History of North American colonization

Here is a nice YouTube video to help you see the progression of colonies:

The Salem Witch Trials

From the Smithsonian: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/brief-salem.html

British Exploration and Settlement Review

By an actual AP teacher. A 10 minute review of the beginnings of English America.

NHS applications due FRIDAY!!!!

National Honor Society! Don’t miss out!!!! Applications due Friday!!

Who were the Puritans?

This video can also be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy1IOIlpKaw

Papal bull “Sublimis Deus” and the humanity of Native Americans

By 1512, the system of encomienda was under serious attack by missionaries who were more concerned with saving the souls of Native Americans than of exploiting their potential as laborers. In that year, the Spanish crown issued the groundbreaking the Laws of Burgos, which were meant to modify the system of encomienda to ensure that the encomenderos Christianized the Indians. By 1515, nearly all of the native inhabitants in Jamaica were dead, and by 1536, all of the indigenous people in the Bahamas had become extinct. Forty-five years after Columbus made landfall on Hispaniola, a debate raged within the Catholic Church about whether it was right to enslave the Indians. Pope Paul III issued a decree in 1537 which attempted to settle this dispute. Although generally understood as addressing slavery, this bull is also important for declaring that Indians were human beings, and therefore endowed with human rights, contrary to the arguments of those who claimed that indigenous people were incapable of understanding Christianity, and therefore suitable for lives only as slaves.

This bull certainly did not settle the issue of enslaving the Indians. In 1542, the Spanish government issued the “New Laws,” which forbade the enslavement of Indians within its territories– the need for laws demonstrates that the problematic practice had not ended. In 1555, Father Bartolomé de Las Casas engaged in a debate with theologian Juan Gines de Sepúlveda at Valladolid, Spain, over whether enslavement of the Natives was philosophically justified.

As you read, address the following questions:
1. What characteristics are listed as being necessary to be considered human?
2. What two methods are to be used to convert the “Indians?”

Sublimis Deus, (The Sublime God), 1537
Pope Paul III

To all faithful Christians to whom this writing may come, health in Christ our Lord and the apostolic benediction.

The sublime God so loved the human race that He created man in such wise that he might participate, not only in the good that other creatures enjoy, but endowed him with capacity to attain to the inaccessible and invisible Supreme Good and behold it face to face; and since man, according to the testimony of the sacred scriptures, has been created to enjoy eternal life and happiness, which none may obtain save through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary that he should possess the nature and faculties enabling him to receive that faith; and that whoever is thus endowed should be capable of receiving that same faith. Nor is it credible that any one should possess so little understanding as to desire the faith and yet be destitute of the most necessary faculty to enable him to receive it. Hence Christ, who is the Truth itself, that has never failed and can never fail, said to the preachers of the faith whom He chose for that office ‘Go ye and teach all nations.’ He said all, without exception, for all are capable of receiving the doctrines of the faith.

The enemy of the human race, who opposes all good deeds in order to bring men to destruction, beholding and envying this, invented a means never before heard of, by which he might hinder the preaching of God’s word of Salvation to the people: he inspired his satellites who, to please him, have not hesitated to publish abroad that the Indians of the West and the South, and other people of whom We have recent knowledge should be treated as dumb brutes created for our service, pretending that they are incapable of receiving the Catholic Faith.

We, who, though unworthy, exercise on earth the power of our Lord and seek with all our might to bring those sheep of His flock who are outside into the fold committed to our charge, consider, however, that the Indians are truly men and that they are not only capable of understanding the Catholic Faith but, according to our information, they desire exceedingly to receive it. Desiring to provide ample remedy for these evils, We define and declare by these Our letters, or by any translation thereof signed by any notary public and sealed with the seal of any ecclesiastical dignitary, to which the same credit shall be given as to the originals, that, notwithstanding whatever may have been or may be said to the contrary, the said Indians and all other people who may later be discovered by Christians, are by no means to be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, even though they be outside the faith of Jesus Christ; and that they may and should, freely and legitimately, enjoy their liberty and the possession of their property; nor should they be in any way enslaved; should the contrary happen, it shall be null and have no effect.

By virtue of Our apostolic authority We define and declare by these present letters, or by any translation thereof signed by any notary public and sealed with the seal of any ecclesiastical dignitary, which shall thus command the same obedience as the originals, that the said Indians and other peoples should be converted to the faith of Jesus Christ by preaching the word of God and by the example of good and holy living.

Links for more information:
The system of encomienda
The Popes and Slavery
The Laws of Burgos

Vocabulary for this post:
wise (definition 2)
faculty
destitute

Helpful tips and links to help you with Chapters 1-4

Hi there! I hope you are still having a wonderful summer! We will be hitting the ground running on the first day of school in our mad race to a 5 on the AP exam on Wednesday, May 15, 2013… a mere 9 months EXACTLY from the first day of school!

During that time we will be covering both broadly and specifically approximately 520 years of the history of what we now call the United States.

The first thing you should do as you work on your summer assignment (extra credit but necessary!- see below) is familiarize yourself with this website. Right under the title The Scoop on History are a series of tabs. These are different pages of the website. They include schedules for chapter deadlines, links for more information, lists of terms used on terms checks, etc. These are constantly being updated. Check them often.

On the right are a series of widgets. They include boxes for reminders, a list of the five most recent posts, and ways to access both posts on this site as well as helpful links for you.

Here’s how to find old posts: Please note that posts are always categorized by at least two labels when possible– the CHAPTER in the book with which the post references, as well as a broader TOPIC category. For instance, this post will be tagged for chapters 1,2,3, and 4, as well as Colonization and Exploration. This way, you can always find a specific post in one of several places– if you can’t remember the chapter, you should be able to remember the category. Underneath that box, posts are also archived by month and year posted, as well. You can look in the categories for chapters 1-4 or “Colonization” and “Exploration” to find posts to help you at any time, and some of these will be reposted on the main page here later, as well.

Below those two boxes, there is a BLOGROLL. This includes links that I have found to be helpful in general when you are studying US history. There are links to websites about Colonization, Greek and Latin vocabulary, and even better– PRACTICE QUIZZES to help you study.

You are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to form study groups to help study, so long as you do your OWN WORK in your OWN WORDS on assignments. You are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to leave questions or appropriate comments in the comments section of posts so that someone may be able to help you or that you may help others.

You should check this website often. I will often post things here to help you… like I am about to do right now. Here are some helpful links for Chapters 1-4.

Definitions of vocabulary in the American Pageant– http://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/vocabulary/chapter-1-new-world-beginnings/ This isn’t terms so much as words you might have encountered as you read with which you may not be familiar, like “caravel,” etc.

America in Class from the National Humanities Center– http://americainclass.org/sources/ Click on the box that says “American Beginnings” and use the subsections– contact, exploration, settlement, permanence, power. The framing questions for each section are very good in helping you get an long-term overview of the significance of what we will be talking about in the next two weeks.

Timeline of Exploration and Early Colonization— http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/rev-early.htm Short and sweet.

News article from 2008 on new discoveries about native settlement in North America– http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1326470/new_evidence_resets_timeline_for_north_american_settlement/  Oooh! Fossil POO!

Jamestown Timeline— http://www.historyisfun.org/pdf/Curriculum-Materials/Jamestown_Timeline.pdf