Jamestown Re-Examined

    The first permanent English American settlement, Jamestown, was only a success if we compare it to Roanoke, which as we recall disappeared. The popular theory is that maybe the colonials at Jamestown were completely unprepared and thus the colony failed. The attached links in google classroom offer an alternative theory.

  After viewing only the 1st 14 minutes of the video (0:00 to 14:00) and reading the two links, respond as a comment to this prompt:

Does the evidence about the colony being sabotaged through poisoning appear convincing?

Share why or why not?

Reply to two others as is our practice with a quick question that the commenter can consider but will not answer. (ex. Do you think?... Have you considered?...)

First Nations' Heritage Day

 As we roll back into our rhythm this week it is worth our time to reflect upon the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday. Especially since the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620 overlaps with our current readings. The day after Thanksgiving is officially designated as Native American Heritage Day, though few Americans are aware of this fact. Looking at how the millions of First Nations' people in the United States today view this portion of our story is vital.

Last week we read the first hand account of William Bradford (1620) as he recounted the arrival of his community in Plymouth. We also saw an animated depiction based upon Bradford's writings. We of course make an error as young historians if we assume that any primary source document is ever the whole story. 

Below is a link to a speech that Wamsutta James, a Wampanoag, was banned from delivering at a Plymouth Thanksgiving commemoration in 1970. Hearing his voice as a descendant of the people the Pilgrims encountered and contrasting it with that of Bradford's voice is a minimum requirement of  any historian.

Like Bradford's account, Wamsutta's words are from his perspective.

Read the article at this link and then comment below. 

TASK: Share why you believe that this speech was banned by the organizers of the event. Offer a brief quote to support your argument. (as is our practice reply to two others.)

Note: We are not sharing whether we agree with Bradford or Wamsutta. We are only guessing why it was that his speech was banned.

Pilgrims Promise

The document written by the Pilgrim leader William Bradford that we read and the animated video that we watched offer an introduction to the very small group of migrants that in 1620 built one of the few lasting English American settlements, Plymouth Plantation.

Below, share a detail that you learned from the video and/or document that was previously unknown to you. There will be something : )

Reasons for the English Migrating to the Americas

Richard Hakluyt appealed to Queen Elizabeth I (the 1st) to begin financing more exploration and even an immediate English migration to the Americas. The English had not really explored earlier as they were torn by a religious schism for decades. When Queen Elizabeth I consolidated her kingdom with a new Church of England, she created a United Kingdom. Now Great Britain was finally in a position to consider overseas settlements.

Read over the reasons offered by Richard Hakluyt attached in the link. Then choose one reason that you believe was probably going to be the most persuasive of them all and offer a brief complete response as a comment as to why you chose that reason. 

There is no correct response, we just need to substantiate our responses with evidence from our Chapter One readings. As is our pattern, reply to two others and offer feedback to those classmates.

Question: Which of Richard Hakluyt's reasons to begin English expansion appears to be the most persuasive in getting England to want to support exploration and colonization of the Americas?

Note: Our textbook will refer to Great Britain as England and as the United Kingdom. They are the same nation, kinda.

Listening...

 

• Today we are not discussing or debating... we are listening.
• Take a moment to type in three adjectives that describe how you feel right now.
• No replies, no responses and no explanations. Just three words.

Election Day 2020, A Look at Policies

"I could think of no worse example for nations abroad, who for the first time were trying to put free electoral procedures into effect, than that of the United States wrangling over the results of our presidential election, and even suggesting that the presidency itself could be stolen by thievery at the ballot box."

- Richard M. Nixon, following his close loss in the election of 1960.

    In 1801, Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated as our republic's third President. The world watched as his predecessor, John Adams, a man arguably as responsible for the nation's founding as any one else, peacefully handed over his position power following a remarkably contentious election. A precedent was set that day in our republic that the preservation of the system that these men had designed would be prioritized over their own interests and ambition.

    Whether it was Nixon's quick concession in 1960, despite election irregularities, or Al Gore's concession in 2000, our elections have been set a part in the planet's history with our priority on preserving our less than perfect system. Our course this year is the study of where this system originated and why the people of our republic have such a deep faith in it. We may come to agree with this faith or we may come away wishing to challenge our two hundred year old system.

    We will also learn this year that our system is frequently administered in significantly different ways depending on who is our President. 

    Leaving alone personalities and behaviors of the men currently running for president, that could be a entire month of blogger posts 😉, I am curious to hear about your thoughts about policy.

    Only focusing on policy, please share one policy that you hope that the person who is our President in 2021 will act upon. You will identify a policy and briefly, only a few sentences, share why you wish to see a President commit to that policy. Here is a list of policies to pick from if you are unsure of what to choose, LIST. 

    There is not a need to share who we may support, only the policies we wish to see enacted and why that policy matters to you. Frequently, we agree way more on policies than do we agree on the candidates.

    As is our practice, please reply to at least two classmates. 

• The words "agree" or "disagree" are insufficient and easily misunderstood. 
• Use this task as an opportunity to ask clarifying questions of one another or share what you may know about that policy. 
• This unusual restriction that I am placing on this blogger post will keep this page as an open forum of exchange.

Western Europeans Question Christianity in the 1500s

    After the collapse of the western Roman Empire in the 400s, most of the conquered European peoples retained the version of the Middle Eastern religion, Christianity, that the Romans had imposed upon them. They called it Roman Catholicism. Following the Renaissance and with the printing press making religious books more accessible, a questioning of this 1500 year old version of the religion began throughout parts of Western Europe.

    We have read about reformers like Martin Luther & John Calvin who challenged the Roman Catholic version of Christianity. Look over your readings and answer the following question in the "comments" section. As is our practice, reply to two of your classmates with a statement or a clarifying question.

Does Martin Luther or John Calvin have a more significant impact?

• Use Key terms from our readings to both briefly describe and then defend your response.
• All responses are valid as long as we support our response with evidence from the readings.
• Look back at our "Rules" for answering questions completely from our classwork on 9/21.

African Kingdoms of the 1400s

The continent of Africa remains home to much of the planet's wealth and in the 1400s significant African kingdoms and empires were built upon that immense wealth. Increasing our knowledge of these nations as they were before the devastating effects of the European initiated Trans Atlantic enslavement system is vital if we are going to understand our nation's early history.

After watching the video posted in google classroom, take a moment to list four details about these African kingdoms from the film that you were unaware of before viewing the film. One detail must come from the piece about Zimbabwe. 

Columbus' Diaries & Letters Offer Foreshadowing

   The landing of Christopher Columbus in the densely populated Taino Kingdom in 1492 initiates a series of catastrophic global events. It also ends a 10,000 year period of isolation of one half of the planet's population from the other.

  We've read excerpts from Columbus's writings. Based upon these brief pieces answer this question in the comment section below:

What can we predict about the future of the relationship between the Taino people and the Europeans from these writings by Columbus? 
(give a complete response and use quotes with your analysis)

Europeans See A Bigger World

 The peoples of Europe are largely provincial in the centuries following the collapse of their conquerors, the Roman Empire. The European people have held onto much of the cultural identity that was forced upon them by the Roman regime including their alphabet, the Middle Eastern religion of Christianity and even the imperial way of organizing a society which empowered a few to rule, and often oppress, the many.

Why and how these rather unsophisticated conquered people will come to build overseas empires that rival the largest ever in human history needs to be well understood if we are to know our own story.

Take a moment to consider what is needed by any people 
who wish to create an overseas empire.

In the Blogger space below write a comment that argues for one thing that a people will need to begin this process, defending your choice. 

Then, as is our pattern, reply to two of your classmates offering feedback. Write your comment before reading the comments of others. This will increase the likelihood of a wide variety of responses. Be as "obvious" or as "subtle" as you like, all responses that are defended will be given full credit.

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

A large part in understanding our republic's history will come from our analysis of imagery. Take a moment to look over the image attached to the lesson that depicts our society in the late 20th century and respond to this question: 

Do Now: Based on this painting, what are the inferences that we can make about American society and culture? What appear to be the values of the society being depicted in the image? Use what we see in the image to support your points.

As we did on Monday, we are required to comment once and then we reply to two others.

Why History?

This piece, Why History?, lays out a number of arguments for studying our shared story. Identify one argument by the author that you found the most compelling/convincing. Briefly defend your choice below in the comments section as a complete response. 

Once you have completed your response, come back and read over the responses of your classmates. Then briefly reply to two comments with some feedback. We aren’t evaluating one another’s comments, only offering what we agree or disagree with in the comments of others.

This pattern of commenting once on the post and then replying twice to others will be our way of having virtual discussions, as if we are in an actual classroom. 

Welcome to our Virtual Discussion Space!

  Welcome to Room 104 On-Line!

    I have gotten almost everyone on to the Google Classroom. Sign up now if you have not already connected with you there. I believe only a few students have not responded. Pretty good start.

    I have also opened this online Discussion Room that will only be accessible to students in this particular section. This will begin to meet one of our course's most important needs, the processing of content and shared analysis. 

   We will also need to agree that our classroom norms  must be replicated here too. Respect and an open ear will allow us to engage one another while apart.

   To start our Beta test, please reply to this post with "Agree" as your response to the above stated discussion norms. 

Best,

M. Elinson