  2. The Ancient Fertile Crescent is home to what early civilizations?  What major religions came from the Fertile Crescent or Mesopotamian Civilizations?
  3. What accomplishments of the Ancient Greeks and Romans did
    the people of Europe want to give "rebirth" to during the time period known as the Renaissance?
  4. Why did Spain have to find new routes to Asia?  [Hint:  Who are the Moors?]
  5. How did the crusades of Islam and Christianity bring people to the New World?
  6. Columbus and the rest of Europe called them "Indians" and "savages", if that were true how can we explain that America's first constitution and democratic society was written by them? Further understanding:  The Iroquois had a Constitution which began:    
"We the people, to form a union...
Does this sound familiar? 

For Better or Worse!
The Columbian Exchange & Columbus vs. Taino People

Famed Italian explorer Christopher Columbus is commonly credited with the discovery of the "New World" of the Americas on an expedition sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain in 1492.  Little could be done to stop the European explorations, expeditions, and colonialism that follows Columbus journey. Let's analyze why that is and what impact it had on the world!  


The Columbian Exchange Resources:  

Columbian Exchange PPT 

CRASH COURSE: Columbian Exchange

CRASH COURSE: Columbian Exchange (History of Science)

Columbus vs. Taino Trial Results:


7A:  Christopher Columbus has been found guilty of assault and battery, second-degree murder, & theft.  The punishment of Christopher Columbus is the same as it was for Taino, which is death by the cutting off his hands to be bled to death.  


7B:  Christopher Columbus has been found guilty of assault, second-degree murder, & fourth-degree murder for which he has been sentenced to life in slavery.  Christopher Columbus has been found innocent of robbery.  The jury beliefs that Christopher Columbus is personally innocent of sexual assault, but responsible for sexual assault committed by his crew.  

Notice to the Jury (9 members):

  1. What are the charges against Christopher Columbus?
  2. Remember you are "presumed innocent until proven guilty" - U.S. Constitution and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  3. Innocent or guilty?  Discuss each charge individually and remember majority rule!
  4. What is the penalty?

List of Possible Charges:

1) Theft: Petty vs. Grand

Theft can be categorized as grand theft—and therefore deemed a more serious offense —for a variety of reasons. (Depending on the jurisdiction, the crime might be called "first degree" theft.) Laws in many states consider a theft to be grand theft when:

  • The property taken is worth more than a minimum amount, perhaps $500-$1,000 or more.
  • Property is taken directly from a person, but by means other than force or fear. (If force or fear were used, the crime would be robbery.) An example would be picking the pocket of an unsuspecting victim.
  • Particular types of property are taken. For example, the theft of land, cars and some types of animals is often grand theft regardless of their actual market value.

2) Assault and Battery?

Historically, battery and assault were considered separate crimes, with battery requiring that the aggressor physically strike or offensively touch the victim. In that way, a battery was a "completed" assault. Many modern statutes don't bother to distinguish between the two crimes, as evidenced by the fact that the phrase "assault and battery" has become as common as "salt and pepper." These days, statutes often refer to crimes of actual physical violence as assaults.  


3) Murder (Degrees of Murder):

  • First-degree murder: any intentional murder that is willful and premeditated with malice aforethought. Felony murder, a charge that may be filed against a defendant who is involved in a dangerous crime where a death results from the crime, is typically first-degree.
  • Second-degree murder: any intentional murder with malice aforethought, but is not premeditated or planned.
  • Voluntary manslaughter: (also referred to as third-degree murder), sometimes called a crime of passion murder, is any intentional killing that involves no prior intent to kill, and which was committed under such circumstances that would "cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed". Both this and second-degree murder are committed on the spot under a spur-of-the-moment choice, but the two differ in the magnitude of the circumstances surrounding the crime. 
  • Involuntary manslaughter: (sometimes referred to as fourth-degree murder), a killing that stems from a lack of intention to cause death but involving an intentional, or negligent, act leading to death. A drunk driving-related death is typically involuntary manslaughter (see also vehicular homicide, causing death by dangerous driving, gross negligence manslaughter and causing death by criminal negligence for international equivalents). 

    • Across the Ocean - Pirates or Privateers:  What's the Difference?


    Read p. 18-20 in your Making Thirteen Colonies mini-book and then answer the Across the Ocean - Pirates or Privateers:  What's the Difference? questions in your COMP books:

    1)  If the Spanish were dominating the New World, why does England get involved?

    2)  Who was the first Englishmen to explore the New World?

    3)  What is the difference between a pirate and a privateer?

    4)  What evidence is there that little to nothing was known about the New World? 


    Hey you, Jack Sparrow! Pirate Resources:  


    Which is the real pirate? 

                                   What happened to the Roanoke (Lost) Colony?

    The English first and second attempt at a colony in the New World were complete failures. The first time many people left the harsh conditions of the New World to go back to England and the 15 that stayed behind were slaughtered by Native Americans.  The second attempt in 1590 ended in complete mystery.  A tree scribed with the word CROATOAN, all the homes and people disappeared without a trace, so what happened?

    Discover the Real Story of
    Pocahontas and John Smith

    Discussion Questions:

    • What do you know about Pocahontas?
    • Did Pocahontas save John Smith's life?

    Directions:  Open the Discover the Real Story of Pocahontas and John Smith document.  


    STEP 1

    Read Document A:  "True Relation" and Document B: "General History" and answer the following: 

    1. Why would John Smith add on to his earlier story?
    2. Why might John Smith lie or exaggerate and invent new information?
    3. Why wouldn't John Smith lie about this story?

    STEP 2

    Read Paul Lewis, Historian Interpretation A and J.A. Leo Lemay, Historian, Interpretation B and answer the following:

    4. Which historian interpretation did you find more convincing?  Why

    5. Did it really happen?  Did Pocahontas save John Smith's life?

    Who's ready for colonial success, well wait!  
    The Story of the Jamestown Colony

    Almost 20 years after the English first and second attempts ended in disaster they were willing to try again.  The Jamestown colony experiment could have ended like the Roanoke (Lost) Colony, in fact it almost did, but luck and hard work intervened.  

    Read p. 25-36 in your Making Thirteen Colonies mini-book and answer Who's ready for colonial success, well wait! The Story of the Jamestown Colony questions in your COMP books:  

    1)  Why did the English settle in Jamestown?

    2)  Why didn't the English fish during the "starving time"?

    3)  Did Pocahontas save John Smith's life or did John Smith exaggerate or invent the story?  See Discover The Real Story of Pocahontas and John Smith above 

    4)  What is a hostage?

    5)  What was Pocahontas trip to England like?

    6)  What ended the peace of the English in Jamestown and the Powhatan tribe?