Student question on the Spanish conquest

History 1100.3 student Nicholas Wood emailed me the following question:

when spain sent an exploration to the new world why did they pick this certain place to land, did they know that there would people and gold there or did they just get lucky. when they landed why wouldn't the aztecs just fight them and take there weapons instead of trading with them or at least learn how to make the spanish weapons so that they didn't have to realy on the spanish for there weapons.

This is a good question. I am not a Latin American specialist, because here is my best attempt at an answer:

The Spanish did not know exactly where to look for gold at first, but they suspected and hoped (and, after Cortés, knew) there were large, wealthy cities in the mainland interior. The basic procedure was to ask natives they met/conquered where the next towns were and what was there. I don't know how much Cortés knew before he set out into central Mexico, but the Spaniards probably knew from the coastal peoples they had already made contact with that there were some potentially rich targets in there somewhere.

Cortés and his small force were able to beat the Aztecs because they were able to gain native allies in the neighboring peoples that the Aztecs had already conquered. One example was the people of Tlaxcala, a city on the way from the coast to Tenochtitlan. Cortés and his native interpreter/mistress La Malinche had a fairly easy time recruiting natives to rise up against their Aztec overlords, and thus turned the Valley of Mexico's large population into an advantage for the Spaniards. The smallpox epidemics that broke out after the Spanish had visited also helped.



As to why the Spaniards weren't immediately killed, the Aztecs were not on the coast, and so could not have done this. The Aztec's native enemies did not want to kill the Spaniards, but instead saw their coming as at least potentially a good thing. Taking their weapons would not have done much good since the natives would not have known how to use, make, or maintain them. A few guns and cannons were not the key factor in the toppling the Aztec Empire in any case: there the keys were native allies and disease.

Reminder for Megan Boccardi’s Section

Please remember to bring a large blue book to sections this week for your exam. These are available at the bookstore. As a reminder, we DO have lecture on Thursday and that material will be on the exam. However, there will be no blog questions for this week.

Thanks,
Megan

Note for Sarah Haskins' Students

There will be no online discussion questions this week because of the exam. If you are on the every other week schedule and were due to post this week simply post for the next two weeks and you will be back on schedule.

REMEMBER, I require you to use a BLUE BOOK for the exam. I have announced this in sections for the past few weeks and am now announcing it in writing so do not forget your blue book this week for the exam.

1st test details

Tests will be given in your regular discussion section time and room on Thursday, Sept. 27 or Friday, Sept. 28, depending on your section. You will need something to write with and on, either blue examination booklets ("blue books") -- these are available at the University Bookstore -- or loose notebook paper. Bring a stapler if you plan to use the latter. You will need to hand in your test form with your answers to prevent any sharing between students in different sections.

The test will be half IDs and half short-answer (2 or 3 paragraphs) questions. See Sarah's post below for pointers on how to write IDs. The main thing is to be logical, thorough, and specific in your answers, naming names, dates, and places. Plan to spend the whole 50 minutes writing.

The first test will cover:

• All the lectures through Sept. 27 (that's right, the day the test begins), including the videos.
  
• Readings listed on the syllabus, including the online reader, through the week of Sept. 20.
• This means basically everything up through colonial Virginia & the Pilgrims.

I will be in the Memorial Union dining/coffee area after class Tuesday (until at least 12) to help with any questions

How to Answer Identifications on the Tests

This is a quick how-to tutorial on writing identifications for your exam. The IDs are half your exam in addition to short essays. An ID can be any important person, event, concept, etc. that we have covered. The review sheet posted earlier is a good study tool for potential IDs. A good ID contains this information:

Who/what (very brief description of term)
When (be as close as you can be chronologically)
Where (again, be as close as you can be geographically)
Historical significance (or the so what, who cares, why is this important)

Each of these is worth a set amount of points of the total ID score, but historical significance is usually worth at least half of the total point value. Therefore, make certain to include this! IDs usually average about a paragraph in length and should take you no more than 5 minutes to write. Part of the exam is about time management; so do not spend so much time on the IDs that you have no time for the essays.

The most challenging part of the ID is historical significance. Try not to think of historical significance as how it is important to today’s society, but rather as how that ID helps us understand the past. Remember, the study of history is not the study of “firsts” or “onlys.” Instead, look for the relationships between events. Think of how the potential IDs relate to the themes of the course—patriarchy in family and government, sovereignty, coercive force, etc.

A trick I taught my students was to utilize the lecture outlines Dr. Pasley has generously provided. Carefully look at lecture titles. For example: the Great Chain of Being (a potential ID) is discussed in the lecture “Patriarchy and Sovereignty in Early Modern Europe.” That is a hint to its significance. How does the Great Chain relate to the lecture title? Answering this can direct you toward its historical significance and thus understanding why we study Great Chain of Being in this class. Look further in the outline. Where is Great Chain of Being brought up? What topics surround it in the lecture? Close examination reveals that it was discussed the subheading “Rulers as Fathers of the People” and in particular reference to the development of an absolute monarchy in 17th century England. A good ID then would quickly define the Great Chain, give the time period of popularity and location of influence and then discuss how it relates to the above information. Be careful not to fall into the trap of telling the interesting stories and never get to the historical significance. Remember, you only have 5 minutes at the max. I’d suggest practicing time writings as I had my students do, just to see how much you can write in 5 minutes.

Terms to Study for 1st Test (2007) - UPDATED

Here are some terms that you should study for the upcoming test. The IDs will be drawn directly from this list, but not all of these are necessarily of equal weight. The terms come from both the reading and the lectures. Ask any questions as comments on this posting. I am doing this on the road without the books in front of me, so check back in a day or two for any changes or second thoughts.

• Sectional crisis cast of characters: Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, Charles Sumner, John Brown, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Henry Clay, James K. Polk, Martin Van Buren, John Wilkes Booth
  
• Missouri Compromise
• Mexican-American War
  
• Wilmot Proviso
• Free Soil
  
• Compromise of 1850
  
• Whigs
  
• doughfaces
• "Black Republicans"
• Kansas-Nebraska Act
• popular sovereignty
  
• Bleeding Kansas
• Lecompton Constitution
  
• Election of 1860
• secession
• police power
• Emancipation Proclamation
• Reconstruction [broad outlines]
  
• protective tariff
• National Guard
• greenbacks
• patriarchy: as family structure & political model
  
• role of women: coverture
  
• child-rearing: "breaking the will"
• Protestantism: Calvinism, "election," sola scriptura
  
• New England Primer
  
• Great Chain of Being
• Divine Right of Kings
• royal touch
  
• Filmer, Robert
• Stuarts
  
• sovereignty
  
• Hobbes, Thomas
  
• "imperium in imperio" (body metaphor)
  
• original sin
• Eastern Woodlands Indian culture: population patterns, agriculture, gender roles, family structure, clans, captives, beloved men, ideas of land ownership, fur trade
  
• Beaver Wars
  
• "white Indians"
  
• Iroquois Confederacy
• Powhatan Confederacy
• Jamestown
  
• Early Virginia cast of characters: Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechanacanough, Captain John Smith, John Rolfe
  
• Colonial crops: tobacco, rice, indigo
• joint-stock companies
  
• Virginia Company of London
• Laws Divine, Moral, and Martial
• indentured servants
• "transportation"
  
• 17th-century Virginia society (gender ratio, life expectancies, social structure)
  
• vacuum domicilium
• "waste" land
• Pilgrims
• Plymouth Colony
  
• Wampanoags
• Massasoit
• Tisquantum
  
• King Philip's War
• Spanish Empire
• Aztecs
• Tenochtitlan
  
• reconquista
• conquistadores
• requerimiento
• berdaches
  
• Papal "donation"
  
• Cortes, Hernan
• syncretism
• English vs. Spanish patterns of colonization
  

Question for Megan's Section

This week, I would like you to think about Native American culture. What are some of the key characteristics? What are the differences between native and European cultures? What role does gender play? Age? How did these differences lead to misinterpretations about each other? Which culture is more appealing and why?

I would like you to focus specifically James Axtell's "White Indians," White Woman of the Genesee Mary Jemison (pg 71-77) and Rev. John Heckewelder, "Defense of Indian marriage practices and gender roles."

Please remember that these responses need to include substantial discussions and evidence from the readings. Although length, does not necessarily make strength, answers that are too short will not fully address the requirements.

Sarah Haskins' Discussion Questions

To answer this question and to prepare for this week's discussion, please have read and thought about the following documents: James Axtell's "White Indians," Pierre de Charlevoix's excerpt, Rev. John Heckewelder's excerpt, and from the Calloway book pg. 49-52 (Micmac Questions French "Civilization") and pg. 71-77 (White Woman of the Genesee Mary Jemison). If you choose to include other readings in your response, you may do so.

The prompt: How was Native American culture viewed by Europeans and by the natives themselves? What were some key differences between the two cultures? Keep in mind the differences in perspective between men and women, missionary and settler, etc. Use specific examples and references to the readings.

Honors section discussion question for 9/20

Read the online readings on American Indians, especially the Axtell article on "white Indians," and answer the following questions: Did the "white Indians" make the right decision? Would you make the same one? What were the major pros and cons? Would the "white Indians" white relatives have been justified in trying to get captives back, or should have let their lost love ones live as Indians in peace?

Also, please note: We will conduct this discussion entirely online, as I will be driving to Minnesota for my father-in-law's funeral and unable to hold our usual discussion meeting this Thursday. Lecture has NOT been cancelled, and neither have the other sections. The honors students lucked out, or something.

Jonathan's Discussion Questions for Sept. 20, 21

For this week's discussion, please take a close look at the article by James Axtell, "The White Indians of Colonial America." Using evidence from this article, please identify some major differences between Native American society and colonial European society. In what ways might these differences cause conflict? If you were a colonist faced with the decision whether or not to integrate into Indian society what decision would you make?

Boccardi's Discussion Update

Please include the newly posted readings from Professor Pasley in your readings for this week. They tie closely to what we are discussing.
Thanks,
Megan

Addition to Online Reader

I am a little dissatisfied with the World Turned Upside Down reader we are using in terms of how well it relates to the upcoming lectures and prospective discussions, so I have added a couple of other short primary readings to the online reader: a French and a German missionary giving their impressions of how Eastern Woodlands Indian society worked in terms of child-rearing and gender roles. Consider how these observations contrast with what we have learned about European society at the time.

Megan Boccardi's Discussion Questions

For this week, I would like you to think about the concepts of patriarchy and religion. How does "original sin" impact the system of patriarchy? Do sin and depravity impact our culture today? Does it stll play a role in our education?
How does patriarchy compare to our modern culture? How does it compare to the Native American culture? Does patriarchy still influence our culture, politics, etc.? How would a matriarchy change and challenge our current society?
Please remember to use readings and lectures to answer these questions.

Sarah Haskins' Discussion Question

A heavy theme of this course is the concept of patriarchy in family and government and the culture that supports this system. Now is your chance to speak up. Do you agree with this? Does this concept of patriarchy work for early modern Europe? the Civil War? Today? Why or why not? Reflect on the course lectures and previous assigned readings and as always use specific examples from both. Remember, you need to respond in a substantive and insightful manner to this prompt.

Jonathan Jones' Questions for Discussion Sept. 13/14

For this week, please reread the excerpt from Patriarcha and take a look at Lord I am Vile and Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes. These pieces are meant to give you a picture of how religion informed the structure both of everyday lives and society as a whole in the early modern period. With this in mind, please identify some of the most basic religious beliefs that helped keep people's lives and society in order. What is original sin and what were its implications for society and government?

Traditionalism and authoritarianism in politics and the family -- a "deleted scene" from today's lecture

I do tend to fall behind the lecture schedule in this class, so from time to time I will post something I had to cut from a lecture -- usually a digression or a comparison or an extra example -- just like the "Deleted Scenes" they include on DVDs. So here is something from the imaginary DVD of the "Patriarchy and Sovereignty in Early Modern Europe" lectures. Feel free to discuss or ask questions below.

1. Comparison with present debates over “family values.”

Some examples: Parents who believe that spanking or physically punishing children is the best form of discipline tend to believe they should have the authority to do it, with little interference from the government. Those same people tend to believe that the best way to manage society is severely punishing or executing wrongdoers rather than trying to rehabilitate them or preventing the social conditions that may help cause crime. More likely than not, one of their traditional values are that each family should also possess the means to use violence itself, meaning guns. Such families are quite likely to attend a church that emphasizes a literal reading of the Bible, including the many passages (largely outside the Gospels I might add) upholding the ideal of fathers as the patriarchs and unquestioned rulers of their families. At same time, they are likely to fervently support public figures like generals, and certain presidents, that embody that sort of stern patriarchal authority.

a) "Promise Keepers" example

I found a remarkable example of the conjunction between family patriarchalism and political authoritarianism in a few minutes on the Internet last night (01/18/06). It concerns a group a Christian men’s group called the “Promise Keepers,” which like many evangelical Christian groups, counsels (among other things) that men’s declining authority is the major threat to families in modern America. Families need “stronger fathers” who can “lead” their wives and children. Admittedly these quotations are from an anti-Promise Keepers site, but the quotations seem to be authentic. ["Servant leadership" is the PK phrase.] Here we have a PK leader and speaker advising men on how to put their families back together: ". . . sit down with your wife and say something like this, "Honey, I've made a terrible mistake. . . I gave up leading this family, and I forced you to take my place. Now I must reclaim that role.". . . I'm not suggesting you ask for your role back, I'm urging you to take it back . . . there can be no compromise here. If you're going to lead, you must lead

Or even more appropriately for our subject: “Don't you understand, mister, you are royalty and God has chosen you to be priest of your home?”

Honors section question for Sept. 13

While the United States is by many measures the most religious (or at least the most church-going) nation in the developed world and religious arguments are more prominent in our politics than ever before, the country also faces an apparent crisis of religious literacy. Simply put, Americans seem to think of the United States as a Christian nation, but even many professing Christians lack a basic understanding of Christian theology and history, let alone those of other religions around the world. A historical question is coming, but for now look at the articles linked above and decide for yourself whether lack of "religious literacy" is as serious a problem as the scholars quoted seem to think.

Then we can conduct a little test of your own religious literacy. The online readings "Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes" and "Lord I Am Vile" (along with the excerpt from Patriarcha) are intended to give you a basic understanding of the religious tenets held by 17th-century English Christians, which they felt should structure society and government as well as religious belief. What is "original sin" and what political & social implications did it have?

UPDATE: I realized this morning that I already answered the final question in lecture. I hate it when that happens! So try this one: do "original sin" and the doctrine of innate depravity have any relevance for modern Christianity and/or our modern "Christian" nation? Should they?

Isaac Watts, "Lord I Am Vile, Conceived in Sin"

[The original link in the Online Reader went dead, so I am pasting the lyrics here. Students may comment if they like.-- JLP]

1. Lord, I am vile, conceived in sin;
And born unholy and unclean;
Sprung from the man whose guilty fall
Corrupts the race, and taints us all.

2. Soon as we draw our infant breath,
The seeds of sin grow up for death;
Thy law demands a perfect heart,
But we're defiled in every part.

3. Great God, create my heart anew,
And form my spirit pure and true;
O make me wise betimes to spy
My danger and my remedy.

4. Behold, I fall before thy face;
My only refuge is thy grace:
No outward forms can make me clean
The leprosy lies deep within.

5. No bleeding bird, nor bleeding beast,
Nor hyssop branch, nor sprinkling priest,
Nor running brook, nor flood, nor sea,
Can wash the dismal stain away.

6. Jesus, my God, thy blood alone
Hath power sufficient to atone;
Thy blood can make me white as snow
No Jewish types could cleanse me so.

7. While guilt disturbs and breaks my peace,
Nor flesh nor soul hath rest or ease;
Lord, let me hear thy pard'ning voice,
And make my broken bones rejoice.

Discussion Questions for Boccardi's Section

For this week’s post, I would like you to think about the concept of father and patriarchy, connecting the role of Abraham Lincoln to that a king. What similarities are there between the two? How can we see nation as a family? What role does religion play in enforcing the position of the patriarch? What is the importance of education? Where does ultimate authority lie?

You can address any or all of these questions in your post. Please remember to answer with specific examples. Also, please bring the readings to section on Thursday.

See you all in class!

As promised, a picture of John Brown with his beard.

Honors section discussion question for 9/6

As we make the transition from the Civil War era back to the 17th century, let's consider a metaphor that was much in use during both those periods: the political community as a family. How is a community such as a nation like and unlike a family? Does the metaphor have any utility in describing the roles and duties of rulers, citizens, and subjects, to the community and each other? Does it apply better to monarchy than republicanism? Just what are the connections between political and social life? (Answer any 1 or 2 of these here, but think about them all for class.)

To spur your thinking, go ahead do the next of set of readings on sovereignty in early modern Europe. The lyrics of "We Are Coming, Father Abraham," played in class this morning, may also help.

Jonathan Jones' Questions for Discussion

While, of course, you will need to have completed all of this week's assigned reading, please focus for discussion purposes on pages 442 - 443 in the textbook - "Blacks and Whites Describe the End of Slavery" - and the excerpt from Patriarcha by Robert Filmer from the online reader, unit 1.

Here are this weeks questions. Answer as completey as you can.

1. Using evidence from the article "Blacks and Whites Describe the End of Slavery," describe some ways in which a slave community (plantation or otherwise) is like a family.

2. Using evidence from Patriarcha, describe some ways in which a nation is like a family.

3. Do you see any connections?

See you all in class!

Sarah Haskins' Sections Discussion Questions

Only my students need to answer this. If you are having problems commenting, see Dr. Pasley's post below. If you still have problems, email your comments to Dr. Pasley and request that he post them. REMEMBER: post your comments at least 12 hours before your discussion section.

As always, please use specific examples and specific references to the readings.

Prompt: Compare/contrast Hobbes and Filmer's ideas in the two excerpts for this week. Connect them to the themes of patriarchy and authority in the state and family, as discussed in class. Be sure to note when each document was written and its historical context (what was happening in England at this time?) You should also consider how the concepts of the Great Chain of Being and the social contract relate to the readings. If we have not yet covered these in lecture by the time you comment, you will need to do some solo investigations into these concepts.

Also, do not forget the rest of the assigned readings for the week.