The Age of Discovery and Exploration or Exploitation and Imperialism?

Due Friday, October 19, 2012

Now that you have looked at the era from both sides, should the era be called the Age of Exploration and Discovery or the Age of Exploitation and Imperialism? In this week’s blog, you will join the argument that scholars have been debating over the past three or more decades. Some historians maintain that it was the “desire” to venture forth across the Atlantic Ocean and ascertain what laid beyond the horizon that brought about the Age of European dominance. Meanwhile, other historians maintain that is was the manipulation and extension of European control in the new lands that allowed Europeans to gain world-wide dominance.

In this week’s blog, you are required to present evidence of an event or person which demonstrates whether the era should be called the Age of Exploration & Discovery or Exploitation & Imperialism. No you can not claim it is both! You must make a choice for one or the other!
Do not repeat or use an event or person that has already been used by another student. Like in the previous weeks, you must offer new evidence to the discussion.

Important Exception: If someone uses Columbus as evidence of exploration, you can use Columbus as evidence of exploitation in your initial post (The same holds true for the other “explorers”)!

The following resources will be helpful in completing this assignment.
    The Age of Discovery
    http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/lecture2c.html

    Classic Imperialism
    http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0858768.html

    Age of Discovery
    http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/ageexploration.htm 
 
    Undiscovering the New World
    http://www.larrydewitt.net/Coloquio/NewWorld.htm

    Digital History: Exploration and Discovery
    http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/subtitles.cfm?titleID=96

The Age of Exploitation and Imperialism?

The Age of Exploitation and Imperialism?

Due October 4, 2012

According to various online dictionaries, exploitation is the selfish utilization of others for one’s own purposes while imperialism is defined as the act of gaining control over an other’s lands: politically, economically and socially. Keeping these definitions in mind continue with the following blog.

During the early 15th century until the late 17th century, Europeans took the the seas in search of new products, markets and land. As these intrepid sailors spanned the globe; new lands, cultures and peoples were “discovered” that were foreign to the European way of life. Europe went from being a small, barbaric and backward continent to becoming the premier power and center of the world marketplace and culture.

Many historians, particularly the late Dr. Howard Zinn saw this transformation of Europe as the result of the conquest of the New World, Africa and Asia for their own selfish purposes! These historians claim that the empires created by European monarchies allowing them to accumulate vast amounts of wealth and power came at the expense of the indigenous people in the areas.

For this blog, each student will research an “explorer” and make a case for their role in helping make this Age of Exploitation and Imperialism. Remember each “explorer” should only be covered by one student only (you do not have to use the same person as the last blog!), thus  if someone has already done a particular “explorer” then you must now choose a different person (the earlier you do the blog the more choices you will have of subject!). Remember you are required to do an initial post (your subject) and then comment on at least two other posts to meet the requirements of the assignment (please refer to your rubric!). The following links are made available to assist you in preparing your initial blog post. These entries offer a thumbnail sketch of the various “explorers” and will require students to do further research. Remember to cite all sources that you use in your initial and subsequent posts. Wikipedia or any wikis are never acceptable sources!

(You Must Read This First)
Columbus, The Indians and Human Progress
    http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinncol1.html

    •    Acuña, Cristóbal de, Spanish Jesuit missionary and explorer in South America
    •    Alarcón, Hernando de, Spanish explorer in the Southwest
    •    Anza, Juan Bautista de, Spanish explorer and official in the Southwest and the far West
    •    Balboa, Vasco Núñez de, Spanish conquistador, discoverer of the Pacific Ocean
    •    Cárdenas, García López de, Spanish explorer in the Southwest.
    •    Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez, Spanish explorer
    •    Cabot, John, English explorer
    •    Cabot, Sebastian, explorer in English and Spanish service
    •    Cabral, Pedro,   Portuguese explorer
    •    Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez, Spanish conquistador and discoverer of California
    •    Cartier, Jacques, French navigator
    •    Champlain, Samuel de, French explorer, the chief founder of New France
    •    Columbus, Christopher, European explorer
    •    Coronado, Francisco Vásquez de, Spanish explorer
    •    Cortés, Hernán, Spanish conquistador
    •    da Gama, Vasco, Portuguese navigator
    •    De Soto, Hernando, Spanish explorer
    •    Dias, Bartolomeu, Portuguese navigator
    •    Drake, Sir Francis, English navigator and admiral
    •    Eric the Red, Norse chieftain, discoverer and colonizer of Greenland
    •    Gosnold, Bartholomew, English explorer and colonizer
    •    Henry the Navigator, prince of Portugal, patron of exploration
    •    Hudson, Henry, English navigator and explorer
    •    Jolliet, Louis, French explorer
    •    La Salle, Robert Cavelier, sieur de, French explorer in North America
    •    Leif Ericsson, Norse discoverer of America
    •    Magellan, Ferdinand, Portuguese navigator
    •    Marquette, Jacques, French missionary and explorer in North America
    •    Pizarro, Francisco, Spanish conquistador
    •    Ponce de León, Juan, Spanish explorer
    •    Raleigh, Sir Walter, English soldier, explorer, courtier, and man of letters
    •    Verrazano, Giovanni da, Italian navigator and explorer
    •    Vespucci, Amerigo, Italian navigator in whose honor America was named

The Age of Exploration and Discovery?

The Age of Exploration and Discovery?

Due September 21, 2012

According to various online dictionaries, exploration is the act or instance of investigating unknown regions or areas while discovery is defined as the act or instance of “finding” something new. Keeping these definitions in mind continue with the following blog.

During the early 15th century until the late 17th century, Europeans took to the seas in search of new products, markets and land. As these intrepid sailors spanned the global in search of these items, new lands, cultures and peoples were “discovered” that were foreign to the European way of life. Europe went from being a small, barbaric and backward continent to becoming the premier power and center of the world marketplace and culture.

This transformation did not happen overnight but slowly and surely through the efforts of many “explorers” who dared to think and travel beyond the borders of the European continent.  Many of these men took to the seas and laid claim to vast empires for their king and/or queen that spanned the globe. These empires allowed European monarchies to accumulate vast amounts of wealth and power allowing for the transformation of Europe into the world’s first geographical superpower.

For this blog, each student will research an “explorer” and make a case for their role in helping make this Age of Exploration and Discovery a success. Remember each “explorer” should only be covered by one student only, thus  if someone has already done a particular “explorer” then you must now choose a different person (the earlier you do the blog the more choices you will have of subject!). Remember you are required to do an initial post (your subject) and then comment on at least two other posts to meet the requirements of the assignment (please refer to your rubric!). The following links are made available to assist you in preparing your initial blog post. These entries only offer a thumbnail sketch of various “explorers” and will require students to do further research. Remember to cite all sources that you use in your initial and subsequent posts. Wikipedia or any wikis are never acceptable sources!

(Read First)
Age of Exploration and Discovery
    http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/ageexploration.htm
    http://blog.aurorahistoryboutique.com/the-age-of-exploration-and-discovery/

    •    Acuña, Cristóbal de, Spanish Jesuit missionary and explorer in South America
    •    Alarcón, Hernando de, Spanish explorer in the Southwest
    •    Anza, Juan Bautista de, Spanish explorer and official in the Southwest and the far West
    •    Balboa, Vasco Núñez de, Spanish conquistador, discoverer of the Pacific Ocean
    •    Cárdenas, García López de, Spanish explorer in the Southwest.
    •    Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez, Spanish explorer
    •    Cabot, John, English explorer
    •    Cabot, Sebastian, explorer in English and Spanish service
    •    Cabral, Pedro,   Portuguese explorer
    •    Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez, Spanish conquistador and discoverer of California
    •    Cartier, Jacques, French navigator
    •    Champlain, Samuel de, French explorer, the chief founder of New France
    •    Columbus, Christopher, European explorer
    •    Coronado, Francisco Vásquez de, Spanish explorer
    •    Cortés, Hernán, Spanish conquistador
    •    da Gama, Vasco, Portuguese navigator
    •    De Soto, Hernando, Spanish explorer
    •    Dias, Bartolomeu, Portuguese navigator
    •    Drake, Sir Francis, English navigator and admiral
    •    Eric the Red, Norse chieftain, discoverer and colonizer of Greenland
    •    Gosnold, Bartholomew, English explorer and colonizer
    •    Henry the Navigator, prince of Portugal, patron of exploration
    •    Hudson, Henry, English navigator and explorer
    •    Jolliet, Louis, French explorer
    •    La Salle, Robert Cavelier, sieur de, French explorer in North America
    •    Leif Ericsson, Norse discoverer of America
    •    Magellan, Ferdinand, Portuguese navigator
    •    Marquette, Jacques, French missionary and explorer in North America
    •    Pizarro, Francisco, Spanish conquistador
    •    Ponce de León, Juan, Spanish explorer
    •    Raleigh, Sir Walter, English soldier, explorer, courtier, and man of letters
    •    Verrazano, Giovanni da, Italian navigator and explorer
    •    Vespucci, Amerigo, Italian navigator in whose honor America was named

19th Century Life in America for Women: Rural v. Urban

Background:
Now that you have had the chance to compare and contrast the lives of women in the 19th century to those of the 21st century, consider the following quotes before responding to the prompt below.

… Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he has chosen people, whose breasts he has made peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue.
… While we have land to labour then, let us never wish to see our citizens occupied at a workbench, or twirling a distaff. Carpenters, masons, smiths, are wanting in husbandry: but, for the general operations of manufacture, let our work-shops remain in Europe. It is better to carry provisions and materials to workmen there, then bring them to the provisions and materials, and with them their manners and principles. Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia (1785)
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The Cotton Mill, invented in England, within the last twenty years, is a signal illustration of the general proposition, which has been just advanced. In consequence of it, all the different processes for spinning Cotton are performed by means of Machines, which are put in motion by water, and attended chiefly by women and Children; and by a smaller number of persons, in the whole, than are requisite in the ordinary mode of spinning. And it is an advantage of great moment, that the operations of this mill continue with convenience during the night as well as through the day. The prodigious effect of such a Machine is easily conceived. To this invention is to be attributed essentially the immense progress, which has been so suddenly made in Great Britain, in the various fabrics of cotton. Alexander Hamilton, Report on Manufactures (1791)
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I cannot believe that our factory system is the best mode by which men may get clothing. The condition of the operatives is becoming every day more like that of the English; and it cannot be wondered at, since, as far as I have heard or observed, the principal object is, not that mankind may be well and honestly clad, but, unquestionably, that the corporation may be enriched. Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)
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As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everything in this world only in the answer to this single question: how much money will it bring in? Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835)

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Dear Father
I get along very well with my work.  I can doff as fast as any girl in our room.  I think I shall have frames before long.  The usual time allowed for learning is six months but I think I shall have frames before I have been in three as I get along so fast.  I think that the factory is the best place for me and if any girl wants employment I advise them to come to Lowell.  I have little time to devote to writing. . . .  There are half a dozen letters which I ought to write to day but I have not time.  Tell Harriet I send my love to her and all of the girls.  Give my love to Mrs. Clement.  Tell Henry this will answer for him and you too for this time. Mary S Paul (Lowell Mill Girl-December 21, 1845)
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Dear Father
Doubtless you have been looking for a letter from me all the week past. . . .  I was unable to get my old place in the cloth room on the Suffolk or on any other corporation. . . .  So I went to my old overseer on the Tremont Cor[poration] . . . and I went to work last Tuesday--warping--the same work I used to do.
It is very hard indeed and sometimes I think I shall not be able to endure it.  I never worked so hard in my life but perhaps I shall get used to it. . . . The wages are to be reduced on the 20th of this month. . . .  The companies pretend they are losing immense sums every day and therefore they are obliged to lessen the wages, but this seems perfectly absurd to me for they are constantly making repairs and it seems to me that this would not be if there were really any danger of their being obliged to stop the mills.
It is very difficult for any one to get into the mill on any corporation.  All seem to be very full of help.  I expect to be paid about two dollars a week but it will be dearly earned. . . . Mary S Paul (Lowell Mill Girl-November 5, 1848)
Now using the quotes, previous web links, text and any other source you deem appropriate respond to the following prompt.

Which group of women: rural or urban/industrial would you chose to be a member of in the early 19th century?

Remember to use and cite illustrative historical details in your responses in order to offer evidence to support
your choice.

19th Century Industrial Life in America for Women

Background:
As the 19th century began, the Industrial Revolution began to pick-up momentum in Europe (particularly Great Britain) and America. This change from a primarily rural and agriculture existence to an urban and manufacturing economy radically altered the lives of families in Europe and the United States. The change to an economy based on the turning of raw materials into “finished goods” (i.e. textiles) began to supplant the subsistence farming existence as well as creating a “money economy. The Waltham or Lowell System vastly changed the life of young farm girls across New England.

No longer did these young women assist the family’s income in the “putting out system” but instead starting moving to factory towns such as Waltham and Lowell employed in the carding, spinning, weaving and sewing of textiles in America’s first factories. These young women began experiencing the world in a completely different manner than women had in prior centuries. These young women experienced a “wage earning” life complete with the “freedom” to attend educational lectures, plays and numerous other cultural events found in these early urban factory towns. Life thanks to the Industrial Revolution in America radically changed the lifestyle of women in the United States.

Below, you will find a series of web links that will give you an insight into the industrial/urban life of various females of the early 19th century. Please use these sources as well as your text and other sources to respond to the following prompt.

Compare and contrast the life and expectations of 19th century industrial/ urban woman to that of a 21st century woman and determine which way of life is more rewarding and fulfilling? Why?

Remember to use and cite illustrative historical details in your responses.

Opportunities for Females in Mill Towns

Letter of an Independent Mill Girl

“Letters from Susan” from the Lowell Offering

Bobbin Girl by Winslow Homer

Letters of Mary Paul

Eliza Bixby Letters

Regulations to be Observed by Persons Employed in the Boott Cotton Mills

Hamilton Company Boarding House Rules

Time Table for Lowell Mills

19th Century Rural Life in America for Women

Background:
During the colonization of the British New World by British and other numerous other European settlers in the 17th through early 19th century the life of women remained relatively static. The vast majority of colonists, particularly in New England were engage in the economic activity of subsistence farming. A family owned and operated farm relied on a large nuclear (and sometime extended) family working in order to squeeze out an existence.
Women in these households were responsible not for only cooking, cleaning and the care of young children but also in the process of carding, spinning, weaving and ultimately sewing the material necessary in making the family unit’s clothing. As time went on many households participated in the “putting out system” where they took in extra raw materials and worked one of the processes (carding, spinning, or weaving) that they then were paid by “money” by an entrepreneur for their labor.

Below, you will find a series of web links that will give you an insight into the rural life of various females of the early 19th century. Please use these sources as well as your text and other sources to respond to the following prompt.

Compare and contrast the life and expectations of 19th century rural woman to that of a 21st century woman and determine which way of life is more rewarding and fulfilling? Why?

Remember to use and cite illustrative historical details in your responses.

Diary of Elizabeth Fuller at Fourteen
Diary of Sally Brown
Diary of Harriet Bradley
Historical Sketch of Sturbridge and Southbridge
Cooking in the 1800s
Household Loom
Spinning Wheel

The Ratification Debate: 21st Century Style

First Post Due Friday, May 9, 2014

Finals Posts Due by May 14, 2014

Historical Context:

In the spring and summer of 1797, representatives from twelve of the thirteen new American states (Rhode Island conspicuous by its absence) met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with the expressed task to amend and modify America’s first constitution, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union then governing the fledgling nation. Many of the assembled delegates, exemplified by James Madison felt that the Articles were beyond reform and a new “nationalist” government needed implementation for the new nation’s survival. As the delegates met in Philadelphia in 1797, they bound themselves to an oath, to one another, to keep their discussions secret and candid.

As the summer progressed, tempers and the heat of the Pennsylvania summer rose to levels beyond the point of a simple simmer. Many proposals (i.e. Virginia and New Jersey plans) made the floor of the convention for discussion with many compromises resulting to address the concerns of various delegates (i.e. The Great Compromise, 3/5 Compromise). Even after all the compromise and accommodation that took place in Philadelphia, three of the delegates (Edmund Randolph, George Mason and Elbridge Gerry) refused to sign the finished document that they helped craft. Ultimately, this proposed blueprint emerged from the convention in Philadelphia, to be presented and ratified by the people of the United States.

As word and copies of the document circulated throughout the American states, an opposition faction began to galvanize against its acceptance and ratification (anti-Federalists). Meanwhile, those who helped craft the document pushed vigorously for its acceptance and ratification (Federalist). Ratification of this new government needed nine of the original thirteen states to agree to accept this document in order for implementation of the Constitution to take place. In reality, all four of the most populated states (Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York and Virginia) needed to ratify the document in order to give it legitimacy and a chance of success.

In New York and Virginia, this public debate became heated and contentious at times. The most famous example of the public debate for or against ratification took place in New York. A series of editorials began to appear in the local papers promoting (Federalist papers) or condemning  (anti-Federalist papers) the new constitution.

For this blog, students using the handouts, textbook and the following web links must either defend or reject passage of the proposed constitution per the assigned role given to them in class.

Anti-Federalist
Federal Farmer #1
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/federal-farmer-i/

Brutus #1
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/brutus-i/

Brutus #2
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/brutus-ii/

Objection to Proposed Federal Constitution
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/objections-of-george-mason-to-proposed-federal-constitution/

Officer of Late Continental Army
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/an-officer-of-the-late-continental-army/

The Dissent of the Minority Convention of Pennsylvania (excerpts)
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/the-dissent-of-the-minority-of-the-convention-of-pennsylvania/

Federalist
Federalist #10
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/federalist-no-10/

Federalist #51
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/federalist-no-51/

An American Citizen: An Examination of the Constitution of the United States I
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/an-american-citizen-an-examination-of-the-constitution-of-the-united-states-i/

An American Citizen: An Examination of the Constitution of the United States II
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/an-american-citizen-an-examination-of-the-constitution-of-the-united-states-ii/

An American Citizen: An Examination of the Constitution of the United States III
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/an-american-citizen-an-examination-of-the-constitution-of-the-united-states-iii/

An American Citizen: An Examination of the Constitution of the United States IV
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/an-american-citizen-an-examination-of-the-constitution-of-the-united-states-iv/