After reading the Summer Reading articles, I expect each student to provide a BLOG overview that addresses the following points:
1. What assumptions/conclusions can you make about the British North American Colonies following the reading of the 6 articles? In otherwords--what is your overall opinion and view of the British North American colonies following the reading?
2. After reading the articles, what questions do you have about the British North American Colonies? Post these questions to each other or Mr. C to answer--have a BLOG dialogue with Mr. C and other students in the class ABOUT questions raised from the articles?
3. Which article did you find most interesting and compelling in terms of your own knowledge about Colonial America that you were not aware of? Explain your answer!
ALSO--MAKE SURE THAT YOUR NAME IS ALWAYS ATTACHED TO YOUR POSTS--IF YOU WANT CREDIT!
136 comments:
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Mr.C
Prior to reading the articles,I can conclude that life in these colonies likely prospered due to the rapid pace colonization and infrastructure developed. Based on what I know beforehand, their society was plagued by insecurity and stricken by war and paranoia. I believe the colonies were mainly self-sufficient, but sometimes relied on the Natives and supplies brought by ship from England.
After reading these articles, it was obvious that the colonies weren’t very self-sufficient at first, but gradually improved. I had no idea prior to reading these articles that life in the British North American colonies was full of hardship to the extent it was. I had not known in retrospect that life was hindered by a myriad of uncalled for factors.
General Overview of British North American Colonies
In my opinion, the two main reasons the nations of Europe came to colonize the Americas were religious freedom and profit motive. Jamestown, the first British settlement, was full of shear ignorance and was personified by incompetent laziness and lack of initiative for survival. The only reason the British colonies survived is because there was a seemingly endless amount of people willing or forced to go to the new world. The good thing was, the British government finally interfered and sent officials to enforce Martial Law. If the intentions of the colonists were to have been completely secular, chaos and paranoia could have been completely averted. The colonists exploited the Native population; it would have been more beneficial to live in amnesty than to have constant fighting because both groups had great things to contribute to one another. If the indenturing of servants would have been regulated by the government, the livelihood of indentured servants could have been better. There was no reason for border disputes between the French and British because most of the land remained unused in the first place.
Questions
1. Based on how Tituba was treated in the Salem Witch Trials, don’t you think the Puritans would have at least realized Tituba’s story wouldn’t have even been based on Puritan theology? Even if she was a witch, how would it be tied to the Christian based Satan?
2. Wouldn’t it have been far more profitable to send a select few intelligent people to startup the foundation for the colony and then send skilled workers than to have people than to send the poor, the high-class and the skilled workmen first?
3. If there was no intervention by the English government to enforce Martial Law, would the Jamestown settlement have been a success?
4. Why didn’t Charles I persecute the Puritans?
5. Is it not strange how many left England for religious toleration and freedom, but ended up persecuting those who had different religious values? (i.e. Anne Hutchinson, Roger Williams)
Anyone is open to answer my questions.
The article I find most intriguing is "The Starving Time at Jamestown". It is interesting because an event I thought I had prior knowledge over ended up being much more complex than anticipated. I had not known about how lazy and unmotivated the colonists who inhabited it were. I expected them to be similar to Mennonites in the integrity of their work.
Well done Austin--for everyone that posts, this is what I am looking for. . . his blog post contains insightful and original thought while raising legitimate historical questions and issues from the articles. EACH STUDENT WILL NEED TO DO WHAT HE DOES. He addresses what I require in the post directions. NOW . . . what I want to see is a dialogue and discourse between students. After you make your post--attempt to provide comment on Austin's questions--respond to each other and we will have a summer online dialogue. Don't just regurgitate facts for me, but OWN YOUR EDUCATION and try and answer Austin's questions that he poses. Austin--feel free to respond back to the questions as well. ALSO--each of you feel free to respond to each other's questions that are raised.
I agree with austin's questions# 2&5. in response to #2: th reason that mostly poor, wealthy, and skilled whent firt was that the poor were mostly puritains who were fleeing charles II( the reason that he pursecuted them i belive is that he was more persecuting the separatists, who openly critized the anglican church for being too roman catholic). the wealthy were trying to find what the investors of the vinginia company were wanting them to find, precious medals. and there had to be silled workers to be able to help make homes and carry out important duties.
Before reading these articles the only other information i had going into reading them was from mr. watchous' 8th grade history class.
the only thing i realy remember about the colonies was the french and indian war (thanks to "The Last Mohican"). other wise my veiw of the colonies was the pilgrims on the may flower and they all got along with the indians like in pocahontas. well thats definatley not true. The general over view showed that there was alot more to the colonies than a mayflower, full of pilgrims who got along with the indians. i have never even have heard of a joint-stock company.
general overveiw
From the time of exploration to the reign of Queen Elizabeth. it is amazing how power shifts. during exploration the Portugees are the sea power,with spain afraid of losing power in their new found land. then during Queen elivabeth I reign the spanish armada was the most feared,. that is until their defeat in the english channel. once the new world was found all the majoreuropean powers had a race for control. england with its joint-stock companies in virginia, the pilgrims in new England, and the poor colonists at jamestown.
the colony of james town was surviving just barley, due to the fact that the colonists were more interested in finding gold than growing corn.the fact that the had the worst possible place in terms of living conditions, mixed with their ignorance spelled disaster. the indians, and leadership of John Smith are the only to things that kept the colony alive. There were there were four basic types of people emigrating: those who came for religous freedom, thoses who were wealthy trying to gain more, those going as indentured survants, and those kiked out of england. martial law was put in place by brittish officials. then the best thing to happen to the colonies happened, John rolfe got some carribean tabacco from vennesuela and was able to grow it in virginia. the cash crop was about the only thing that they grew, being so that the dindn't really know how to mannage the land. the "land was changing right beneath the indian's feet" due to the new species that the colonists brought, the way the colonists managed the land, and the WORMS. The rivalry of land to find gold and keep land. between England and France was i think very humorus in that centuries later Napolian would sell most of the united states to Thomas jefferson. but it is my favorite war in that the brains of france ot did the bron of England with gorrila warfare. thatis until the british figured out their tactics. i also find it strange how the pequote indian wars were fought with the indians that sort of helped the colonists.
question
- If the ships never dumped their ballasts, then what would people use to fish:)the forests would look diferent too right?
- does any one find the way liesler was executed kind of brutal?
- the way that Braddock was burrie seems kind of strange tome, if i were george washington i think that i would have a more respectable way to burrie a hero. then again the french would have probably destroyed his greave.
- has any one finished the scavenger hunt? when i first saw it i was kind of happy i know some of it, but i came on here to ak what we were suposed to do with it but now i know .
im suppried to see Austin's the only one this far. last years' blogs there was always tons then again i waited until the last minute.
Oh, by the way Austin i'm very impressed at the word choice, were you in euro last year?
The article i found the most interesting was america lost and found. Especially the part about the worms. the pictures really help you visualize things. i found the last one to be kind of strange.
the part about without the livestock that the colonists brought the indians had no need to fence their land, is interesting. this meant that the land today if the colonists never came one would be full of indians and not me or apush, and two would be open land with no worms:(. my favorite quote in this article is, "without the european honeybee, Gorgeia wouldn't be a peach stat; Jhonny Appleseed'strees might not borne fruit".
@Frankie.
In response to the nature of Braddock’s burial; if you think about it, it was far more honorable to place his grave in the middle of the road unmarked and to be destroyed than to have the French troops exhume the corpse and parade it around. You also have to think that they were way out in the wilderness and couldn’t really haul a bunch of rotting corpses with them because it might cause disease.
In response to the way in which Leisler was executed, I’d say it was very relevant to the brutality of other events occurring during that era.
Oh and yes, I did finish the Scavenger Hunt if you need any help. I also did not take AP Euro last year and I now regret that I didn't.
I’m sort of confused about your first question Frankie. Are you implying that there were no fish before the Europeans came?
Good job guys--this is what I am looking for--Frankie not only addressed my requirements but in turn responded to some of Austin's comments.
I want to respond to Austin's first question about the differences between Tituba's views and the views of a Christian community, and his last question about religious toleration in the New World. I believe that these questions can be answered by a simple theme of "I'm right and you are wrong" that appears throughout much of history. First of all, both of these communities were afraid of some form of domination; One by a source of evil magic, and the other by unaccepting religions. To defeat their fears the colonists took action but neither society saw what they were doing. In Tituba's case it was much easier for the colonists to accept the fact that the devil could be affecting everything around them than to allow something new and possibly even more dangerous into their lives. Parris played on this fear of the unknown to convict Tituba and persecute other women. This made Salem become very closed minded looking at witchcraft as a satanic evil because their religion was right therefore no other views could be right. For those who left England for religious toleration but then persecuted other religions, it is a constant fight over what is right. While they were in England the colonists still viewed their religion as being correct but it was not until they made it to America that they were able to truly fight people to prove it. I have still yet to read much of the packet so I'm sorry I cannot answer more of your questions right now, but I hope you can find some answers in this, and great job on everything.
1.I believe after reading the 6 articles that the original colonists were very unprepared and uninformed about the “New World” they were about to embark on. I also think that it is a miracle after all the “laziness” diseases and death that anyone survived at all. I have concluded that if it weren’t for the protestant work ethic that the puritans brought with them, America would still be ruled by natives. My overall opinion of the British North American Colonies is one of awe for the past and how much a person withstood just to achieve religious freedom or any prosperity that they thought would be in the New World. I am the most surprised by the fact that horses and pigs were not a part of the America’s originally. I cannot imagine America without wild horses! Another surprise for me was the fact of the Salem Witch Trials. I had no clue prior to reading that these killings were due to a couple of young girls making up a story about their maid. It baffles me that the adults in the community believed the girls and wound up killing women because of it. I’m also very sickened and saddened by the treatment of the natives. According to these articles they were very generous to the strangers who were on their land, the colonists should have been thankful for the way the natives helped them learn how to survive in this new territory. Overall, these articles made me realize that I do not know as much about my own country as I thought I would and that APUSH will not be as easy as I presumed.
2.Some questions that first came to me, being a woman is:
-How would you feel being a married puritan woman based off of the article, Bearing the Burden? Puritan Wives?
Also,
-Like the writer of America, Found & Lost do you think that the true America has been lost /destroyed by the colonists? Or is America better off the way it is now?
-Do you think you could have survived being a colonist? What would you have done differently if you had been there?
3. I found the America, Found & Lost the most inspiring because it opened my eyes to the reality of how America started and the natural state of the environment and how that was completely changed by the loss of respect handed down from native to the colonists and their children, us. I feel after reading that I have a respect for the natives and their suffering at seeing their home lost to the European idiots that came across the sea. I would have loathed being an American Indian at the time of colonization.
Lastly, I’d like to share my point of view on some questions :)
To Austin Cozadd’s #3 – I believe they would have survived if John Smith had stayed to keep Jamestown running smoothly.
To Austin Cozadd’s #5 – I thought that same thing; the colonists were hypocrites I feel. They only fought with each other at first because they did not have the exact same beliefs, but I am happy that eventually Americans set aside their differences and became a nation of religious freedom.
To Frankie Whittaker’s #2 – I do think it was an extreme, but the British had to make an example of him, so killing him was their best bet to make sure that kind of uprising never happened again.
Kellie Masuch said...
After reading these articles i realized that the colonies were not as sturdy and the humans building them were not as self-confident, but were improving after all there hard times slowly passed them by. The conquistadores had killed the civilization from the Indians they tried to make it into a civilization for them, it was very unstable but all there hard work they put into it made it better over time. I believe the only reason the colonies made it was because of the natives, they brought the supplies to keep the americans afloat. As soon as they stopped supplying them with supplies the hard times began. What i thought was interesting to read about was The Starving Time At Jamestown. I think that was creepy that they would dig up dead corpses and feast on them, and try and kill there family members to eat them as well.
Questions:
1. Why would they base women behavior off of Eve?
2. Why did George Washington fight for Europe and not somewhere else?
3. Why was Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne killed for being a witch, but Tituba lived for being the leader?
@Rebecca: In response to your question regarding “America, Found and Lost”, the true America was actually how the Natives knew it. It depends on how you look at the question. I see it as what better accommodated the Colonists was burdensome to the Indians. In present day it wouldn’t have mattered because
@ Kellie Question #1: Eve was the one who was blamed for tempting Adam to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Based on that you could say in the eyes of some Christian theologies, Eve was the source of original sin which in the eyes of the Puritans may have been the scapegoat.
@ Kellie Question #2: If by Europe you mean England it was because Washington was born in Virginia and descended from a British lineage. He was loyal and worked towards the benefit of England until the time of the American Revolution. I could see no reason why he would want to work for any other country.
@Kellie Question #3:I believe it was because Abigail Williams, Tituba and all of the witch conspirators were the ones who started the trials in the first place and acted as if they were victimized to gain the sympathy of the Court. Tituba was one of the ones who cried witch on Good and Osburn so she served jail time instead of an execution.
Aly Daniels
Overall Opinion
The British North American Colonies started off as a region full of famine, disease and brutal Indian attacks. The horrific early years of the colonies are often forgotten because before the packet I was unaware of how extremely vulnerable and unprepared the colonists were. The first’s colonies main concerns were riches such as the gold the Spanish had found in the South American colonies. When they were not able to find them they became lethargic. Some of the laziness was from sickness and lack of food, but a lot of it had to do with having no reason to live or work hard because they expected people to give them whatever they needed; the Indians, and the new colonists coming to shore helped the struggling colonies when they could. Many of the colonies that were not developed in search for gold were developed as havens for different religions such as Puritans and Catholics. The Puritan religion was particularly up tight in what was considered acceptable in their religion. This led to many persecutions of those who did not believe what the Puritans believed, such as those who believed in witchcraft. I was taken by surprise that someone who was considered to be a witch actually started the entire Salem witch hunt. Tituba showed that the class system was still in place and used her power of fear to manipulate those into thinking witches could be anyone. She used native religions such as those that she learned in Barbados to confuse those in the court room because they had never been accustomed to these ideas. This is what started the terror in the North American colonies of witchcraft because the Puritans were blind to religions other than their own. The religious freedom was great for many, but the colonies still separated themselves by religion and many religions were still persecuted in certain colonies. The colony of Providence was developed and the witch hunts occurred because of still some lack of religious freedom that would not go away till the First Amendment of the United States Constitution was ratified in December 1791. The British North American colonies were useless up until tobacco production. They did nothing, but take from the Indians and create hostile relations because they could not take care of themselves. This eventually led to countless Indian and colonial attacks. John Smith and John Rolfe were the two main factors in the turn around of the early colonies without Smith’s leadership and Rolfe’s strain of tobacco that he received from Trinidad the colonies would have perished. The British North American colonies started off as a punishment, but as leadership, plantations, and religious colonies developed the New World became a dream place to live, full of religious freedom, open land, and great prospects for money by farming tobacco.
Questions
1. Since the Indians practically had to feed the colonists too, why did the Indians not teach the colonists to fend for themselves like they did?
2. Why did the Puritan women want their children to grow up in fear of God?
3. Why were the Puritan women in charge of everyone’s salvation and religion when they were not allowed to have a say in almost anything in their lives?
4. Why were the Indians so against British expansion when they were not opposed to French?
5. Why do you think Tituba came up with the story? And do you think she just made it up when she was on the stand?
6. Without the outbreak of malaria do you think there would have been more indentured servants and fewer slaves in the British North American colonies?
Aly Daniels
Most Interesting Article
I thought the article over the Salem Witch Hunt was most interesting. I missed the day we talked about the witch hunts in AP Euro so I liked having a more in depth understanding of it. I thought it was interesting how a woman being accused of being a witch was actually the one to start the entire witch hunt. She used her knowledge of witch craft that she learned in Barbados to trick confuse and scare those at her trial into believing witches could be anyone. I also enjoyed the article because no one knew why she was trying to scare everyone into believing that everyone could be a witch. Some believed it was so she would receive a less harsh punishment, others believed that it was to get rid of the class system and stereotype of witches. Either way Tituba seemed intelligent and manipulative. I found it interesting how she could scare and captivate an entire court room just with her stories.
To respond to Austin's third question I would like to point out that Charles I did persecute the Puritans. The packet says "Charles I, determined in 1629 to persecute the Puritans aggressively and to rule without the Puritan-dominated Parliament." This persecution led to the Puritans being granted a charter to settle in the New World in the colony of Massachusetts in 1630. Austin great job on your general overview it was well thought out.
I would also like to respond to Rebecca’s question about Puritan wives. Personally I would not enjoy being a Puritan wife they were just expected to take whatever their husbands did to them. The Puritan men said that if the women suffered they would be rewarded, but I would not want to suffer. Why did the men not have to suffer, but they would still be rewarded in the end. In my opinion the Puritan men just wanted to place the women in charge of religion and the family because the men did not want to have that much of a responsibility for their religious well being which was a big deal to Puritans. Instead they wanted to have the women handle it so they could blame them for any religious or family missteps. That is why I would not want to be a Puritan wife.
Austin your first question raises some interesting points, I think the Puritans knew it was not based on Puritan theology and I think that scared them. I think that since it was something they had never heard of they felt they had to believe her and persecute all that she blamed. Tituba’s intricate stories made her more believable even if they had no knowledge to base her story off of. Since they declared Tituba a witch I think they just twisted her testimony to fit some of the views on Christian based Satan. Tituba’s use of different religions other than Puritan and Christian helped to place fear into the European colonists so they would believe her story and let her off a little easier because she helped them understand witchcraft and convict witches.
In response to Aly’s question #4: It was probably because the French set up seemingly peaceful trade relations with the Indians and the Natives thought it would be to their benefit to see France prevail. The British more so exploited the Indians, while the French might have done it on occasion.
In response to Aly’s question #6: Malaria or not, I think slaves would have inevitably dominated the workforce of the colonies. The fact that you would one day lose the indentured servants if they did not die would have eventually led to an increased demand for free labor.
Great dialogue guys and excellent questions being posted and discussed. Again those that have posted so far have both dealt with my requirements and have delved into discussion of historical issues concerning the early colonies. I have got a couple of questions myself. . . based on the reading and discussions I have seen so far:
1. It is easy to see differences and rationale for settlement between those that settled in Jamestown and the Puritans and Pilgrims of New England. Jamestown was dominated primarily by wealth as an impetus for settlement whereas the Puritans and Pilgrims as whole sought religious freedom. What about differences between Puritans and Pilgrims/Separatists? What are their differences and similarities?
2. When discussing today's "American Character"--we sometimes here the phrase "protestant work ethic"--what does this phrase mean in terms of the Puritan founders of early New England America?
3. What is the significance and purpose of the Pilgrim's Mayflower Compact in terms of early American history? The link below may help you understand the Pilgrims and the significance of the Mayflower Compact. http://www.pilgrimhall.org/compcon.htm
@Mr. Cochran's #3 question: I believe that without that first contract that many Americans would never have realised that they could do things for themselves. This Compact made the Pilgrims cofident that they did not need their Mother Country to do something across the sea. Although this contract was not a decleration of independence from England, it started a domino effect that helped push the future Americans to fight for their independence. It gave them faith that they could create a long lasting contract that was effective.
@Aly's question #1: The Indians did try to teach the colonists how to fend for themselves. i.e. they showed the Jamestown colonists how to fish, but that backfired on the colonists because at a certain times of the year the sea mixed with the James river and the water was inhabitable by the river fish. Mostly, the colonists died at such an alarming rate that as many colonists that the Indians taught, it wasn't enough to make an impact. Their teachings also would not be effective if the colonists did not have the desire or strength to fend for themselves. i.e. the "laziness" sickness prevented the colonists from planting and growing and hunting because they had no will to do any of those things.
Haley McGuire
Overall Opinion
Before reading these packets my understanding of the colonies was only what they have taught us through school. We were always told that the colonists came to America to escape religious persecution; we weren't really taught that it was also in most cases, such as Jamestown, originally for gold and glory. In the early years of the colonies disease and famine were rampant, and as the search for riches began to useless, the colonists became lazy. The people who were being sent to the colonies in the early years were using it as an exciting experience or to escape some trouble of theirs in England. The investors of the colonies also made the mistake to appoint leaders by their station instead of their ability, thinking that the higher class was naturally born to lead. I was impressed by the way that John Smith was able to get the colonists working while he was there, but unfortunately, the progress he had made did not continue when he left. When the colonists finally did figure things out, thanks to the start of tobacco plantations, the Puritan religion pushed its way to the fore front of colonial life. Women were seen as subordinate to men in the beginning of the seventeenth century. In the second half however, women were in charge of a family’s moral and religious conscience and conduct. The Puritan religion was so important that Tituba, a servant from Barbados, was able to use the colonists beliefs against them and make them certain that there were witches who were in contract with the devil to do his work. The colonies started off as a way to keep up with the other countries that were colonizing the world, and was driven by the three G's; Gold, Glory, and God. The early years were rough and a mass amount of people died, but thanks to certain factors such as new leadership, and tobacco plantations, the colonies were able to grow and flourish.
The most interesting article to me was The Starving Time at Jamestown. I knew life in the colonies was hard, but in all the years that we have been learning about the colonies, no one has ever made me think that it was this brutal. I knew that there was famine and disease but to see the actual statistics, such as the population of the colony dropping from 108 to 38 people in the first winter and to have that trend continue the winters after that, really surprised me. The fact that I found really shocking was that the colonists had to resort to actually digging up the dead and eating them. I had no idea that the life in the early colonies was that horrific. Another concept I found interesting was that the colonists failed, in part, because they were lazy. I have grown up hearing about the protestant work ethic so I had no idea that the colonists were lazy enough to let the colony almost completely fail.
I also enjoyed the article over the Salem Witch Hunts. I had to read The Crucible this summer and by also reading the article I now have a much better understanding of how the hunts actually got started and also the mind set that went along with it.
1. Why do you think it took so long for the colonists to stop being lazy, and actually start supporting themselves?
@Aly's #3:
I think that the women were not allowed any say in anything but moral and religious matters because men at that point still believed that women were weak and could not make the important decisions. I think that the switch to seeing them as valuable in religious decisions was a big developement for women in that time period.
To Mr. Cochran’s Question #2:You could say that “Protestant Work Ethic” got its roots from the way in which the citizens of New England theocracies were morally obliged to exert themselves towards hard work, no matter how strenuous, in order to gain wealth, success and remain in good standings with God. What started out as something religious began to emerge as something more secular as the centuries progressed.
To Haley’s Question: Like I said, they were just incompetent until a benefactor, such as John Smith or the government, came to enforce and regulate working standards. The reason it took them so long to gain their bearings was probably because they all looked at each other with a condescending tone, as if they owed one another something. The get quick rich scheme was obviously a failure and it took them a bit of time to recover from the disappointment. They realized poverty was ubiquitous; they couldn’t gain capital and couldn’t rely solely on the natives or exports. They probably started working a bit harder when they actually had a little more motivation, such as a family to provide for or a cash crop to get rich off of.
To Haley's question, you have to remember that many of the people that first came to the new world were those who were wealthy and powerful in Europe. They probably had everything they ever wanted where they were from, and were not interested in using physical labor to get what they needed. It was not until later that gaining passage to the new world became more open and affordable. It is like how many of us have not bothered learning or doing our summer homework because we have always had a teacher showing us how to do it.
Great point Jake--your final sentence goes to my philosophy of college bound Juniors . . . "you have to own your education, and make it yours" Those who fail to grasp this concept usually fair poorly in APUSH!
How is everyone citing their websites for colonial terminology since the noodletools account will not let you enter unless you have the library username and password?
Aly Daniels
On citation, just do your best...I basically am looking for where you get your information. There is no real need for formal citation this time around...I just don't want students pulling information and citing wikipedia, as that is a college no-no!!! Hope that helps everyone. See you all soon--I have already recorded BLOG grades for those that have finished their posts--I must say--overall. . . very impressive! Now for the rest of you to get this done--let's see. . . that would be about 78 of you left to go!
The British were looking for a new way to expand and not neccesarily in the European continent. Many people had heard tales of a mysterious Northwest Passage, which provided a direct path to the West Indies. There had been many conquistadores and explorers before the British, in search for this passage, but instead had discovered the New World. The New World was a perfect solution for vast expansion and colonization. The newly settled British colonies had a rough start due to famines, laziness, other colonies,disease, and constant trouble with the Native Americans. Moving to the New World was not an easy task. It may have seemed a way to get a better life and a clean slate in the New World, but getting a new life required hard work which most were unwilling to supply. A majority of the immigrants had come to the New World in search for gold and riches but found nothing but dirt. Being unsatisfied with their finds, the immmigrants pretty much gave up and turned to the couch potato life. The only way for the colonies to become flourishing would be through rough labor in order to make the colonies successful. Due to most of the constant laziness, many colonies failed or even disappeared. Order was needed severely among the lazy colonists, and order was brought through organizations, leaders, and laws.
The most interesting article was the "Bearing the Burden? Puritan Wives." The article discussed the everday life and views of the average Puritan family. The most intriguing part about the article was how cruel the husbands were to their wives. The husbands were obsessed with the pain of childbirth. In modern time, an obsession like that may be seen as ludacris. The Puritan wives did indeed carry a heavy burden that was both physically and psychologically weighing down upon them.
-General Overview-
The European people who made their way to the Americas most likely had two reasons for doing so, the first being to escape from their life to start again, the second being to gain riches for their families back home. What the colonists did not realize though was that starting a nation from scratch is not like brewing a cup of tea, you have to work in order to get it started and also to keep it going. The colonists faced many obstacles including the Native Americans, who were mistreated and soon became enemies rather than allies, and the vastly different terrain and weather of North America. The leadership in the beginnings was inadequate and the colonies suffered drastically. The Jamestown colony suffered a grueling winter in which the colonists dug up corpses for food. The leadership of John Smith pulled them out of it for a spell, but the colonists were never motivated enough to do things on their own. The religious freedom that was sought after was maybe the biggest pitfall of the colonists, because they never wanted religious equality for all, rather, they only wanted it for themselves. The wars between Native Americans and colonists were completely unnecessary because had the English established trade and lived on the land with them, the colonists would have had help to establish themselves rather than having to do it alone.
-A few questions-
1. How would the salem witch trials have played out if Tituba hadn't implicated the two Sarah's and the Bostonians?
2. What possessed the colonists to destroy their relationships with the Indians by taking their land and allowing their livestock to destroy their crops? the colonists really could have used their help in establishing a colony.
-A few responses-
To Aly's #3: Women were thought to have better control of their emotions and that makes them better teachers, so the men would want women to teach their families how to live a virtuous life while they were making a living. The women were also believed to be incompetent in political issues and other matters not concerning the family or religion.
To Austin's #2: I also think that it would have been a better idea to send competent political figures as well as some skilled workers in order establish a colony with a well run government, then to send the artisans, poor, and willing to populate. I also see why the English did what they did. To send well educated politicians would be to throw away a valuable asset. There may not have been enough learned men to fill positions both at home and in the colonies, so they had to make due with what they could get
@ jake weekly's #1 question- i wonder the same thing the whole time i feel that it seemed that tituba was sort of playing at the cort. what she said about the boston man, and how he was metaphoricly the same as Paris.
? i also wonder what would happen if tituba didn't confess to being a witch. would she be hung like sarrah?
in response to haley maguire's #1 question.
i think that it took the colonists so long to realize thier need for work to survive, because they were to busy looking for gold.
@ kellie's #3 question- i wouldn't say that tituba was the leader, but she was not as drasticly punnished as the sarahs because of her up front confession. also as i belive, because of the way she "played" the trial with the detail and testimonies.
@ austain"s response to kellie's question #1- i totaly agree how you put it, it's realy effective to refrence the word scape goat. as in biblical times it was a jewish custom to have a goat and once a year the high preist would cast the people's sins on the goat and cast it of into the wilderness. were it would inevitably die.
@ aly's question #4- i belive the indians were oposed to the brittish expansion rather then the french. was because the indians and the french had a better trading relation ship. alsoi would hope that some of the indians viewed the brittish as lazy, and when in "America Lost and Found". they talk about how the indians did not have a need to fence farm land with no domestic animals. then when the english came they fenced their fields rather than their animals that were going and ravaging the indians fields.
-More Answers-
@Becca Munson's #2 question: I feel that no matter whether we had some of the things that have been rediscovered earlier would have drastically changed the course of history. You have to remember, there was a time when the colonists had to resort to cannibalism, and some of them would have been seriously resentful of that fact.
@Becca's #1 question: I would definitely not have enjoyed being a puritan wife. They had to just take whatever their husband's decide to dish out, be it verbal, physical, sexual or psychological abuse. The women would teach their sons and daughters how to remain good little Christians. the women had no say in affairs outside the family or church, yet they could still not be pastors of any kind. This would have irked me to no end, not being able to interact in the community while being expected to teach the family good morals and values.
Brett Goetzmann
The British North American colonies in my opinion were a bunch of people who came from Britain and thought that they were going to have it easy. Everyone thought that there would be loads of gold and other riches that they could send back to the mother country and live a life free of worry. But in reality life in the colonies was about ten times harder. What made me angry is how long it took some of the colonist to realize that they are going to have to provide food for themselves and not just rely on the indians. Colonist were dieing off because they were to lazy to even attempt to provide for themselves. Now i grant it that disease could have played a major role in how the colonist acted but i think that surly someone could have seen the need and fulfilled it. The women in the colonies were more of a man in my eyes then the men were. Women had to bear children, provide meals, and make sure the religious additude is kept in the how. Women were doing so much more than the men but were not appreciated. What surprised me is that the only way a women could truly be concidered strong in a mans eye was through child labor. I feel like the women did so much more to provide for the well being of the family that their husbands should have showed so much more love way before they gave birth.
The starving time at Jamestown was by far the most interesting to me. I just could not believe how stupid some of the colonist were. They lived in plentiful fishing and waterfowl grounds but still they starved. I just can't understand how someone could just sit there and not even try to survive. Also when a leader came that help bring the death rate down in the colony everyone was fast to hate the person for making them work more. I just had no clue how dumb some of the colonist were who first arrived in the America's.
Q1. What made George Washington switch sides from the British to the Continental Army?
Q2. If the indians were not generous to the colonist of Jamestown do you think the colony would have survived?
Q3. Why were the colonist so gullible Tituba's story.
@Jake’s comment to Haley: Actually! Most of the people that were the first ones to get to the New World were poor. England picked poor people off of the streets; almost as if they were sending the less wealthy and useless people to experiment the New World to test it out for the rest of England.
~Alyssa Bradford
The most interesting article to me would probably have to be The Starving Time at Jamestown. Not only because I learned so much about our history that I had never known about, but that there were so many people that sat there complaining about how the life sucked there...when they could have done something about it! I loved reading about the insane stories of the desparate. It may seem weird, but it is actually kind of cool reading about how people went crazy and suffered. Although it would be horrible if we had to live through it, it is ironic and a little humorous that the settlers would rather die than work to survive.
~Alyssa Bradford
From reading and analyzing the articles assigned, I can confidently say the exploration of the New World and the early establishment of colonies was nothing less than a catastrophe. Due to the settler’s inability to adapt, unwillingness to participate in the New World workforce, unbreakable focus on rare treasures such as gold and the lack of education received while living in England, they were ultimately setting themselves up for failure from the beginning. The laziness of these colonists was taken to a completely new extreme and I was thoroughly shocked to read an individual would rather rip the unborn child from his wife’s womb and salt her remains than teach himself how to survive and provide for his family by hunting or even attempting to harvest naturally grown forest food. This also leads me to imagine just how ignorant the colonists were, if they did not have the common sense to chop down a tree a few steps away rather than breaking off pieces of their own shelters, it’s surprising they actually survived as long as they did. Thankfully, leaders such as John Smith, although the ideas he enforced were not necessarily ground-breaking by any means, kept Jamestown afloat. I believe breaking the idea of equally distributing salaries was essential to being productive and no matter how wealthy the colony was, they would have just died with their money rather than putting it to good use without a trailblazer like Smith. An additional downfall the colonists could have and should have avoided from the start was their association with the Native Americans. Due to the settler’s inexperience and naiveté and the decisions they made to trade with seemingly friendly tribes only caused the dependency on Indians to deepen along with the colonists’ troubles and equipped the Indian’s rage towards them with muskets. Ultimately, the relationships colonists had with the Indians started off well, but ended with manipulation, stupidity and dead, bread stuffed settlers.
I do not have any questions about the reading necessarily because all of them have already been asked and answered in previous comments, but I did want to ask Alyssa what she meant by saying England’s past rulers having their plans backfire on them?
@Alyssa’s comment to Jake’s comment to Haley: I completely agree with you, it’s almost as if the wealthier, higher class citizens and leaders were simply watching lab rats find their way through the metaphorical maze, seeing if they could reach the cheese at the end. I think it’s incredibly clever of those who waited because it was, more than likely, blatantly obvious those of a lower class were desperate for the good life and the New World was the ticket they were longing for.
-Brandon Johnson
@Brandon's Question: I was leaning more on when Anne Boleyn took matters into her own hands and pretty much forced Henry VIII into breaking with the Pope in Italy. This not only back fired on her (being beheaded) but also on Henry because it caused major conflicts between his daughters Mary and Elizabeth as to which religion they wanted during their rule.
~Alyssa Bradford
@ brett's #2 question- i think that some of them wold have realized that, oh if i don't stop searching for gold and try to provide for my self... they'll die. and yet many i think would still have died because they had "blinders"(like horses) and just wanted gold.
In agreeance...(?) to Bretts question #3 why couldn't they tell that tituba was "playing" them.
- if find it humourus that brandon put "@ alyssa's comment to jake's comment to haley) that's taking interactive to a whole new level:)
are we supposed to do the chart over each colony, or just the areas of cheasapeak, middle, and new england as a group?
-Overall Opinion -
Before this summer’s reading, I had little knowledge of British North American Colonies. I believed that life in the colonies would be very fruitful because of the small population in the New World. One would think that with all this new land and people with new beginnings, expansion would be rather straightforward. What I lacked in knowledge was that the colonists were dreadfully lazy and their motivation to get the job done was poor. By that I mean, instead of a colonist starting a fire with some wood to cook their caught fish, they would rather eat the fish raw. My favorite quote, and I think the most delusional one, is a “man so desperate that he killed his pregnant wife, threw the unborn child into the river, chopped up the mother, and salted the meat.” (Doesn’t sound so lazy to me.)
Further in my reading, I could see why they did the things they did. Through the years were famine, sickness from the water, lack of Vitamin C, and with immigrants coming in already sick, made this colony go in a “deep depression.” By reading that, one would think, they should not have any more colonists after those tragic events. However, they could keep replacing colonist, no matter how many died.
I also read a lot about the leadership of John Smith. Upon entitlement of governor, he implemented many of his great ideas. He believed in a structured, long, thorough plan. When he wasn’t there the colonists were never motivated enough to do things on their own. What I thought was interesting to read about was “The Starving Time at Jamestown.” It just got more exciting after each page wondering what dramatic event would happen next. Because for me, I didn’t know they had such troubles before this article.
-Yes, John Smith was a great leader. Was it only John Smith that actually brought these colonists forward in their colonization? Couldn’t it just be motivation to thrive in a New World?
-Daniel Hughes
@Alyssa and Brandon to me, to Haley, sorry I was mistaking the gentlemen mentioned in "The Beginnings of Colonization" article as those who were wealthy. Also another reason many colonists did not find working important was because of the, what I'm going to call, excessive equality. All of those present in the colony were owned by the company and, therefore, were paid the same amount no matter how much work they put in. This would give the colonists little to no incentive to working hard. Using another analogy, it would be as though we were all given A's no matter how much information we put into our paragraphs or how many times we post on the blog.
-Even More Responses-
@J-Mac's comment to Alyssa ans Brandon, awesome insight, I completely agree, and I wish that we could all get A's for posting once. the comment that every colonist received the same base-pay makes total sense, but I don't think the Company actually paid the colonists, I think they just sent free supplies.
To Frankie's questionable word choice. No agreeance is not an actual word. Agreement is though.
To Brett's #1, I think General Washington switched from Britain's army to the Colonial army because of all of the political turmoil that was going on between the colonies and England, what with the high tariffs and completely unreasonable taxes on paper and tea. The problems became too much to bear and he decided to join the fight for independence.
To Brett's #3, I think the Salmeites believed Tituba's story because they had no idea about any ideas and customs Tituba's religion consisted of, and had no basis of understanding. Tituba told such an elaborate story and remembered every detail so the interrogators legitimately believed every word that she was saying, because seriously, who could spin such an elaborate tale? ;)
Haley McGuire
@Jake Weekly's #2- I think that the colonists broke off relations with the indians because they didn't see them as thier equals, they saw them as savages or beneath them, so they weren't willing to listen to what the indians knew, even though it would have helped them greatly. I think it was just that the colonists were too proud to take advice from the indians.
Before these articles, I honestly can say that I was clueless to the way the colonies lived and the growth that they achieved over the years. In my personal opinion, the colonies were not incredibly successful until people of higher intelligence and/or the ability to lead came to the New World.
Overview
The American colonies were full of people who were ignorant, lazy and who could not speak intelligently if their lives depended on it. The vast majority of the people who were sent to the New World were people who were not only codependent on their homeland to survive, but who had problems getting their lives in check in England to begin with. These people had no idea how to make a colony run or how to even get a new life started simply because they had never had to before. If they had just sent someone over who was maybe a little older, had seen some of England’s growth and could be seen as a general leader, they probably would have had a different outcome in the colonies for the first couple of years. Another issue I found was that they had nobody who was familiar with the wilderness to come with them. They founded Jamestown at a part of the James River that was incredibly hard to live in. The marshes and the mosquitoes and the lack of decent water were definite causes of the death toll that took place in the first years. The lack of geological knowledge that the people had was astounding because if they couldn’t figure out that their water was going to go bad by the way it looked as the year progressed, how were they supposed to know that they could plant anything or if they could even move somewhere better. They wouldn’t know that there was anywhere better to move because they never went out to look. The colony of Jamestown was basically a major disappointment until a leader emerged in John Smith, and even then they had a lot of issues. Once Smith left the colony, everything went to hell again and they had no way of re-establishing themselves because the one person who led them was gone. They never did take off again until John Rolfe came over and began the tobacco business from Virginia. Honestly, I believe that the colonies should have died out and they are lucky that they could withstand the New World as long as they did without the help of money and their homelands.
Questions:
1. Once England found out that there were no slaves and gold in Jamestown, they stopped caring about the colony as a whole. Why wouldn’t they just invest at least some of their time in the colony instead of dropping it and letting it fend for itself?
2. Do you think that if the colonists had tried to be cordial to the Indians and offer some sort of peace keeping when they first came to the New World that things might have gone a little better with a lot less Indian attacks?
3. When the colonists realized that they were all getting sick, wouldn’t they have attempted to figure out what the reasoning was? They surely could have found out that the sickness was coming from their environment couldn’t they?
Responses:
@Kellie question 3 – I actually believe that Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn were killed because they didn’t take the time to explain the story as Tituba had. If Tituba hadn’t elaborated so deeply into the story she told, I think they would’ve killed her too. The fact of the matter was that the people were scared of Tituba because of everything she had “seen” and been a part of that if they had killed her, I think they would’ve thought that the Devil would have come back for them.
@Haley’s Question – It said in the articles that the laziness could have actually been just the diseases they were carrying acting out. Yes they had time to do things beforehand, but they had just been thrown into a new colony with blindfolds on! If I were in their position I would have spent the majority of my first year just getting used to the new territory and being on my own. By the time they had done that, the diseases had started to spread and the “lazy” factor became a huge issue because of the side effects that came with the disease.
Excellent blogging guys--great questions and conversation (I do appreciate that you are all taking this seriously and keeping your responses scholarly and insightful as you visit with each other--many of your questions I will answer in my first lecture of the year on the colonies-can't wait to dialogue with you about some of your questions: Here is something to think about in terms of the Jamestown settlers:
One of the big issues was gold--why was Jamestown so focused on gold???--so much so that in the face of starvation, death, and problems with natives--men still avoided the tasks necessary for long-term survival and "were gold-seekers"?
Why did slavery eventually replace indentured servitude in the British North American colonies as the preferred labor system? Indentured servitude should have worked, but it ultimately failed--why is this?
Before I read these packets it did not occur to me how much these colonies went through. The colonies went through vast plague and defeat in many wars. At first I thought Indians were less hostile and more of an ally to the colonies and the people. After reading the passages it makes sense why the Indians were not always on the colonial’s side. The one thing that caught my attention the most was why the men were so lazy and dependent on others. Why was this? I believe this is because of Great Britain idea to send gentlemen over to the colonies instead of hardworking men. These men would rather have servants do all of their work for them, than do the jobs themselves. I also believed that they had a mental block in their mind that might have stopped them from working. The Salem Witch trials was a eye opener to me because I knew they treated women bad but I had not idea that it got to that extent and how they could decide who was a witch and who was not. The Baptism of fire was when I realized how George Washington became the great war hero that we know him for today and his way to success as a leader. People came to the new world because they wanted religious freedom and they wanted to get away from poverty and wars that seemed unnecessary. When people came over to the new world they were not expecting all the trials and hard ships that they faced.
Questions
1. What actions did women make to be known or accused of being witches?
2. Why were the Puritans so violent if they were so strongly religious?
3. Why would witches cause so much turmoil?
4. If friendly Indians helped you out for food and land, why would the colonists even think of burning bridges by stealing crops and killing them? I understand the laziness part, but if they are your only chance of survival, don’t kill them!
5. Why was the colonies’ militia so brave, when the combat trained British would get scared and run away in battle? And what motive do you think made the militia so brave?
-Tyler Banka
Prior to reading these articles, I could have never imagined all the pain, suffering, and disease the colonists went through in attempt to populate the land we call our home. During the reading, I was trying to put myself in their shoes, having to deal with losing loved ones in Indian raids, wars, starvation, and having to leave everything behind to start fresh in the New World. I never understood why they had such high expectations when they arrived, although, some things could have been done better, such as having a more structured governmental system. I also think they could have been better off settling in a place not so prone to disease and better, more fertile land for plantations. As for the witch trials, it made me realize how much we have grown as humans and how much our knowledge base and beliefs have evolved. I read that article and was absolutely flabbergasted at the thought of someone from a completely different culture getting accused of witch craft, when we, in our modern-day society know that people from other countries have different beliefs, customs, and religions.
Questions:
1. When arriving to the New World, why were the puritans’ expectations so high?
2. I remember reading the colonists did not know how to farm or fish… The Indians provided them with food. Why did the Indians not teach them those skills?
3. Having to do with the witch trials, why was Tituba leading them on in the stories? She told them what they wanted to hear, but why would she want to create such mayhem?
The most interesting article
In my opinion, the most interesting article was the Reluctant Witch article. Throughout almost the entire article, my jaw was on the floor. I didn’t understand why Tituba was feeding them what they wanted to know. I found it interesting that most of the things she said, were true. They were just putting twists on it. I was probably so surprised by this because I am from a different country and we do have different customs, not too extreme like Indians from Barbados. But my family and myself are very open minded to other cultures. So, I think growing up with the family I did, played a huge roll on my views on this article. The controversy it caused was also so fascinating and it kept you entertained throughout the entire article. It also helped me a lot on my AP summer English homework.
-Nicole Duque
@Nicole question 3: In the Reluctant Witch article, it says that Tituba believed honesty was the best way to protect herself. The way I see it, a fact is just an opinion that everybody has agreed on; and everybody had already agreed that Tituba was a witch. If she had told her truth(their lie), she would have gotten in even more trouble because it was not what they thought. Instead, she told their truth(The real lie), and acted as though she was merely cooperating with the court.
@Mr. Cochran's question: It really confused me at why the indentured servant system failed because a lot of the colonists could not afford the slaves, especially if they died soon after they arrived in the New World so it is a real question as to why it failed...
~Alyssa Bradford
@Alyssa and Mr. C I think that it was more about England seeing slaves as more profitable, rather than the colonists thinking they were. By 1672, England established the Royal African Company which became a monopoly in the New World. Also, more slaves could be delivered to Virginia than people could move there and work under others. Finally, slavery helped Virginia's economy to grow drastically. Once slaves were brought to help grow more cash crops, such as tobacco, plantation owners could trade their product for more slaves. This started a cycle that I believed helped the Triangular Trade come to be and help the economies of all nations involved.
Overview of Reading
This summer’s reading was very interesting to me and helped me to have a better perspective about how life was in the colonial times. I thought prior to reading that life would be difficult when first colonizing the land but I was bewildered on how brutal this time was and how much work was needed to begin life in the New World. Leadership was a very important role during the colonization era, whereas if they were to have a weak leader, things would not get done and the colonists would be incredibly lazy, not caring about the health of the colony but more focused on looking for personal benefit. When colonists would focus on mining for gold and doing other things that were important to them, they did not know how disastrous this would be for the colony and how it would eventually lead them to failure and desperation. The desperation got so intense that colonists would even rely on eating other colonists because of the lack of food that they had consumed. The colonists not only died because of the lack of food, but also other factors were included that had led these immigrants to their deaths such as all of the diseases that they had acquired coming to the New World as they were not yet immune to these diseases. Even though they went through all of these struggles and the death toll got increasingly high, the colonists prevailed and were successful in colonizing the New World.
My personal favorite article was The Starving Time at Jamestown because it provided insight on how desperate the colonists got at one point and it provided interesting information on how they got through the tough times. I did not know any of this information prior to reading and that is the main reason as to why I found it so interesting.
1. Why would the colonists be so lazy in a time when they were needed to help others to maintain a strong colony even if they considered themselves to be above the rank of a farmer and thought they were too good for the work they were needed for?
~Chance Ragan
@ tyler banka's question#1- sometimes widows or old women were acused just for being suspicious. also practiticly anything that was at all seemingly against Bible, ie: fortune telling,and sometimes medical healing/remedies.
@ QUESTION #2- i agree i thought puritans were against war/violence? especially the way lieser was killed...that's really grusome:(
To Banka's #2: The puritans were so violent toward the witches for the same reason they left the church of England, they would not stand for corruption of any kind. They saw the women accused as consorting with the devil, which was definitely not okay. Even thought the women had done nothing, nobody knew that in their hearts so they decide to just exterminate the corrupt, or just the ones who weren't doing the accusing.
To Nicole's #1: I believe the puritan's had such high expectations of their new church because they had seen what the English church had been before Oliver Cromwell's break of the Stuart Dynasty, and they thought that they could be even better. As it turned out though, in their journey toward religious freedom, they were very harsh toward dissenters, which is why we have Rhode Island.
To Nicole's #3: I think Tituba caused such a frenzy because it took almost all of the attention away from her. With her accusations, there were confessions, implications and denials to wade through and the town had no time for the original accused.
To the questions I saw about colonists obsessing about gold: The more I read, both on the internet and in the packet, the more I think that the colonist’s desire for gold comes from the idea of mercantilism. They had the theory that if exports were increased and imports were decreased, and bullion(money or gold) was accumulated to make up the difference, then they would be profitable. This doesn’t exactly go into everything about this lust for gold, but I think it starts to look into what they thought it took to be profitable.
1. In order to fully understand life in the British North American Colonies, it is necessary to know the motive that brought colonists to our land. Colonists were seeking religious and political freedom, and in America, they were able to follow their own beliefs, building a society based on what they thought to be ideal. I came to understand that the British New England colonists enjoyed a much more stable society than any other newly formed colonies such as the Chesapeake. I believe that religion was the key to the development of the British colonies in America. Puritans were family oriented, and learning how to read was important due to the fact they believed it was necessary to be able to read the bible. And of course, in America the environmental conditions were excellent to start farming, fishing, and trading among other activities that made this society successful in the economical field. I really wish that there hadn't been so many conflicts with the Native Americans that already lived in the colonized territories. It is sad that Native Americans were taken advantage of by the colonists, and in a way were forced to give up a vast amount of land in exchange for material items. In my opinion, here in America, Native Americans already had a civilization of their own which was not respected by the colonists.
2. Questions:
a. How could the Indians and settlers have felt threatened of each other? What was so intimidating?
b. Why could it be that no other colonies would've cared about education as much as New England did?
c. How did the French colonies in North America differ from the British colonies?
d. How could've the Puritan's attempt to convert Indians to Christianity have been so successful, yet left some Indians unconverted?
e. What other reasons could there be to immigrate to America besides the initiative of different religious beliefs?
f. Since Jamestown was going through a terrible time, how could this affect the colony as a whole? Could it be a motive to them to work together to get out of that state?
g. What would've been a better way for the colonists to integrate with the Native American Indians instead of creating so much separation between their cultures?
3. The article I found most compelling was The Starving Time at Jamestown. I know that many other people might have already mentioned this article because it was a very impactful one! I don't believe anyone really realized how bad these colonies struggles were. The detail that the author of this article gave (Karen Kupperman) left me surprised. There were some very gruesome pieces of information in that article that I was never aware of. From my prior knowledge, I assumed the only way a new colony could fail to develop was due to environmental difficulties in their new area of settlement, such as bad soil for crops... and not due to laziness on the colonists behalf that was taken to the extreme.
Answers:
@Austin Cozzad: In response to your question number 5, I believe that people become obsessed with a religion or their own beliefs, and even though they left England for religious freedom they thought that their religion has the right morals. Therefore they believed it was in their duty to spread the beliefs of their own religion to others.
@Aly Daniels: In response to your question about Indians not teaching the colonists to fend for themselves, I believe that the Indians simply did not realize the colonists needed that much help. The Indians were most likely aware that the colonists would not know where to find food on land they just settled on, and is so new to them. So they were generous enough to show them around and help them get food. Now, common survival skills beyond that could have seemed obvious knowledge to the Indians. Perhaps the Indians assumed colonists already knew those things and wouldn't need guidance in that area.
Haley McGuire
@ Victoria's A-I think they were so afraid of each other because they were relatively unknown. From the Indians point of view, a lot of it may have had to do with thier technology. They had guns, huge ships, and were using the land in a different way than the Indians, and the fact that it was unfamiliar probably made it more intimidating.
@Victoria's E-I don't know all of the possible reasons but in AP Euro. last year, we learned that the three main reasons were gold, glory, and god. Besides spreading and practicing their own religion, they wanted to get rich and famous.
@Mr. Cochran's first question- My first thought is that the colonists were just greedy and couldn't see past finding gold and getting rich. They saw the success that people before them had in other places, and maybe weren't willing to accept the fact that they had come all that way, searched for that long, and had still come away empty handed. I think that gold and money are a big driving factor for mankind, it reminds me of the gold rush, and even how big businesses today are out for all the money they can get. I think the search for money is just apart of human nature.
HANNAH CULBERTSON
Before I had read I would have easily assumed that the colonist had a simple and easy going life in an identical environment to England. Reading opened up my eyes to what actually occurred in the hardships of the colonies.
General Overview
I agree with several of the other bloggers that the main reasons that the settlers decided to colonize the Americas is to seek religious freedom and to make money. Jamestown was the first Britich colony to be established. In my opinion its a shock that Jamestown even made it as a colony, because all the colonist moved to Jamestown thinking that their life would be a piece of cake and that they would not have to work for anything. Their laziness is a huge part of why they struggled so much to make it as a colony. Lucky for Jamestown there was a constant flow of people coming to Jamestown that kept it up and running. The colony needed a leader or some sort of government to live by, they found that in John Smith. Without the intense leadership of John Smith the colony not only would have failed but everyone would have died. in my opinion John Smith's rough personality and strong backbone kept the colony together. One of the smartest things the British government did was seen officials down to the colonies to enforce laws (Material Laws). The Indians also played a major role in keeping the town together. The Colonist and Indians had their fights and there was bloodshed, but ultimately the Indians helped the settlers by trading with them to help them through the first winter. When the Indians did fight with the colonist though i feel as if it gave the colonist the boost they needed to become a stronger and safer town. The colonist wanted to make quick and easy money and they were rudely awakened when they found out that it was not that easy.
Questions:
1. Do you think that Jamestown would have survived without any Offical Government and without John Smith?
2. Why did the indians not kill all the settlers when they had the chance? If what they really wanted was to have the settlers gone?
3. Why after Tituba practically admitted to being a witch did the people keep the trial going? and Why did Sarah Goodman and Osborne die and Tituba lived?
4. Why were the settlers so unwilling to work? Why were they so helpless?
Answers
Banka's #4: I wonder the same thing! I think it was pure ignorance and greed. The Colonist were starving and did not think about anyone else but themselves. They were hungry so they took what they wanted. It would have made much more sense if they would have formed a friendship with the Indians.
Madison Reed
Overview
The Starving Time at Jamestown was utterly disgusting to read but actually really fascinating when you start thinking about how desperate the people got, some even as far as to kill each other to eat or digging up dead bodies. But also the perseverance of the settlers was remarkable. Three years after the founding of Jamestown only 60 of the original 500 settlers were alive. Imagine watching as friends, neighbors and even family members died? At that point death would be a very appealing option. The settlers at Jamestown believed that moving to America would mean freedom, but none of the colonists realized how hard they would have to work. It was irritating reading as colonists sat and starved and let themselves deteriorate. Instead of working hard they complained and it was not until John Smith took over that the colony actually turned around and people started eating and getting healthier. John Smith saved the colony from ruin. The most irritating things about the puritans were their treatment of women. Yes women were treated better than they are in other places, but why did the men believed they were so much better than the women? That constantly bothered me that the women had to be completely submissive to their husbands and if they were not, they were a bad wife. One of the most fascinating things was reading about the battles. The Americans were vastly outnumbered in many of their battles in the French and Indian war, but they persisted and eventually regained Fort Necessity, the fort they had previously lost to the French and eliminated the French from the Ohio valley.
My favorite section was The Reluctant Witch because i am also in AP Language and it shed so much light on The Crucible and answered some of my questions as to why Tituba did what she did and why an entire community would just freak out and overreact without having any evidence to substantiate wild claims. It also fascinated me that the entire community believed the claims of a servant and adolescent girls.
Questions
1) Why did puritan women have to submit to their husbands
2)Why did the colonists constantly complain instead of working?
3)Why did Betty Parris play along with Tituba's witchcraft plot?
4)Was Tituba ever released form jail or was she executed?
5)Why did Powhatan allow for the colonists to live? Why didnt he kill them when he could have very easily?
Answers
@ Nicole Duque's 1
The colonists had everything handed to them in England. They thought they would go to the new world and things would be just as easy for them there as it had been in England, but they relied to much on ships carrying goods than actually going out and growing their own food. They also relied on the Indians to much because they had to have known the Indians would eventually get tired of babysitting them. The colonists just were not informed about what they were getting themselves into.
@ Brett Goetzmann' 3
I think it was just easier for the colonists to believe that witches were around than for them to realize that people were accusing each other of witches just to spite each other. Especially if you had the town minister's daughter claiming she was being pestered by witches. Surely a person of great faith would not lie about something like that would they. As they say, Ignorance is Bliss
Prior to reading the articles the knowledge of the colonies I had was not as diverse as it is now to me. We think that the colonists had a simple easy life. The truth was that they had a terrible life in North America and probably shouln't have survived.
Post Article Reading
The settlers came for their own freedom and religious prosperity but came across a hardship filled colony they thought they could slack off but still have their normal life like how they did in England. The process of becoming a self-sufficient colony thrived rapidly because of strong, powerful leaders such as John Smith who took action because he saw that the colony was failing and someone had to take action and step up to the challenge of trying to stabilize the country. The Indians played an important role because they helped the colonists through their hardships even when they had fought with each other and could have made the colonists more thriving probably if they hadn't mad them into servants. John Rolfe and the production of tobacco which spread throught Europe created an income flowing Virginia.
Questions
Why do you think that the English wouldn't send more prepared, leader-showing people like John Smith along on the colonization trip INITIALLY instead of sending them as they start to fail?
Favorite Article
My favorite article was the colonial period because it explains like how the countries came in contact with America like the Spaniards came searching for gold, the English who were trying to escape from the government, or the French who established trade with the Indians for products such as fur which was wanted over in Europe.
-Alex Gillespie
@ Hannah C #1:
They probably would not have because they would have kept on being lazy and not providing for the settlement so the slackers wouldn't have survived unless they were scraping off of the workers because of the system where they shared everything no matter the profession or food they had and if John Smith wasn't there they wouldn't have had a solid system of their Work to Live system.
-Alex Gillespie
After reading these articles the conclusions i come to are that the colonists were extremely lazy and would rather die than work. Good leadership was the biggest need for them to stay alive especially in winter. The colonists were also very superstitious. I knew they believed in witches but i didn't know they took it to such extremes. it was only when they started farming and growing tobacco that they started to become prosperous. i think the colonists should have tried harder to become better friends with the Indians so they could have both helped each other. If the colonists would have lived with the Indians they would have learned how to live in the winter and they wouldn't have had so many people die. The colonists let laziness, superstition, and greed for gold get in the way of simply staying alive.
questions
1. Why didn't the colonists just try to live among the Indians who knew the land so well and could have therefore learned the same techniques for staying alive.
the article that interested me the most was The Starving Time at Jamestown because it really showed to what extremes they went to in order to stay alive without having to work for it. I would think they would just go hunt a deer before they ate another person but i guess i was wrong.
-Jake Hills
Before reading these articles I thought people who lived in the colonies very much depended on agriculture and often times Native Americans. Depending on where the colony was located I think had a big impact on how rapid it grew.
After I read the articles, I realized exactly how hard it would be to live back then. The colonists delt with many diseases and sickness. They were still very dependent on their crops or businesses and were either enemies with the Natives or relied on them to help survive. I also didn't realize how many conflicts and battles the colonists had. I had no idea how most of the colonies actually got started.
General Overview
From all the different countries settling in North America, it was interesting to see at what points different countries had the power. Many different colonies had different ways of governing and some worked better than others. The native americans played a much bigger role in the formation of the United States, even though they may not have liked the colonists settling here, many helped out the colonists and often traded with them. Some of the colonies, like Jamestown had a really bad attitude and barely survived. People living in Jamestown seemed lazy and were really only looking to get rich. They didnt want to do any work and therefore the colony barely survived.
Questions:
1. Puritan wives were subordinate to the male, wife to husband and mother to father. Does that include the Mother being subordinat to the son?
2. Why did Puritan women want their children to be in fear of God?
3. Why were the colonists so lazy and unwilling to work?
My favorite article was the Baptism of fire. To me it was the most interesting and the easiest to understand. I found it weird that when Braddock's army set out, they could only go a mile a day, The terrain was so bad. Plus it was George Washingtons first major battle and well, he is awesome.
SHELBY BURKE :)
Stormy Ford-
After reading the 6 articles It seemed to me that the new colonist were in over there head. The were very unknowledgeable about the new world, and were not prepared for the future. With all the disease going around it is a huge surprise that any one lived. The conquistadores came in full fledged ready to do what it took to civilize. At first it wasn’t easy but they made it work, and over time thing bettered. The Native Americans are what kept everything smooth. They knew the land and they knew what to do, and if it wasn’t for them I feel like colonies wouldn’t have survived. The Laziness of the colonist was due to sickness and small amount of food intake, and that the Natives and the New colonist were always will to help. I think if the colonists would have had a better work esthetics and been innovators they could have had a much better colony faster.
#1. Why did the colonist wait so long to stop being lazy?
#2. Was John Smith the main reason Jamestown survived or could they have done it without him?
The Starving Time at Jamestown was the article I found most interesting. I was very shocked at the poor work ethic and laziness shown. I had no clue they had to dig up the dead corpse and eat them in order to survive.
After reading the articles I have learned that life in the colonies was not a walk in the park. The British North American Colonies were very vulnerable and expected things to be handed to them, but that was not going to happen. When the colony of Jamestown was established in 1607 it was soon experiencing the hardships of famine, diseases, and conflicts with the Indians. The colonists would rather eat raw fish than to go get wood to cook their food with; this is was a great example of how sluggish the colonists were. They relied on the Indians for many of their resources because they did not have the skills to get them on their own. The Indians often retaliated against the colonists because they were taking the supplies that they also needed. The colonists were very lazy until the leadership of John Smith came into play. John Smith was the man who saved the colony of Jamestown from completely failing, along with John Rolfe who gave the colonists a product that was a major cash crop. This was tobacco that was native to the West Indies and began being grown in Virginia in 1612. Once John Smith left the colony, they soon went back to their old ways. Also in the colonies everything was put in the hands of the wife, even though in Puritan ways the man was in charge but told the wife what he wanted her to do. Everything that went on in the colonies was extremely twisted as everyone was putting the blame on someone for the hard times they were having. Along with this began the start of the witch hunts which later began the Salem witch trials. Tituba used her manipulation skills and her knowledge from other cultures to trick her audience in the courtroom into believing her elaborate story about witches and her peculiar dream she had in Boston with Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good. As the colonists often complained about how terrible their lives were they never stepped up to take advantage of it and try to better their lives. Life in the British North American colonies was definitely not as easy as they thought it would be.
The article that I found most interesting was about the Salem witch trials. It basically only started when someone was accused of witchcraft. Astonishingly there was no actual evidence of these women committing witchcraft but they were still put to blame for what they were accused of doing. I could not believe the fact how easy it was for Tituba to manipulate the courtroom in believing the elaborate story she was telling. While telling her story she was putting the lives of Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good in jeopardy and it ended up getting them killed but saving her. Her powers of manipulation also show how gullible people were in the 17th century.
Questions:
1. If Tituba never mentioned Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne in her story, would they still be alive?
2. Why was Tituba not executed after confessing and then continuing to tell her story about her experiences with witchcraft and the devil?
3. If John Smith was supposedly such a great leader why didn’t the colony continue to succeed when he left?
Is it not strange how many left England for religious toleration and freedom, but ended up persecuting those who had different religious values?
I have always questioned this, and quite frankly I’ve learned that people are just hypocritical, judgmental, and do not like diversity.
Do you think you could have survived being a colonist? What would you have done differently if you had been there?
Excellent question! And absolutely not, I have way too big of a mouth. As a man? Yes I would’ve survived. But being a woman? No, I would not.
If friendly Indians helped you out for food and land, why would the colonists even think of burning bridges by stealing crops and killing them? I understand the laziness part, but if they are your only chance of survival, don’t kill them! I do not have an answer to this, I’ve actually been wondering the same thing.
And now my biggest question…
First page, last paragraph. Here it mentions a man named Cabeza de Vaca, which if you’ve taken Spanish you know it means head of a cow. Why is his name Head of a Cow? Seriously, I know this might seem like a stupid question but it really bothers me. Who names their kid that?
From reading I honestly can say I do not have any assumptions that I did not have before. The colonists had problems for same reasons everyone else in history did; They were lazy, greedy, close minded, quick to judge, opposed to diversity, proud and self-righteous hypocrites. They did not treat the natives nicely even though they were helping them. The colonists believed to be better than their Native American and African counterparts. Why did they persecute people of other religions when persecution is the very reason they left England? Because they thought that THEY, of all religions and denominations, were correct. No one else could be right, and if they did not conform they were not worthy to stay. That is the self-righteous and hypocritical thinking forementioned. Has anyone ever stopped and questioned whether the United States would be a country if England was not greedy? Would there have been enough to put fire in the bellies of the patriots otherwise? Even if they intervened with the government a bit, let us be honest, the real problem was taxes. The real problem was money. But greed is one of the true evils in the world and can be found in just about any historical disaster – whether greed for money, land, or power. The colonists had the same vices everyone has always and will always have. Quite frankly, if we were all put in the same situation, without any knowledge of what they did, how they did it, and their failures, we would do the exact same thing. Perhaps (I’d like to believe that) we would not have barriers due to race in these modern times, but who can say for sure? Quite frankly if I met a blue person on a strange island I would not be the first to make friends. These are just my thoughts and opinions.
British North American Colonies:
It is safe to say that British people were motivated to make the move to the New World by the three G's. Gold, God, and Glory. However the British people did not fully understand what awaited them on the other side of the pond, so to speak, if they expected to come to another London they were dreadfully wrong. Some people came across hoping for religious freedom, and those people knew they would have to work to set up a functioning colony. People like John Winthrop and William Penn took extra care in setting up a society that would run on Christian bases and morals and for the most part they succeeded. Whereas the gentlemen who came across to make a quick profit and escape the King's rule, they did not know how to work, lead, or even hunt. As a result you get starving Jamestown. My opinion is that if they had hand selected the people who were going on this voyage the outcome could of been so much better.
Questions:
1. When Tituba is on stand she contradicts herself many times and there are several wholes in her testimony. Why then did no one call her on those flaws in her story? Did they want to believe in witchcraft so much that they overlooked the logic staring them in the face? if so why?
2. The rulers in England knew that most of the people who were willing to go to the New World simply wanted to escape the King's rule. So why then did he let a group of people who were trying to defy him even farther out of his control?
3. Why did the settlers instantly hate the Indians? The Indians were surviving on a land that was killing the settlers, they could of learned so much from them. I know that not all treated them harshly, but why did they at all?
4. Do the little matter of worms and bees in the New World really affect society that much?
My Favorite Article:
My favorite article would have to be the one about Tituba and the start of the Salem witch trails. Throughout the story Tituba is just playing on the fears her authorities and probably enjoying every minute of it. Tituba has her mind set on self preservation, but maybe she knows there is no getting out of it so why not go out with a bang. :) It was by far the best article in the packet!
To Taylor Claybon: I read that his name was "Head of Cow" on the first day and it really bugged me too! I think what his parents were trying to get at was that he would be a bull headed child. Which honestly is not that much better....
To Taylor and Makenna: Maybe it was a really important cow??? :-)
After reading the articles, I have come to the conclusion that the colonist did not think about all of the problems and hardships they could face, and believed the new world would be a land full of easy riches. I believed the colonist overlooked the threat of Indians, and were not fully aware of the diseases that killed off half the colonist. Another reason there was difficulty is because the colonist were simply unambitious and little inclined to work, and had relied on finding gold rather than providing for their survival. I believe that John Smith save the New World. Smith noticed the problem, and unlike most colonists, he took action to help reverse it. After the discovery of tobacco, this was now a major cash crop for Virginia, which helped their economy tremendously.
1) John Smith had pointed the way to this new understanding of how to create a colony, but why was he not given the credit he deserved?
2) Why were some convicted of witchcraft executed, but others just simply jailed?
3) Why did the colonist and Indians have to constantly fight, could they have set up an agreement for peace in the beginning to avoid all of the massacres?
Dylan Schultz
I believe after reading the six articles that the original colonists were very led on toward how great the New World actually was. They believed it was almost a perfect place to be, so they struggled to maintain life. They were unprepared in almost every way. They were extremely lazy so they did not work for themselves and allow themselves to live this "perfect" lifestyle. They underestimated how easy life would be and it ultimately hurt them. They were lacking a leader for the longest time. It would have helped them a ton if they would have been more organized.
Why weren't they as organized as they were before they came to America? I know it takes time to develop a government almost, but they seemed to be too lazy to make an effort toward anything.
One of the things that interested me most was the stories about witchcraft. Im hardly a believer in spiritual things like that so its hard to believe that Im reading actual stories about it...They were actual stories right?
I also wandered why they worked so hard to take over what the Indians had, instead of just working with them. It would seem to be easier.
@Justin Perriman I believe that if they confessed to being involved in witch hunts, then they were only jailed... If they did not, they were executed.. No one was going to mess around with the witchcraft.
The British North American colonies differ entirely from what is preached when we are kids. The creation of the colonies wasn’t as easy and successful as we make it out to be. The colonies barely survived. The colonies, such as Jamestown, relied heavily on the support of the natives to keep their people alive. They were lazy and were not as self-sufficient as the colonies were made out to be. People from England moved here for religious freedom or to strike it rich in the gold and silver industry much like people before them had said to have done. The colonists weren’t as successful in finding gold as they had hoped, and gave up. This contributed to the destruction of the towns and villages in each colony. Many of the people that came to the New World had heard stories of an Utopia place that would provide for them and thus help the country prosper. When they arrived to the New World is was the complete opposite. They were unprepared to face the difficulties that faced them and lacked in any type of work ethic.
The article I found most interesting was the article relating to the Salem Witch Trials. Mere suspicion led to the deaths of many innocent people. If someone wanted revenge on their neighbor, all they had to do was accuse them of performing devilish acts.
Q1: In the Salem Witch Trials, how come so many people were accused and hanged on just suspicion alone? Shouldn’t there have been more of an investigation on these people and not just hang them because of an accusation?
Q2: Even after the continued help from John Smith, how come Jamestown wasn’t able to turn around their efforts? Did they not learn when 3/4ths of the colony died the first time?
Q3: How different would the landscape of North America be if worms hadn’t been brought here?
@ Hannah Culbertsons 1: There is absolutely no way that Jamestown would have survived without John Smith. The colony wouldn't have had a chance. Smith did everything he could to try and turn it around and the colony still failed. If he wouldn't have been there, all of the people would have died off quicker than they did.
@ Tyler Banka 3: When the accusations of witchcraft are brought upon somebody, its the biggest thing any of the colonists had seen. During that time, religion was the obvious number one thing and anybody's life. When acts with the devil are brought in to the equation, people fear that that person could destroy them and God.
Before reading I had thought I knew just about everything about all the Colonial times. I was pretty sure this would be a repeat of o knowledge that I had already learned- But I was so wrong. First and foremost, I cannot believe how lazy the colonists were. The fact that they came totally unprepared shocked me. I would think that they would know better... how to survive and all. In England, yes, I'm sure things were different, but they should have known coming to the New World required work.... which it seems like they were just focused on finding gold. It doesn't make sense why they would come so unorganized and how when they arrived they were too lazy to get up and try to find food. I was also unaware of how involved the Indians were. The Indians often attacked the colonists which I didn't think actually occurred. We always learned the Indians were our friends. Then reading about the starving time absolutely sickened me. I can't believe colonists went to extreme measures such as killing their wives, and unborn babies. It broke my heart to hear that. It just goes back to the lack of being prepared. Also, the treatment of the Puritan wives was awful! It seemed the colonists only married so they could have stuff done for them....they didn't marry for love. I was proud of the wives of abusive husbands and how they still dealt with them. Finally, the witch trials seemed unreal. Tituba's testimony was so creatively, and precisely detailed I was amazed!! It is hard to believe that those trials happened hundreds of years ago. Finally, I am so glad that the colonists came to the New World, and not me. Though they were lazy, unproductive and useless at the beginning, they paved the way for our country today. Their lives were sure difficult but without them we may not be the same we are today.
Questions:
1. Referring back to my paragraph,Why were the colonists so unprepared? Shouldn't they have known at least some what of an idea of what they needed?
2. Would have it been better for Tituba to keep her mouth shut about everything, or was it better for her to confess what she did?
My favorite article was "Bearing the Burden? Puritan Wives" I was really interested the whole way through and I was so bothered with the way men treated their wives. I believe women's lives were ultimately a little harder than mens. It's amazing to see how marriage has changed throughout the course of the years.
@Shelby: I wonder the same thing about mothers being submissive to their sons! Especially if the father is dead or gone, would they have to submit to their son just like he was their husband?
@Dylan: Maybe the colonists were scared of the Indians....or because they were of a different race they didn't feel like working with them.
Anna Winkler.
Prior to reading these articles I honestly did not know much about the colonies of the New World. I really just knew Columbus sailed here in 1492, there were pilgrims somewhere in the mix, and we broke away from England after a series of taxes and laws that they strictly enforced upon the colonists. However, after reading, although what I knew before was important in the history of America, there is much more to the story. After reading part A of the reading packet, I realized that the colonies kind of just winged it because the main goal was to find gold and in some areas, this did not happen. Throughout the packet, there are numerous incidences that the colonists did not report exactly what was going on in the colonies, which, for Jamestown, was probably not the right decision. I can assume that they did this to either not get in trouble with the people who wanted them to find gold or, maybe the better answer to why they did it, was because they were embarrassed that they could not complete the mission. This can be proved true after reading the Starving Time at Jamestown. After reading the same article, as well as a portion of the first one, it can be assumed that slavery could have been largely, if not totally prevented, if the colonists had been more prepared for the situation they were about to face. This could have been done multiple ways, but the main reason being that if the colonists had worked a little harder or reported back to the mother country what exactly was going on(which was the case in Jamestown), indentured servitude could have been prevented, which would have, in turn prevented slavery in multiple areas. The conditions of slavery, in terms of how long a person had to serve, also were worse than that of those of indentured servants. Why? It can be assumed that because most indentured servants did not ouitlive their contracts, that by the time slaves arrived, people were used to seeing indentured servants die without having gained their freedom, so they thought it was easier to just not provide freedom at all. In the first section, the Half-Way Covenant is mentioned and how young people were more concerned about getting money than they were about creating a godly society, turning the phrase "Gold, Glory, AND God" into Gold, Glory OR God." Throughout the articles, Indians had been said to have not helped out the colonists very much, but I can assume that if they did, they would have had a greater possibility to keep their lands, which might have possibly ended up in them being involved in the colonial society, which some of them might not have wanted, but, hey, it is definietly better than being killed. Lastly, after reading The Reluctant Witch, I can assume that, although trials were unfair for all people during the Salem Witch Trials, Tibuta's speech most likely began the trend of not giving African Americans fair trials, but giving white people fair trials.
Questions!
1. Why didn't Spain and Portugal involve other countries in the Treaty of Tordesillas? Wouldn't they know that other countries wouldn't want to follow this because they weren't legally bound to it?
2. Did Britain expect the colonies to respond well to mercantilist policies even though it was put in place essentially to harm them? Shouldn't Britain have helped them prosper?
3. Why did the colonists of Jamestown still refuse to plant and farm even after the Indians gave them tips and showed them how to plant?
4. Why would Britain send gentlemen to Jamestown, knowing that there would be hard work ahead of them?
5. If Puritan women were so extremely well known for their strong faith, as talked about in "Bearding the Burden? Puritan Wives," why would they be accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials?
6. If men respected the hardships that their wives went through, including child birth and dedicating their lives to their children, why would they occasionally beat them and disrespect them?
7. When Tibuta is testifying to the court, wouldn't the jury be alarmed that the girls were silent for a mojority of her speech, and question the girls as to whether they were lying or not about being controlled by the Devil?
To me, the most interesting article that I read from the packet was "The Reluctant Witch." I thought that focusing on Tibuta gave another side to the Witch Trials that people might not always consider, esecially if they have read "The Crucible." That book imediately convicts Tibuta, without even hearing her side of the story in full, But, this article gave a whole other side to Tibuta.
After reading the articles I was shocked by the colonist’s apparent laziness and how close they came to abandoning their town, but one concept had an even greater impact on me. The colonists had absolutely no idea what they were doing. Nearly all of their problems could be tracked back to a lack of information or a gap in their logic. The colonists were not experienced in the sort of work they were required to do in the New World and even wasted a large chunk of their time searching for precious metals that they were misinformed about. The company sending them did not understand that the colonists would be unable to ship luxury goods back so soon. The colonists were not even given proper information on where they could build the town, having to scout the river banks for available land. Besides causing themselves difficulties, the colonist’s ignorance was dramatically changing the continent they landed on as their game destroyed native crops, their bees spread, their tobacco ruined farm land, and even their worms made a huge impact. This absentmindedness continued for generations and is clear in The Reluctant Witch. As Tituba wove her tale of witchcraft, her questioners showed their unawareness as they failed to recognize Tituba’s many references to society and lore. The questioners continued to show a surprising lack of logic when they prompted Tituba to give answers they were looking for, and then acted shocked when she answered them accordingly. The colonists were completely without a clue and were only saved by leaders such as Smith and Rolfe, and the mercy of the Indians.
To me the most interesting article was The Reluctant Witch. I had never heard the finer details of this first trial, and I was both amazed at the intricate tale of Tituba and shocked that no one could see through her lies, or those of Paris and the “victim” girls. I was also surprised by the general acceptance of these stories without any evidence.
Questions:
1. Were the colonists aware at all of the huge impact they were making with their plants and animals? Even a little?
2. Why did so many Italian explorers sail for so many countries, and almost never for Italy?
3. When Washington was losing to the French and Indian forces at Fort Duquesne in 1755, why did a British officer rebuff him for trying to change their losing strategy?
- Thomas Wyss
@Rachel's question: I feel like maybe they were only concerned with the situation at hand about them both fighting over the Line of Demarcation drawn by the Pope. I think that they did not involve any other countries in it because they felt that it was unecessary (at that certain point in time) and they just wanted to move on from the business at hand and continue on with their exploring. Although, it would have been a smart idea to include the other countries, they were not thinking that much ahead to involve them in these such matters.
~Alyssa Bradford
In my opinion many colonies were consistently under supplied and poorly organized as a general rule. Many of these colonies were used solely for their economic value to the country and little thought was given to that of the inhabitants. The living conditions in the colonies did slowly get better but only slightly as England learned from past mistakes. However the only reason they implemented these improvements was to have better profit margins. And they did not really put a lot of funds into selecting the inhabitants of the colony and many of the people appeared to not really have any skills but were cheap labor or were not willing to do the labor. I feel as if the only way any of the colonies were able to survive was thanks to human perseverance and will to live… and maybe a little bit of greed coming from the shareholders in Britain.
Questions
#1 How can any group call themselves superior to another group of people to the point of taking land and killing others for it? I mean I know this has happened many times throughout history but to quote men in Black “a person is smart … but people are stupid”
In response to Austin Cozad’s 2nd question Yes that would have been smarter to send the educated and skilled workers but they probably would have never agreed to go. Then if they did agree to go they would want to paid so much that it would not of been profitable to the investors. Plus half of them would have died on the way probably.
In response to Thomas Wyss’ 1st question I feel as if they might have known but simply not cared. It may seem unkind but they probably thought not my land, not my money, and not my problem.
The article I found most interesting was the starving time. You never think about colonists being so desperate you would expect them to be well supplied and well driven individuals. Just the thought of resorting to cannibalism is, well unbelievable. It is amazing if you would have asked them before they set out none of them would have been willing to eat another person. But people will do anything they need to do to survive and I personally find that fascinating.
Ian Lanigan
In my opinion many colonies were consistently under supplied and poorly organized as a general rule. Many of these colonies were used solely for their economic value to the country and little thought was given to that of the inhabitants. The living conditions in the colonies did slowly get better but only slightly as England learned from past mistakes. However the only reason they implemented these improvements was to have better profit margins. And they did not really put a lot of funds into selecting the inhabitants of the colony and many of the people appeared to not really have any skills but were cheap labor or were not willing to do the labor. I feel as if the only way any of the colonies were able to survive was thanks to human perseverance and will to live… and maybe a little bit of greed coming from the shareholders in Britain.
Questions
#1 How can any group call themselves superior to another group of people to the point of taking land and killing others for it? I mean I know this has happened many times throughout history but to quote men in Black “a person is smart … but people are stupid”
In response to Austin Cozad’s 2nd question Yes that would have been smarter to send the educated and skilled workers but they probably would have never agreed to go. Then if they did agree to go they would want to paid so much that it would not of been profitable to the investors. Plus half of them would have died on the way probably.
In response to Thomas Wyss’ 1st question I feel as if they might have known but simply not cared. It may seem unkind but they probably thought not my land, not my money, and not my problem.
The article I found most interesting was the starving time. You never think about colonists being so desperate you would expect them to be well supplied and well driven individuals. Just the thought of resorting to cannibalism is, well unbelievable. It is amazing if you would have asked them before they set out none of them would have been willing to eat another person. But people will do anything they need to do to survive and I personally find that fascinating… Not the cannibalism the things people would do.
Ian Lanigan
Sorry I think mine get published twice
Ian
General Overview:
Before reading the articles I was completely unaware of the ways the colonists lived. The New England colonies started off in famine had disease and was oblivious to the natives who were already there. The colonists were unprepared for what the New World had in store. Most of the colonists were people from England who always had things handed to them and they expected all of the peasants to do the work. This contributes to the lack of food for the colonists. The starvation could have easily been resolved if the men would have put in some work instead of expecting everything to just work perfectly. When Jamestown was established in 1607, the colonist began trading gold with the natives for their food and resources that they were unable to do their selves. Until the great leader, John Smith came to Jamestown; the colony was very lazy and was on the brink of being abandoned. John Smith’s leadership gave Jamestown hope again and the colony was back on its feet again. I found it very interesting that one man could change the way a town lived and save Jamestown as a whole. With the help of John Rolfe, and Englishman who came to the colonies, Jamestown began bringing in more money. Rolfe began growing tobacco in Jamestown which became a major cash crop and contributed greatly to Jamestown’s success. When Smith was injured and had to return to England, the colony went downhill again. The settler’s vulnerability began a lot of chaos for everyone. This ultimately started the witch hunts. Because everything was so chaotic, they had to create some sort of conclusion as to what was happening which was later called the Salem Witch Trials. The settlers complained about how terrible their lives were but in reality if they would have put in some effort and thought about how much better their lives are now, they would have realized just how lucky they really were.
Most Interesting Article:
To me, the most interesting article was definitely The Starving Time at Jamestown. I liked this article so much because it really showed me how much the colonists had to go through in order for us to be where we are today. I also liked it because of all of the irrational things that they did to survive. The things people ate and did just fascinate me. The way that the settlers blamed the way they were living on everyone else relates a lot to the way things are now. If the colonists would have done something with themselves instead of waiting for everything to come to them, they would have better lives and more people would have survived.
Questions:
1. African American slavery was so common but Native American slavery wasn’t, why?
2. Why did the Indians continue to help the colonists when the colonists were too selfish to harvest their own crops?
3. How does it make sense that the wives had to do everything but the men were in charge?
@ Brett Wolford 1: I think that the people were so afraid of what might be going on that they just wanted to put a stop to it whether the person was guilty or not.
@Hannah Beachner 1
I think that Native American slavery was not popular and African American slavery was because, during the colonization, there were different wars between the colonists and the Indians (for instance the Powhatan War). Because these wars took place, the colonists realized that the Indians were stronger than they realized, so making them slaves really was not an option becuase the Indians would not go down without a fight. However, by shipping in African American slaves, the colonists were able to have control over them from the time they arrived in America. Unlike the Indians, who were actually more superior in comparison to the colonists during the beginning stages of colonization. If the colonists had asserted their control over the Indians from the beginning, there just might have been Indian slaves.
Before reading these articles, i didn't know that most people who came here came for the riches for their families back home. Disease and lack of food were there and laziness played a big part on how the colonies survived. The people going to the colonies on some occasions were escaping religious prosecutions and would be excited to get away. The higher colonies classes went to the colonies thinking that they were too good to work and that was part of the reason why most of them would starve. The colonists would have rather starve, eat their boots, dig up corpses and eat them rather than just work and plant their food. When John Smith came, he helped them get back on their feet, but as soon as he left they were back to being the lazy colonists who would rather starve than work. The Indians were kind enough to help them out and give the colonists food but that was not a good idea because it made the colonists lazier because they had someone to rely on.
Questions:
1. How many more people would have died if John Smith had not come just for the time that he did?
2.Why did the colonists find it so hard to work even when people were dying of starvation?
3. Why did the Indians help out the colonists rather than showing them how to grow and make their own food?
The most interesting article i read was The Starving Time at Jamestown. Yes times were hard back then but that should have motivated the colonits to work and make better lives for themselves because that's part of the reason they came to the colonies. I was very shocked at the things the people would do just to stay alive like digging up corpses and eating them or the story about the man who killed his pregnant wife, threw away the unborn child in the river and ate the wife.
Before I read these articles, I had no idea that life then was this harsh. Just like everyone else has said, I do not believe the colonist were mentally, physically or emotionally prepared for the New World. Instead of working for everything, they thought that they could have everything handed to them. Their living conditions were very poor. They started eating their own boots, and corpses. John Smith eventually came into the picture and picked up Jamestown and showed them the way to success. Rolfe later brought in the growth of tobacco use in Jamestown and made a lot of profit. I say that everything started going downhill from here after Smith got hurt, because everyone looked up to him to lead their colony, and when he was no longer there, they refused to work. They had no motivation. I also believe that if John Smith would not have came to Jamestown to help them strive, there would be no Jamestown. Unless they all decided something needed to be done, then that whole colony would have sat back and watch themselves die of starvation and thirst.
Questions!
1. I gave my opinion on what would have happened if Smith did not come to the rescue, but what REALLY would have happened?
The most interesting article I read was "Bearing the Burden? Puritan Wives" because I love reading about the differences between the men and women then and now. Knowing that the women were expected to be obedient clearly made me mad, obviously because I am a women myself. And also the fact that the man was seen as God and is always correct threw me off a bit. I could go on about my beliefs, but here and now is not the right place or time to do so. So, I will keep it short and sweet. I would like to know who works everyday to keep their families going, and who really stays out all day on their butts until finally John Smith shows up to pick them up? Anyways, I could go into depth on that topic anytime! I just loved to read about how family relationships were back then, and then compare them to now!
Michaela Serrioz
Lexi Naegele
Overview
Before the reading of the colonies packets, I kind of just assumed the obvious that the colonies had maybe at one point or another gone through hard ship, just like every other new found area, but had prospered in the end. I was a little more off on my original assumption than I had thought. The colonies were for the most part poor, unhealthy, grimy, uneducated; it seemed like, at least for the boys and men, that the only thing they had to do was participate in the war and serve their vicinity. One thing that I noticed and picked up a lot on though is the fact that religion was always an aspect somewhere, somehow. Like in Virginia when around the 1600’s, when colonization had just become an idea that they had wanted to make actually come true, a lot turned to religious teachings and writing; i.e. gospel, Bible, etc. Like in our reading about the Massachusetts Bay Colony it reads “They did, however, take the Bible and their religion seriously and felt the Anglican Church still retained too many unscriptural practices left over from Roman Catholicism.” One of the other aspects that really stuck with me, are the parts that I read about the laziness and ungratefulness of the new colonists. The best word to describe this is the UNWILLINGNESS to do the basic necessities, even for their own families! How they managed to get by at all kind of dumbfounded me at one point. I tried to stay on topic and focus on kind of the most “out there” points. I also think that New France was one of the most clever in my opinion. They point blank went after something no one else had or produced. It worked back then and works even in modern times now – just simply going for something people don’t have, but they want. They snuck themselves in there by opening a trade market of furs with the Indians, knowing that it was something very wanted in Europe. I love when the underdogs rise up! I do feel like it was a little ridiculous, but effective, how it even got to the point that the Dutch established the Patroon System (where large landed estates would be given to wealthy men who transported at least fifty families to the New Netherlands). The Dutch at least got smart about it and started giving the people and families something to actually be motivated about.
Most interesting article to me was probably the Jamestown article. Only from the standpoint that I had never really known the background of it, and it was interesting to read about all the trials and tribulations it saw, all the ups and downs, and sitting there reading it, thinking to myself page after page, when is someone going to swoop in and save this town already? I also do think though that a lot of positive things came out of the establishment; the first assembly of the House of Burgesses met there and such, there are positive things, yes. And because it was also interesting to see how the balance of power shifted.
I think Austin makes a great point about the 2 biggest motivations behind colonizing the Americas. Sheer profit – who wouldn’t want to start, maintain, run, and prosper their own land, area, crop, gold, profit, etc. But I also think that a lot of times, for people, it turned into greed and they went after it for all the wrong reasons.
P.S. Austin, Frankie, Ally etc – you make my overview and questions look like 3rd graders... Thanks!
General Questions – (these are just the generic ones running through my mind the entire time while reading)
Lexi Naegele
General Questions – (these are just the generic ones running through my mind the entire time while reading)
1. When the Spanish and Portuguese began the Great Migration, it says that they extracted their gold. Did they do this for a necessity or to keep up the amount of money to income?
2. It says that life in Jamestown became so miserable that people eventually began to eat their pets, animals, etc. Part one, DID ANYONE THINK ABOUT THIS BEING THE POSSIBILITY BEHIND THE DISEASES THAT WERE KILLING THEM OFF?? If they did know this, did they still willingly do it? Dumb question I know, but it just kind of loses me at that point.
3. At one point in the Jamestown article, it reads “Thus the crisis of hunger and disease was intensified, and the colonists felt like prisoners in their fort.” Did any of this give heed to other Indian tribes or no?
4. Fun question that bothers me: it said in the reading over and over, time and time again about “He wrote this, He wrote that”. It just makes the logic in me come out and say, if these people witnessed the famine, the poverty, the starvation, laziness, unwillingness, discourteousness of the people in these colonies, instead of sitting there and writing and complaining about it, why didn’t they do everything in their own individual power to stop it? Just saying.
This summer’s reading helped me fully understand of the hardships faced while the settlers were colonizing. Before I read these articles I had thought that life in the Americas in the early years was manageable. I had thought that besides a few hard times like wars and famine the colonies had prospered, and had everything planned out on how they would survive. After reading I found out the colonies were unstable, and could not provide for themselves at times. Knowing now that the colonies did not thrive the whole time and that it did in fact have some awful times but found its way. I had no idea that the horrid events had taking place prior to reading. Even though the colonist were lazy and had no work ethic, they were faced with some rough and unforgiving times. They were not prepared the slightest bit for what happened in the Americas. They just wanted to make quick money and expected it to be easy.
The starving at Jamestown was probably my favorite article of all because it showed how bad the colonists wanted to survive and make a good life in America. I like how it also showed what the colonists did in order to survive. John Smith really helped bring Jamestown up from the pit it was dung in. He wouldn’t give up on the town and it really amazed me how a colony could take so much suffering, and still have the motivation to move on.
Questions:
1. Why did the Indians help out the settlers when they were intimidated by them?
2. Why did England try to send over the poor of its population? Didn’t it want the colonies to thrive in the new world?
3. Why didn’t England help out Jamestown more by sending supplies and food?
My prior knowledge of the colonial time before reading this packet was very little and not as descriptive. I didn’t know that the people who came here where mostly rich and ill-equipped for work a living. I didn’t know how many people had died from the disease I thought just the Indians died from disease. I think that the colonist where very under prepared and did not know what they were doing. I don’t think that we handled the natives as good as we did. I think after a while the colonist finally started to realize if they wanted to survive they need to work together. It seems dumb to not have enough food for people to eat or any hunter to try to find food. I don’t think that we should have looked for more gold and just tried to survive and strive and keep are relationship with the Indians better then it was. I think they helped us a lot to survive and with out there knowledge of the land and the resources we would have all pretty much died. I don’t think we had enough leadership we all just wanted to be by are self and didn’t want to work together.
Questions
1 Why did people want to have religious freedom but some people still want to discriminate?
2 Who was the person who started the Salem witch trials?
3 Why were the puritans so violent.
tanner snell
After further reading I now understand that the colonists were not actually completely suffering from laziness within the colonies, but that they had claimed diseases over time. They had gotten these diseases for various reasons such as drinking the "brackish water" which was the water in the James River which was made up of salt ocean water during flood tides which made a pool of mixed water. One of the other diseases that colonists got was known as scurvy which is the lack of vitamin C, due to the colonists not eating enough fresh fruits and vegetables. John Smith had gotten the colonists to work when he captained the colony and colonists would become healty within around two weeks, some reasons that were assumed to caused this were that when they had started to work they started building good, strong shelters and digging deep wells, as well as planting food. John Smith was very intriguing to me and I was amazed at his leadership skills in the colony.
Why did they remove John Smith as governor when he proved to be such a good leader?
Why was John Smith removed just because he was unpopular with investors, as they even paid attention to his results to use?
Did anyone else find Sir Thomas Dale's punishments to be ridiculous?
Chance Ragan
In all honesty, my knowledge of colonial life before reading the articles was more than lacking. I did not really have any true thoughts on colonial life, and really did not care. The colonists, to me, had to fight for their freedom, but I never thought of them having to constantly fight for survival. After reading the packet, my eyes were opened to the many trials that the early Americans had to face. The one item I was even close to having any knowledge on was the, less than pleasant, relations with the Natives; but even on this topic I was completely underestimating its severity.
General Overview
As many people now know, most of the colonists came to America for more freedom, generally religious freedom. The British who funded these voyages however were more interested in gaining a profit. In the beginning, many of the colonies did not survive. It was not until the settlement of Jamestown that any chance of a new satellite nation for Britain could permanently survive. Even this settlement had its problems though, and it did not find a way to keep itself going until it had real leaders. One of the first leaders to bring structure and discipline to Jamestown was John Smith. Smith’s leadership proved to be invaluable to getting colonists away from the search for gold and making them work to survive. Once Smith left, the colony quickly reverted to its original state and led to the survival of only 60 of the 200 colonists that had occupied the area. Along with the fight for survival, the colonists also abused their relations with the natives and caused immense tensions between the two peoples. This led to even more problems the colonists had to solve. Overall, early America was very good at getting itself out of trouble but was even better at getting itself into it.
The article that I found the most interesting was “The Reluctant Witch”. I have always been interested in society’s view of the unknown and their extreme reactions that often come for it. The article helped me to see how the Salem Witch Trials began and how they became so famous. It also made me wonder a lot about how society often judges before it gets to know, and how truth is more of a perception rather than a fact.
Questions
1)In your opinion, what was the most important affect the Glorious Revolution had on colonial and present day America?
2)Who decided the balance between giving and strictness that a wife had to follow for the Puritan’s? Was it their husbands or something the community decided as a whole?
3)Why did those involved in Tituba’s trial not see the evil in their persecutions, but only saw the evil of something they had no tangible evidence of.
CHRISTEN BAYLIFF
General overview:
Before reading the Colonial reading packet I can honestly say I had only retained very minimal facts about The British Colonies that were taught in previous classes. Like most of my peers said the English settled in America in hopes of gaining religious freedom as well as making a little profit. While reading the packet I learned that not only were colonist incredibly lazy and wanted things to be handed to them on a silver platter but they also relied fully on their faith and the Bible to help them throughout their trials and tribulations. I noticed that in the New England colonies settlers were much stricter on religion and everyone had to have the same belief system. Everything that went on in this colony whether it had to do with economy, government, or social activities was based on religious beliefs. I think that one of the biggest differences between the Middle Colonies and New England Colonies is religion and the diversity in people. It seems to me that life in the Middle Colonies was much more laid back and the people were more open-minded. This makes since as to why New York is one of the most diverse states in the world, it is like one giant melting pot. You will find people of all different ethnicities in that part of the country. I agree a lot with what Hannah Culbertson said about Jamestown and how that because of the change of people and attitude the colonists were always on their toes and were ready for what was next to come. The Native Americans were a huge part of the survival of Jamestown along with their leader John Smith. Because the Indians had first hand experience and developed the right strategies for survival they were able to virtually save tons of lives even though they also destroyed some of those lives in the process. I think that the English settlers were incredibly naïve and didn’t fully grasp the concept of hard work and that they would have to work their knuckles to the bone trying to receive the life they hoped to have when they did move.
Questions:
1. On page 15 in the packet 1st paragraph it states that people in the middle colonies had simple lives and they were pacifists but then it also says they had aggressive behavior. If the colonists were pacifists then they do not like war or violence. I guess I was just confused as to why they would have aggressive behavior if they had simple life and they were opposed to violence.
2. How did the settlers “claim” the land? What made it rightfully theirs?
Answers:
Culbertson #4- I was wondering the same thing you were! I think that they were set in stone that they would just become rich off the natural resources and that the were “elite” to the Native Americans so they thought they could get them to do everything and even though they didn’t lift a finger they would be prosperous in the end. What they didn’t realize is the most prosperous man is they one that works his tail off for what he needs or wants and then he is not only rewarded with riches but he is also rewarded for his hard work and dedication. Hard work will never go unnoticed.
Favorite Article:
My favorite thing I have read so far is about the Witchcraft trials. I read the Crucible my freshman year and saw the movie/play, so before staring the article I already new a few things that went on. It amazes me that so many people were paranoid about the practice of witchcraft, or that fact that some people actually believed that they were witches capable of magic.
Misgana Kelecha says..
Its no doubt that the main reasons for the emigration of europe and the immagration to the colonies was to escape religious persecution and seeking riches or a better way of living. But when the settlers arrived at their destination, life was alot harder than they expected but was highly assisted by the indians. The colonies were under supplied and unprepared and usuitable living conditions. Many colonies were set up solely for the fact that they would benefit the country and hardly assists the living conditions of the inhabitants. The inhabitants also were very lazy and dependent on other men to assist them in every dau needs, I don't fully understand why if you can do it, you wouldn't. By far what suprised me most would have to be the Salem Witch trials, it is outstanding how terribly women were treating and just absurd how they could just accuse any women who they did not favor to be killed under false pretenses. Also before this reading I had never known about the big leadership role John Smith had taken and how much help he was in the advancing of the colonies. Without him I believe that many more would have died also that it would have taken much longer for the colonies to advance as they did. “The Starving Time at Jamestown.” Also highly suprised me, I could not believe that men would cut up friends and family and eat them, rather than planting their own food or going out and hunting for it. Men were so lazy and undedicated to do theur own work and would rather wait and end up regreting it in the end by resorting to cannibalism. But through all of this they kept their faith, I just cant see how if you are a true believer and lived a life by faith how you are able to live with yourself eating other human beings, this must have been a big religous barrier to get through while trying to survive the struggles of being settlers in the "Ne World". The only reason the British colonies survived in the first place is because there was a seemingly endless amount of people willing or forced to go to the new world. I don't believe the settlers really understood what they were getting into and ended up being overwhelmed by everything they had to do themselves and couldnt rely on other people to do for them like they might have been used to back in their previous homes in the advanced countries of europe at that day and age.
Questions!
Why resort to such harsh things rather than just collecting food prior or going hunting to fill their hunger rather than eating their family or friends?
The six articles I read taught me so much about the Colonial Times. I was so unaware of many of the things that took place. When coming to the New World, I thought colonists would be prepared to work amd start a brand new life. Obviously, my thought was wrong.They seemed to have a hard time reaching their goals of religious freedom, gold, and glory. The laziness of the colonists really bothered me. The fact they did not even want to cook their own food make no sense. If the colonists had made better decisions then their lives would have been so much easier.Also, John Smith deserves so much more credit. Just like everyone has been saying, the survival of the colonies landed on him.Thankfully he was strong leader and got the colonies back on their feet. The relations between the colonists and the indians didn't surprise me. The colonists came in, and started taking their land and the Indians were upset and disrupted. Though they should have worked things out sooner, to prevent all the wars such as the Pequot, which was heavily devastating. Starving Time, was just awful. The fact they killed each other to eat, comes back to the fact they just were not prepared for this new life! The Salem Witch trials were so intense it was unbelievable it actually happened. The fact many women and some men were accused of practicing things of the devil was just weird, but ulimately made important moments in our history. Finally, I'd like to conclude with the Puritan wives. It was awful how they had to submit so intensly to their husbands, but in return get no love or affection. It seems unfair that the men wanted the women to follow the bible, but they in turn didn't.
Questions:
1. Why did men find the need to treat their wives so badly, after all they had done for them?
2. Do you think the victims of the trials were told by Samuel Parris to act that way in court, just so the convicts would get in trouble? Or was it actually real?
3.Was it honestly right for the colonists to settle where the indians were already settled?
My favorite article was definitely the one about the witch trials. It was so intense, and creative I couldn't stop reading! I learned so much, and I was shocked everything that actually took place with the use of witchcraft. It makes me wonder what actually happened. Also, I wish I could have been there to see it.
Rachel Schuster
@Rachel Schuster 3
It definitely was not right for the colonists to settle on the Indians' land. However, at the beginning, most colonies did not settle directly on Indian land, just near it. As time went on and the colonists learned how to fend for themselves and become more powerful, that was when they decided to take the Indians' land and push them furhter west. Years later, the government realized that this was unfair to the Indians and decided to do something about it; it especially evident because there are colleges especially made for Indians, which are cheaper than regular colleges.
Before I start my bit I have a comment on the comments that Schuster and Newburg left. I always thought that the colonists were way over demonized in the whole situation with the Native Americans. Yes we did take what was there's but there was almost always the option of assimilation for them. That is not to say what we did was right at all I'm just saying historically what happened was very normal, where a militarily superior nation destroys another. Most don't get an option like assimilation, you get out or you die.
As for what I thought of the reading, the starving time in Jamestown is by far the most interesting to me. The article towards the end that explained the sickness the men had that explained why they were letting themselves die cleared a lot up for me. I thought it was off at first how they said that they died out of pure laziness, I don't believe such a thing could happen with how strong the human will to survive is. I think the utter lack of woman had a part in the ridiculously low moral in Jamestown, that might have contributed at first to the unwillingness for them to work, having lived in a society where providing for your family was an obligation it makes sense that those men wouldn't work as hard when having no family.
-Garrett Mullins 1rst block
Prior to reading these articles, my thoughts of this time period were based on Disney movies and silly stories my parents had read to me. Little did I know that everything I was taught and beilieved was an upright lie. Portying the Disney movies as a beautiful place surrounded by nature and singing birds is completely unrealistic to the realites. I never fully comprehedned the stuggles and hardships that the colonists and Indains faced on a daily basis. Disney forgot to mention that they were in severe starvation and ate one another, or that 330 of the original colonists died from illness. I actually understand what settling in America was like. Everyone wasnt happy-go-lucky and eating Thanksgiving with the Indains. There was bloodshed and hate.
General Overview:
The English colonists came to America for one reason and that was gold. They came to America with a very naive attitude thinking that they would simply walk, get gold, and walk out. The Jamestown settlers were purely lazy and have many of the same qualities that teenagers have today. A major word to describe their embark and attempt at colonization, is unprepared. They were unprepared in thier supplies and health. In thier defense, they assumed that they wouldnt be in Viginia for very long, but them being unprepared led them to steal from the Indians, creating even more tension. There was very little hope for the colonists until John Smith took conrol and made himself a leader. Its safe to say that the colony was dependent on Smith and when he left, chaos ensued. The little glimpse of surviving hope was crushed when Smith left and did not return until John Rolfe jumped in the picture and made peace with the Powhatan's by marrying the chief's daughter, Pocahontas. Rolfe also brought profit with him by the making and selling of tobacco. Everything that took place in Jamestown seems like there should be no chance of them surving. But somehow they made it (barely).
Favorite Article:
My favorite article was The Reluctant Witch because I am also in AP Lang, so I had already read The Crucible. Having the understanding of The Crucible and then reading about Tituba's story was very interesting and shed much insight onto the witch hunts.
Questions:
Why did the court kill the people who did not confess, assuming they arent witches, but they kept the withes who were the real threats alive?
Why would the colonists kill the only people who helped them survive?
Sierra Henricks
Block 1
Bailey Prigel,
THe Starving Time at Jamestown was surprising. I always thought that the colonies were happy places to live at. Instead, they suffered from hunger and ate their own animals like dogs and horses, and one man even went to the exreme and killed his own wife. And the struggle between the natives and the colonists were much harsher than I have learned, especially seeing the picture of the Natives pouring melted gold down a Spanierd's throat.
@ Mcquire, came to the colonies to gain wealth but instead had to do farm work.
I completely missed the part about talking about which article was our favorite and why, so I'm going to just add onto my previous post.
My favorite article had to be either The Starving Time at Jamestown or The Reluctant Witch. I enjoyed reading The Starving Time at Jamestown because it opened my eyes to the reality of colonial life and the immense effort it took in order to establish the 13 colonies. As we have said before, I was convinced the settlers were able to come to the New World and immediately begin a process in which created the early colonies, formed friendly relationships with the Native Americans and thus began the United States of America. The article in addition to it's eye-opening facts also offered a modern viewpoint regarding the downfalls Jamestown suffered. This perspective gave me more solid guesses as to what was happening to the colonists and why the string of events that followed had happened. I also liked The Reluctant Witch mainly because it was a source I used in order to understand my reading of The Crucible. A lot of information was given from a different, less annoying and easily understood perspective in the article and it included or clarified information not given in the book itself. Also, I enjoyed reading and learning briefly about the witch hunts in AP Euro and wanted to know more about how the term "witch hunts" began and was applied to historical events such as The Red Scare and The Lavender Scare.
-Brandon Johnson
After reading the summer packet I have a lot more respect for early colonists. Even though they chose to come to the New World their lives were full of disaster. It can seem like it was their fault, but I feel as if the creators of the colony should receive most of the blame. In particular was Jamestown. It was put in a bad position from the start and only made it through hardship by the sheer number of immigrants from England and the support of nearby natives. It also seems that while the British chose official leaders for the colonies it was mainly self-government.
One question I do have is why didn’t colonists realize the bad area chosen for the colonies, and if they did why is there no record of it?
I found the Reluctant Witch to be the most interesting topic. I find it interesting because to me it is obvious that the people confessing of their sins were lying. I find it hard to believe that the judges didn’t see right through the lies of the people being accused and the accusers themselves.
Bailey Prigel
Bearing the Burden and The Reluctant Witch explained the discrimmination the colonists had because of what their religion tells them to do. The Burden story explains how a wife should behave. This expectations are sexist, "they justifies this arrangement by emphasising women's descent from Eve and her innate irrationality, both of which made her more vulnerable to error and corruption to man." Their culture did not put as much emphasis on the men's behavior, "marital satisfaction despite the husband's comportment." The Reluctant Witch plays out the stereotype of a witch (older female) and the superstitions in the religion. The girls, who were the majority of those seen doing any suspicious, were probably not accused and tried because they were just young girls. To protect themselves, they accued three others, all older women.
Questions
Even though they didn't make the stereotype, why were they tried?
I can conclude that life in Jamestown was awful. They were only sent there to find gold, yet there was no gold to be found. They had no good water nor did they have any resources. On top of it all they were all lazy human beings that did not want to work to make the place worth living. It was completely their fault that they did not work harder to make friends with the Indians, so that they could survive. Also, there was no way that you could travel to another country with few supplies and be able to survive through disease, famine, and an unknown environment.
I thought that the article of the witches in Salem was the most interesting. It was good because I did not know very much on the subject and it kept me entertained. I did not realize someone could have such a great imagination to come up with a story like that. I admire all the background knowledge she had on everyone’s beliefs of witchcraft.
Questions
1.Why did people keep going to Jamestown if there was obviously no gold?
2.Why did the Indians never try to adapt to the colonists lifestyle?
3.Why would Tituba bring other innocent people into her story?
My answer to Rachel Schuster's question 1 is that they treated the woman so badly to soley prove their dominance. The men believed that they were the next thing to a God and that they were entitled to have someone that was a servant with wife as the title.
Alex Bangert
@Alex Bangert 2
I think the Indians never really wanted to adapt to the colonists lifestyle since the colonists and the Indians had so much tension throughout the years. Also, the Indians had a successful way of life that provided for everyone in the colony, so there was no need to join the colonists' lifestyle.
In the Baptism of Fire, the French had gained power in the New world. They occupied Nova Scotia, St. Lawrence River Valley, and the Great Lakes. Keeping the French from interrupting English settlement was an issue, "capture, kill, or repel all who interrupted the progress of the English settlements in that country." In 1758, Washington served as general and commander of chief and defeated Fort Duquesne.
The America Found and Lost was an interesting article. Not only did they bring simple itms like dice to luxury items like a miniture windmill.
Why did they bring luxurious goods?
Bailey Prigel
In the Baptism of Fire, the French had gained power in the New world. They occupied Nova Scotia, St. Lawrence River Valley, and the Great Lakes. Keeping the French from interrupting English settlement was an issue, "capture, kill, or repel all who interrupted the progress of the English settlements in that country." In 1758, Washington served as general and commander of chief and defeated Fort Duquesne.
The America Found and Lost was an interesting article. Not only did they bring simple itms like dice to luxury items like a miniture windmill.
Why did they bring luxurious goods?
Sorry, I posted without my name the first time.
After the reading I have seen exactly how the new settlers were unprepared for the New World. They did not have all the necessary tools and equipment required to establish a brand new colony. The colonists became lacking of hard work but upheld high expectations for others to do the work for them. After time everything pulled together with the help of leaders such as John Smith, but up until then you actually realize how unorganized and unstable the colonies were.
I enjoyed the article upon the Salem Witch Trials because of the realization of how gullible and uneducated the people could be. They would believe anything they heard and not even think to look up any information for real research. It was also intreging how Tituba was very strong willed and inspiring throughout it all.
1. Where exactly did they find any proof in the first place of witches?
2. Why would'nt the colonists of thought to make peace relations with the Indians living there to help them until the colony was stable?
3. Why wasn't there any set in stone toleration acts for religion before establishing the colony? Why were they not more organized? Did they think they could survive long with no rules?
Responding to Rachel Newburg’s first question: It might have been because Spain and Portugal were at the time the dominant nations in the European area. Spain and Portugal probably thought no other country could match them at that time and figured no other country would have the capability to deploy such a massive fleet for conquest and exploration. After the Spanish Armada was defeated it opened a window for England and other countries to establish a foothold in the new land. England’s religion changed many times so they would not have wanted confirmation from the Catholic Pope because at times they were protestant.
Before I read these articles it did not occur to me how much these colonist went through when they came to the new world. It had always been in my mind that they came to America and were assisted by the Native Americans with planting and scavenging. And I knew that the colonist misused the Native Americans. I learned from the articles that the colonist were not prepared for their journey or for life in the new world. The colonist were extremely lazy and between death, decease, and starvation the new colonies did not thrive. The colonist refused to do any field work and really just put themselves in the worst position possible. It amazes me that I hadn’t heard or read of anything like this before I read the articles, I had just assumed that times had been difficult but that would be expected. I had not expected them to resort to eating each other. I defiantly found Starving Time Jamestown to be the most interesting and it gave me a new light onto the colonist.
1. The laziness of the colonist really bothered me, why wouldn’t they just step up and do something about the situation?
2. I understand that the colonist supporters were hesitant to fund the new colonies, but when lives are at stake and people are dying every day why couldn’t do something about it?
-Paige Rossman
Overall Opinion
Before reading these articles I can honestly say I was pretty clueless to how hard life was for the colonists back in the day. The most that I knew was that they sailed around the world in search of land and riches. I guessed that they would have had to work hard for what they wanted given that technology was limited and they had to do a lot on their own. They endured many different hardships, although some was entirely the colonists fault. They were incredibly lazy and had absolutely no motivation to try and make lives better for themselves. For example they would rather eat raw fish instead of just gather some wood and make a fire to cook their fish. The colonists were unsuccessful in finding gold so they decided to just give up. Although, once John Smith took control, things started to totally turn around. He ultimately saved Jamestown. Once he came around things were going quite well until John left. Once he left the lazy and unmotivated colonists went back to their old ways. I personally find this very pathetic because they obviously had learned things from John Smith, but when he wasn't around being the leader they just decided making life better for them wasn't important. Another thing I noticed was how religion always played a part in everything. Religion was HUGE.
Questions: 1. Why did the colonists think that they had superiority over the inidans already living on the land? What made them so confident in feeling that they could take over their land?
2. Why did men treat their women so badly when they went through a lot and did so much for them?
3. What determined if people accused of witchcraft were killed or just put in jail?
The Starving Time at Jamestown was the most interesting to me. I found it very disturbing, but also very intersting just learning how awful life truly was for them. They resulted to eating their boots because they were so hungry they just absolutely had to eat whatever was there in front of them. I think the part that made me cringe the most though was the fact that they were starving so bad that they dug up dead corpses and ate them. I understand being hungry, but I feel like there definitely had to be an alternative to eating dead bodies. The colonists were so lazy that they would rather die, than put in the effort to survive.
Teighlor Nordstrom
GENERAL OVERVIEW:
I can honestly say before receiving the Colonial reading packet I had zero prior knowledge to facts over The British Colonies or any of the colonies for that matter. Before I had read I figured that life was easy and everything was a given. Come to find out life back then was cruel. As some of my other peers have mentioned I do not agree that the colonists were completely stable and equipped to take on the New World. Most of the people who came to America came for the treasures and riches to provide for their families back home. Disease was a big factor in the decrease of the population through the years in the New World. Jamestown was established in 1607, from then on out the colonists began trading gold with natives for their rations and possessions that they were not capable of growing and making on their own. With the leadership of John Smith, Jamestown went from zero to HELLO! He gave optimism and encouragement to the town until it became livable again. John Rolfe came to the colonies and Jamestown began bringing home the bacon. He started growing tobacco in Jamestown which then became a main cash crop and contributed greatly to Jamestown’s triumph. Once John Smith left the colonies, everything went downhill from there. The witch hunts started up which brought so much more unrest to the town. This was later named “The Salem Witch Trials.” If the settlers would have done more work and less of complaining, things would have been a lot better.
Questions:
1. Did the Indians do almost everything for the Colonists? Why? What did they not do for them?
2. If John Smith was English and he helped out Jamestown so much, then why didn’t he ask for backup from England? The English were a little wealthier then the settlers in Jamestown.
Most Fascinating Article:
The Starving at Jamestown was probably the most fascinating article that I read. It caught my attention really quick because they ate cats, dogs, and humans. SAY WHAT?! That is absolutely absurd in my opinion but I guess you do what you gotta do to survive. This article particularly showed what a tough time the colonists actually had. Their main goal was to survive and make a superb life in America. John Smith helped bring Jamestown back to life. It was in a deep, deep hole for a while. He never gave up and he never gave in. He worked to help all the settlers survive, If that’s not a true leader then I don’t know what is.
-Jill Starling
General Overview
After reading the summer packet I have gained alot of respect for all of the hardships that the people had to endure. The people came to look for gold and had no intent of staying in North America and were ill prepared once they realized that they would not return back like they thought.It made matters worse that there were limited resources and the diseases along with an unfamiliar environment.
The article that was the most interesting was "The Reluctant Witch". The article showed me how the Salem Witch Trials came to be and how they became well known. It was a surprise to me that the society judges before they got a chance to know, they went off of perception rather than a fact, like Jake said.
Questions
1. Why didn't England send more supplies and help out Jamestown?
2. Why didn't the colonist work even with starvation?
CJ Dowell
Before reading these six chapters, my knowledge on the colonies was small. When thinking about the colonies before, I thought colony life was simple and that the colonist had become friends with the Indians which help the colonist learn everything they needed to be on there own. After reading I realized that from the beginning they had been struck with bad luck. In my opinion I think the main reason English companies wanted to colonize in America was because of the rumor of gold, which would make these companies a profit. Then because settlers were not finding gold, they had become lazy and depressed causing them to not want to work towards shelter or food which led to the community to fall behind and become helplessness. I believe that if the settlers had not become so sluggish that the first settlement Jamestown would have succeeded at a much higher pace than what it original started. Second, I consider one of the main reasons the colonies became larger was because of religious freedom. Europeans wanted to live with their religions without being under attack from main religions in there countries. When Roger Williams made Rhode Island religiously free, that brought a lot of attention to the rest of the world. Or when William Penn used his idea of religious freedom to attract settlers, people wanted to come to North America. Also a major part of the survival of the colonies was women. Women were not highly regarded as men and were not allowed to do things as they pleased. Woman had to raise multiple children, then feed their families, and often had to deal with unfaithful husbands. But some woman persevered through such a strong belief in their religion which helped them through tough times. From the beginning to the end my whole perspective for the colonies and how they came to be, changed significantly.
The most interesting chapter to me was “The Reluctant Witch”. I was surprised about how out of the ordinary witchcraft came about, and learning about Tituba. With Tituba admitting to certain things, was one of the causes of the Salem witch trails, and towards the deaths of colonist that were accused of witchcraft. I also thought that the determination of Samuel Parris was interesting.
My one question-
Why were the Indians so welcoming to the French even though they wanted expansion just like the English.
-Connor Edstrom
Prior to reading the articles I had a basic understanding of the colonies, but I did not know many of the diverse groups which had settled those colonies. Many thought the colonization period went without any opposition.In fact the colonists had to struggle just to make it to the next day.
Post Reading
Most of the settlers came for their religious freedom. Religious toleration was very scarce in Europe thus almost making it a necessity to move to the American colonies. Many colonies suffered because they lacked a sense of leadership or their leadership was inadequite. Opposition with the Indians caused much havoc in the colonies. Especially between the Powhatans and the Jamestown colony. Essentially the colonies were made to expand business' with the finding of gold and planting of the tobacco and sugar cane.
Questions
1. Why would they still find it an okay idea to settle in north america when the colony at Roanoke disappeared?
@CJDOWELL 1
Answer: Sir Walter Raleigh sailed back to England to retrieve more supplies and people to bring back to Jamestown. But He never had the chance to return to the New World because he was sent to jail in England.
Before reading these articles about the British North American colonies, my thoughts and opinion were clouded. The colonies were blackened by their lack of being unprepared of any type of warfare and self suf. But after reading, i discovered that the colonies weren't very successful straight from the start and the leading factors ranging from starvation, laziness, and lack of motivation were the cause of it.
The life in British North American Colonies were surrounded by hard times and severe conditions. Prior to reading these, my opinion on it all was completely different.
Overview of Colonial Settlement
To start off, the article "The Starving Time at Jamestown" opened my eyes the most when it comes to the reality of the life inside the colonies. In despite of the new found land, the colonist who founded and settled at Jamestown could have easily prevented the severe loss of lives if they would have had more of an motivation towards survival. Most colonists were under the impression that Jamestown was just a temporary settlement, and that they would return home soon after arriving. Therefore, the colonists didn't really try to succeed at anything because they didn't expect to be there for as long as they were, which was three years. These colonies eventually submerged from their dark time and survived because there was an outragous amount of people who were interested about going to this so called "new world." Many also fled because of religious hardships in their home countries, and also promising motives that a new life in the newfoundland would be better than what they lived in.
Questions:
1. If the people of Jamestown realized that they weren't going home? Why didn't they try to hunt and be successful rather than eating dead corpses and dying of rabid diseases?
2. If people in Salem realized after they went through the Witch Trials that they were at fault, and only repaid those whom lost family and friends with condolonces? Why did they do it in the first place?
My favorite article(s) of the five goes between "The Starving Time at Jamestown" and "The Reluctant Witch."
- The Starving Time at Jamestown (which i know i've talked about alot in this post) intreuges me the most because of the stupidity people had, yes i understand that this is back in the mid to late 1600s, but honestly, if it came down to it, i'd much rather be learning how to hunt, cook, fish, trade or something, rather than feasting on what could have been my friends' dead corpse. Also, my other favorite article is "The Reluctant Witch," because last year in Mr. Weber's class we began to learn a tad bit about the Salem Witch Trials, and i became instantly interested in it. So this year, having the ability to read this article and truly dive down in depth with the article made it enjoy it. I just think it's crazy that people really thought that Witchcraft was a real thing, and they killed others because of it!
Jared Hobby
Prior to reading these articles I thought that all the settlers coming to the America's had a plan what what life was going to be like and how they would attack this new world. I thought that life in the America's would be easy. The settlers for the most part were coming from countries that had a successful government in hand. So I though that they would use their governments that try came from as an outline to what they could do in the new world. This assumption for the most part was wrong. The settlers had no idea what they were getting in to. After reading these articles I now know the hard time the settlers went through. I also learned that the settlers, like myself, we're not expecting any of these events to happen. After a while the colonists had an idea of what needed to happen but they were all too lazy to do anything about it at first. They did not want to work. They thought they could just come in fine the gold they were looking for and take it back to their families and become rich. And because of that the colonist ran Ito some hard time. Mainly starvation. They did not work to give themselves food. They just though it would come to them. The colonist needed leadership. And they got their leadership in John smith.
This leads me to the article that most interested myself and that is "The Starving at Jamestown." This article showed how the colonist finally figured out how hard they had to work to make a good life in the America's. And they did just that with the help of John Smith. This article showed how determined Smoth was to make a good america. Smith was the main reason that the colonist did not give up on the America's and worked through the hard times. This article showed that is you want something bad enough you can make it happen. That is the lesson this article taught me.
Jade Ely
My prior knowledge of the colonies came from Disney movies like pocahantas and what my elementary teachers told me about pilgrims and The Mayflower. I always thought it was some nice ship ride to America where they built houses and escaped the persecution from England. After reading about the colonies I am shocked to find out how tremendously wrong my assumptions were. Jamestown was infested with disease from poor water sources, hundreds died, and they were completely unprepared for the horrors that befell them. What I thought to be a happy exploration for new land and eating thanksgiving dinner with the local natives is on a completely different world than the one the colonies lived in. They were ravaged by hunger and so desparate for food that they turned cannibalistic in the extremest of circumstances during the starving time. And to learn that all they were after was gold for the profit of The Virginia Company suprised me. What I wonder is, why would they stay and why would so many new settlers come if the conditions were so horrible?
In conclusion to the Colinization of the New World, I think that it was mostly motivated by greed and a lust for gold that everyone was so desparate to find, especially after Spains success. Another big factor in the colonization was the amount of indentured servants and power hungry men that were shipped by hundreds over sea's to join in the hunt for riches. If the main motivators of the expeditions hadn't been corrupt men seeking a profit but rather honest men looking to settle the New World than I believe the circumstances would have been drastically different. And the last reason for the great colonization of the America's was religion. Protistants, Catholics, Quakers, and Separatists wanted their religious freedom from the English Church. Because of these strong believers many colonies were created just for the very purpose of religious tolerance, one example being Pennsylvania, which was founded by William Penn. To me these articles were very eye opening to the realness of what truly happened. The atrocities and struggles the settlers endured is incredibly astounding.
A few questions that I had is why did big stock companies keep sending men to the New World when they were not recieving any profits?(until the tobacco business kicked off.)
I also wonder why in the article "The Reluctant Witch" the court relied solely on a slave for all their information, she was not of the same religion so wouldnt that automatically disclaim any information that she gave them?
They were questioning a slave from another country about a religion she didnt quite understand and then persecuting their own people, even the frequent church goers.
I also question why confessing would free you but denying would get you killed, it seems like the justice system then had it backwards.
To me the most interesting article was either the "Starving Time" in Jamestown or "Bearing the Burden." I found the reality of Jamestown's horrifying experience to be fearfully intrigueing. Also I thought that the way Protistant women were seen at the time was very interesting and somewhat angering. It was a strange irony because the mother would have power of the men when they were their children yet when they grew up they had to be submissive to them. Their strength and their faith are inspiring.
General Overview:
The knowledge I had before reading the articles wasn’t a lot, the only knowledge I had was when my dad would try to talk to me about history and more than half the time I honestly wouldn’t listen. It’s also weird to think that what we are reading about how the government we are run by started, and all the colonies that had fought through hard times and are still alive today. I noticed while reading the packet that the colonies had most of their money made by exporting goods, and that tobacco, sugar, and cotton all played big parts in that. It also caught my eye that all the colonies were very unprepared at what was coming at them. They had difficult times with wars with Indians, and especially diseases. Also they were lazy which I felt came from a lot of reasons, like the fact that they had no food which means no energy, or the fact that they were used to having everything handed to them before. It also changed the whole look on looking for riches. People were becoming lazier and lazier as time went on, which meant it was even harder for the colonies to survive. I also believe that John Smith made a huge impact on Jamestown which was established in 1607, he pretty much led everything about Jamestown. He made sure everyone was doing their part. Also as soon as tobacco came into play everything changed, because no cash crop before tobacco can even compare. Also people may believe that John Rolfe had invented tobacco, but he only brought it to Jamestown, it’s been around before then. Then Jamestown started to go bad, and religion was most definitely questioned when two girls started to act like animals on their hands and knees, not answering anyone just staring off into space. People explained this act to be the “Salem Witch Trials”. I understand the colonists were worried, because everything started to go bad and at the time to them it must’ve been the only solution because they thought so highly of religion. I still think it’s weird that they would come up with something of the nonsense, but I still understand it would be hard to have things going from good to bad just like THAT.
Questions:
1. Why would the colonists try to settle where land was already taken? I feel like that would just make things more difficult.
2. Why didn’t the Salem Witch Trials go more into depth before they would hang people? It seemed as if a rumor could get you killed.
3. Why was it that if someone was convicted of the same thing (witchcraft) that some were killed and others were simply thrown in jail?
Most Fascinating Event: This is probably everyone else’s, but The Starving at Jamestown stuck out to me, because there are some things that I would rather die than do. Eating uncommon animals and even other humans doesn’t sound exciting. I do understand that they tried to make consequences for cannibalism, but it would be hard, because it almost came common to colonists at Jamestown. It just surprises me that people would do that, even when they believed in heaven and knew that their life wouldn’t be over, just their life on earth.
-Jacob Means
Prior to reading the articles I used to believe that the immigrants that ventured from Europe were well off and very content on the move to the 'New found Land.' I thought they had landed, built their little town, and took off from that point. I was wrong, I was completely out of touch with what actually occurred. The ships were very small and packed, which unassumingly, made it quite uncomfortable for the passengers aboard. They had went from their comfortable, warm, beds to the hard dirt in America. And the Indians? They took everything from them, the ones who showed them EVERYTHING. They took everything from them without any remorse whatsoever. I just don't get it. They destroyed their resources, and eventually caused what could've been their own fallout. My overall opinion on the colonies would have to be that they were very selfish, mean, ignorant people.
The only question I have is... Why cannibalism? Why not eat plants? Or even grass..?
I found the article, The Starving Time at Jamestown, very appealing. It's very interesting reading about how people would end up going crazy and would rather DIE than work to eat... It's funny to think the laziness of humans has not evolved since their time.
Corbin Brooks
Before I read any of this all I knew about U.S. history was what I acquired from O'Connor's S.S class and what I have learned via the internet over time.
After reading this packet I realized how the start of the colonies, mainly Jamestown, had to get a kick start to get going. I now understand why Ms. Stewart said Britain thought of India as the better.
Overview:
Overall I must say this is something I would read again, it was interesting! Once the people of England were able to begin their hunt for gold they were excited and I was thinking: motivated workers=good colonies! I was wrong. From that point I could not stop reading as I saw the EXTREME LAZINESS of these workers, I now see where the laziness in us comes from, this time period at Jamestown; they just wanted gold. They thought gold could solve everything, well it can't solve death back then. If someone were to find gold they wouldn't be able to head into town and order a burger, there was no food there anyways. I couldn't believe that the people of Jamestown were so lazy they just ate what they had, animals, and even turning to cannibalism. My opinion of the entire packet was that British were not preparing anyone enough for anything in America, the rulers were not in America and had no experience. They did not send the right kind of people. Yeah lets just send a bunch of bums and prisoners to the new world, it'll be our landfill but we expect great things from it. You will not get great things from a landfill of this type. The scare of the witches in Salem was blown out of the water, how was that any different to the stories of witches on brooms in Europe and the trials there. The witch problems were not as extended and hysterical if you ask me. Also I felt like I was reading a lot of the same material repeatedly in the Salem Witch Trials. I felt like they just kept having her repeat her story and it'd change some but it wasn't enough to keep it
interesting and keep me from getting bored with sometimes. what I am seeing here is the Crown was just concerned about being a world power and making some quick cash and they didn't think it through enough, they would send Braddock in to an environment where he was inexperience and Washington did all the work, even while sick with Dysentery. I noticed very little to no preparation for these settlements in the New World. The British government may have been a world power but not a smart one, hypothetically they were seen as a smart strong power but really all they did was command and conquer, no preparation or strategy was put into anything it was all based on simple cowardly fear, lust, and greed; everyone was for themselves, there may have been towns and colonies working together but really men and women were on their own even if married working together to achieve something greater for yourself, that is not what they should have been doing; the colonists should have planned and worked together to survive and thrive amongst the Indians and then slowly build up their own Union among the colonies and become more organized, this would help put together a better country to take on the British I bet would have been able to win the revolution without French help or much less of it.
Questions:
-Why did they take the Salem Witch trials so much into more extent than from what they explained about witchcraft use in England?
-Why ask Tituba to repeat the same thing over and over and over? I saw no point.
-Why did they let the failing charter companies run these colonies for so long?
Favorite Article:
I really enjoyed the Starving Time at Jamestown article, I've always known about Jamestown but about how it was so prosperous and was told to me that it was always amazing. I enjoyed hearing about how the colonists really acted and how John Smith took charge and turned the colony around sadly only for a short time. It was very strange but interesting to hear about the things these people would do for food.
Any and All feedback is welcome!
Deiontre Kendrick (DK)
My Overall opinion:
Reading these articles have made me realize that the colonist didn't think about how difficult life would be. They all thought it would be piece of cake, but they were all in for a surprise. The diseases and the Indians were both played a big role in their struggle. Also the colonist were very lazy and the desire to work just wasn't there. Also one of their main concerns was gold. Some of the colonist would rather focus on money rather than food and survival. I believe that John Smith played a great part in saving the New World. He realized that the colonist were going about life the wrong way and he took action. Another significant reason the colony of Jamestown survived is the discovery of Tobacco which brought in money and also setup plantations.
Emily McBride
1. Before reading the articles, I can infer that the colonists' lives were very difficult and that they had to plan a lot of their lives out before they even set sail to come to the colonies.
From reading these articles, I can say that the colonies were very touch and go, yet they still were able to thrive. These colonists were very determined, however, to make the colonies work, through thick and thin.
My overall opinion is that the colonists were very headstrong in their beliefs, and were perhaps not very welcoming, which is why they were so hostile towards the Native Americans, but then again, it takes a lot to come to a completely unfamiliar place and completely start your life anew.
2. If the Puritans left England to escape religious persecution, then why were they so hostile to the Native American tribes?
3. I found the Puritan wives story to be the most interesting. The wives want their children to grow up in fear of God, which baffles me. It is also interesting to hear their point of view rather than their husbands, which is what you would usually hear.
Well I must say reading these articles was a real eye opener to me. Before reading I thought that the colonists knew what they were doing when it came to starting the colonies and making them thrive, but I guess not. So I guess my only question is did the colonists really think it was going to be real easy to start up a colony without any supplies and when things got really bad why did they try and take the easy way out, it’s even hard to say they took an easy way out ‘cause they didn’t really do anything? Like with Jamestown, they were all starving, but instead of going out to go hunt for animals or go try to gather berries they decide to eat repulsive things, and resort to cannibalism. I personally would rather die than resort to that. What was going on in their minds? Those dead people they dug up to eat died for a reason, whether it was from sickness or whatever so it clearly wasn’t safe to eat. I also want to mention something about the Puritan wives. Why on earth would you want your child to fear God? God’s not a scary guy who will send you to hell if you do the smallest thing wrong. God’s there to help you get through everything, like a friend, so I don’t understand why Puritan wives want their children to live in fear. I also wonder about this obedience to your husband stuff. Did the wives act like trained dogs every time their husbands told them to do something and what if their husbands said to clean the house and she’s not feeling well so she doesn’t clean, she just lies down and rests, what happens now? Unless I’ve read this article wrong it says that the husband can beat the wife, and she just has to accept it because it is rewarding, but I highly disagree.
I personally liked reading these articles but some of the information they say just blows my mind. I learned something knew in every paragraph, which is awesome because it kept me interested. So I guess my conclusion about the colonists is that they just didn’t know what they were getting themselves into when it came time to run their colonies, they took their religions very seriously, and they pursued the reasons for coming to America ( Puritans for religious freedom, Virginia Company for gold and riches, etc.) .
So I had mixed my questions in the first paragraph but just as a reminder they were:
1. Did the colonists really think it was going to be real easy to start up a colony without any supplies?
2. When things got really bad why did they try and take the easy way out, it’s even hard to say they took an easy way out ‘cause they didn’t really do anything? (Jamestown and the way they handled getting food)
3. What was possibly going through the people of Jamestown minds to think it was ok to eat other people, even the deceased?
4. Why on earth would you want your child to fear God?
5. Did the Puritan wives act like trained dogs every time their husbands tells them to do something and what if their husbands said to clean the house and she’s not feeling well so she doesn’t clean, she just lies down and rests, what happens now?
Well I must say reading these articles was a real eye opener to me. Before reading I thought that the colonists knew what they were doing when it came to starting the colonies and making them thrive, but I guess not. So I guess my only question is did the colonists really think it was going to be real easy to start up a colony without any supplies and when things got really bad why did they try and take the easy way out, it’s even hard to say they took an easy way out ‘cause they didn’t really do anything? Like with Jamestown, they were all starving, but instead of going out to go hunt for animals or go try to gather berries they decide to eat repulsive things, and resort to cannibalism. I personally would rather die than resort to that. What was going on in their minds? Those dead people they dug up to eat died for a reason, whether it was from sickness or whatever so it clearly wasn’t safe to eat. I also want to mention something about the Puritan wives. Why on earth would you want your child to fear God? God’s not a scary guy who will send you to hell if you do the smallest thing wrong. God’s there to help you get through everything, like a friend, so I don’t understand why Puritan wives want their children to live in fear. I also wonder about this obedience to your husband stuff. Did the wives act like trained dogs every time their husbands told them to do something and what if their husbands said to clean the house and she’s not feeling well so she doesn’t clean, she just lies down and rests, what happens now? Unless I’ve read this article wrong it says that the husband can beat the wife, and she just has to accept it because it is rewarding, but I highly disagree.
I personally liked reading these articles but some of the information they say just blows my mind. I learned something knew in every paragraph, which is awesome because it kept me interested. So I guess my conclusion about the colonists is that they just didn’t know what they were getting themselves into when it came time to run their colonies, they took their religions very seriously, and they pursued the reasons for coming to America ( Puritans for religious freedom, Virginia Company for gold and riches, etc.) .
So I had mixed my questions in the first paragraph but just as a reminder they were:
1. Did the colonists really think it was going to be real easy to start up a colony without any supplies?
2. When things got really bad why did they try and take the easy way out, it’s even hard to say they took an easy way out ‘cause they didn’t really do anything? (Jamestown and the way they handled getting food)
3. What was possibly going through the people of Jamestown minds to think it was ok to eat other people, even the deceased?
4. Why on earth would you want your child to fear God?
5. Did the Puritan wives act like trained dogs every time their husbands tells them to do something and what if their husbands said to clean the house and she’s not feeling well so she doesn’t clean, she just lies down and rests, what happens now?
Well I must say reading these articles was a real eye opener to me. Before reading I thought that the colonists knew what they were doing when it came to starting the colonies and making them thrive, but I guess not. So I guess my only question is did the colonists really think it was going to be real easy to start up a colony without any supplies and when things got really bad why did they try and take the easy way out, it’s even hard to say they took an easy way out ‘cause they didn’t really do anything? Like with Jamestown, they were all starving, but instead of going out to go hunt for animals or go try to gather berries they decide to eat repulsive things, and resort to cannibalism. I personally would rather die than resort to that. What was going on in their minds? Those dead people they dug up to eat died for a reason, whether it was from sickness or whatever so it clearly wasn’t safe to eat. I also want to mention something about the Puritan wives. Why on earth would you want your child to fear God? God’s not a scary guy who will send you to hell if you do the smallest thing wrong. God’s there to help you get through everything, like a friend, so I don’t understand why Puritan wives want their children to live in fear. I also wonder about this obedience to your husband stuff. Did the wives act like trained dogs every time their husbands told them to do something and what if their husbands said to clean the house and she’s not feeling well so she doesn’t clean, she just lies down and rests, what happens now? Unless I’ve read this article wrong it says that the husband can beat the wife, and she just has to accept it because it is rewarding, but I highly disagree.
I personally liked reading these articles but some of the information they say just blows my mind. I learned something knew in every paragraph, which is awesome because it kept me interested. So I guess my conclusion about the colonists is that they just didn’t know what they were getting themselves into when it came time to run their colonies, they took their religions very seriously, and they pursued the reasons for coming to America ( Puritans for religious freedom, Virginia Company for gold and riches, etc.) .
So I had mixed my questions in the first paragraph but just as a reminder they were:
1. Did the colonists really think it was going to be real easy to start up a colony without any supplies?
2. When things got really bad why did they try and take the easy way out, it’s even hard to say they took an easy way out ‘cause they didn’t really do anything? (Jamestown and the way they handled getting food)
3. What was possibly going through the people of Jamestown minds to think it was ok to eat other people, even the deceased?
4. Why on earth would you want your child to fear God?
5. Did the Puritan wives act like trained dogs every time their husbands tells them to do something and what if their husbands said to clean the house and she’s not feeling well so she doesn’t clean, she just lies down and rests, what happens now?
After reading the articles, I thought that the colonist comingto the New World were extremely unprepared for life. Its ridiculous that the colonistcould be so lazy especially with lack of preparation they made for new life inthe colonies. Even with help from the Indians they failed to apply any skillslearned and instead of working to improve their lives they sat around and basicallylet their lives rot. I think its ridiculous that they could just sit around andwatch family and friends die. I cannot believe that when food ran out insteadof being proactive and making food, whether it be hunting or farming, theysettled eat each other. I assumed that times had been hard but I didn’t expectthem to go to the extremes of this when it could have all been easilyprevented, I enjoyed the article Starving Times in Jamestown.
Julia Ulmer
Prior to reading these articles, I had only a basic, elementary level knowledge of the American colonies. From my reading I can conclude that the colonies where a prime example of the "trial and error" method. In some cases, as in that of James town, the saying could go more like "error,error, trial, error, error, error, trial". In the beginning the colonies were floudnering around needing assistance from both Britain, who was begrudging to give it, and the Native Americans, whom they treated illy. These articles made me realize why we study history. Though there may be little space on earth for colonization, people someday, somewhere, are going to colonize foregin area in the future. Whether that be the ocean floor, sky, or space, studying the colonists and their struggles should help those in the future. Therefore they should not repeat the same mistakes.
I feel that the colonies were orchestrated by those that wanted money, however those that wanted relgious freedom provided labor. Though their were exceptions and crossing points to this theory, such as Lord Baltimor, proprotier of Maryland, I believe the ultimate goal of the colonies was not in fact, to provide religious freedom, or even to escape persecution. The colonies would not have been inhabited if it weren't for money. Charters would not have been granted, and supplies would not have been sent. I was also struck by how lazy the gentlemen of Jamestown where, in that they did not work until they were forced to. The colonists made many errors in the founding including work ethic, government set up, and relationships with the native peoples.
I found the "Starving Time at Jamestown" to be the most intersting article, as it gave a much darker and detailed description than I had read of the colonial struggles. It was shocking, and I was immediatley interested in learning more about these struggles, and why the occured.
Questions
As Britain continued to expand it's colonial empire to other countries, do you think they learned from the mess of the colonies?
What do you think the colonists learned from their struggles that still impact us today?
Basically, all I knew about the colonies before was the colonists came from Europe because they wanted to escape the ruling of nobles, and most of the colonists came from England. The colonists sailed over the Atlantic to the New World. They first landed in what is now Virginia and in the area of Jamestown and formed that settlement. Also thanks to the Pilgrims and their landing in Plymouth, which provided even more expansion. I did not know how extreme the conditions in these colonies were. As everyone else most likely was I wasn't very knowledgeable at all obviously...
Overview
The life in these colonies was extremely tolling, both psychologically and physically. The main reason people came to these colonies was to seek religious freedom, land, and gold. They did find these things, just in time. Lots of time in fact and hard work to go along with it.
Questions
1. How good of a relationship did John Rolfe and John Smith have?
2. Why was did Christopher Columbus believe that the world was the way he thought?
3. Why didn't Spain destroy Jamestown and loot their ships?
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