While reading Kathryn Walbert’s essay on primary sources I learned many important things. The first thing I learned was that primary sources are anything created for the purpose of studying that was created in historical times. The second thing I learned is that primary sources are important to read about because they are very important keys to what life was like in the past. This is very important because it gives you an in depth understanding of how life was and gives you more information on what you are trying to study. The third thing that I learned was that simply because something is made now from the historical time period doesn’t make that item a primary source. In order for an item to be considered a primary source, it has to be made during that time. This piece of information is very important because it can help distinguish between an authentic primary source and a false one. The last thing that Walbert’s reading helped me to understand about primary sources is that they are very important to historians because historians only rely on details that are left behind from the past. Without primary sources,
Conquistador, written by Buddy Levy about the famous ventures of Hernan Cortes, places the reader in the 16th century, or the era c.1450-c. 1750 ce. During this time, the idea of exploration was spreading quickly, as kingdoms and empires in Europe sought to expand their territory. Portugal, with Spain following after, led the way for exploration as they headed south. Spain, however, ventured west, driven by a patriotic attitude of expanding past their borders. Levy tells the story of Hernan Cortes, originally setting sail from Spain, as he sailed from Cuba to the shores of Mexico in 1519, eager about the discovery of new lands. Cortes, as well as many other explorers during this time, was inspired by the Three G’s: God, gold, and glory. He planned to conquer the new lands for Spain, to convert the natives to Catholicism, and to obtain the riches of the land, mostly gold.
The first chapter of both APeople’s History of the United States (Zinn, 1980) andA Patriot’s History of the United States(Schweikart and Allen, 2004) tells the story of the discovery of the New World. Beginning with the landing of Columbus in the Bahamas, these accounts are told from two separate perspectives. Zinn often refers to the telling of history as a tale between victims and executioners, saying that in the “inevitable taking of sides which comes from selection and emphasis in History” he prefers to stand on the side of the victim, whereas Schweikart and Allen tend to stand behind the executioner. Much of APatriot’s Historyis spent arguing the accuracy of the number of natives murdered by invading European entities, attempting to minimize the blame reflected on these executioners. However, Schweikart and Allen have access to more modern technology and theory seeing as APatriot’s Historywas
Christopher Columbus is a man who is known in society simultaneously as a hero and a villain of his time. What if the world had to pick only one, what would it be? Many new studies and scholars believe that Columbus was the villain of his story not a hero as past information would lead us to believe. Past documents were all written from the Europe’s point of view, this would lead to extremely biased documents because Europe was the side to profit unlike the Native
First hand sources from journals, letters, court records, and other written sources are used to verify the events proving the points of the book. In the first chapter, Cordingly discusses the written records describing pirates’ attire. One story reports, “when he fought his last sea battle in 1722, the pirate captain Bartholomew Roberts was, according to Captain Johnston, ‘dressed in a rich crimson damask waistcoat and breeches, a red feather in his hat, a gold chain round his neck, with a diamond cross hanging to it’”(12).
This book seemingly has it all when it comes to Pirate lore. It feels as though no details were left unresolved in the broad scope of the history of piracy on the high seas. Where possible, Cordingly goes into such explicit detail it makes you feel as part of the story. Sadly with a few of the stories, he can only offer what history has uncovered which can be very little when it comes to the topic of Pirates. Despite it all “Under the Black Flag” provides a realistic study of pirates and their lives that refutes many of the myths about the era. Yet don’t think of this book as a dry or dusty scholar's thesis. “Under The Black Flag” is truly enjoyable, and easy to read, not to mention that the illustrations of the several maps scattered throughout, add to the appeal. This book would be recommendable to almost anybody seeking a thrill or an adventure. “Under the Black Flag” is not just an historical analysis of piracy in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries; it's a foray into the world of history and fiction as they coalesce into myth within our own minds. As promised, Cordingly looks at the romance, as well as the reality. He discusses the pirates we know and love in fiction, film and legend. "The fact is that we want to believe in the world of the pirates as it has been portrayed in the adventure stories, the plays, and the films over the years. We
The benefits did outweigh the consequences. To start off, I have three topics to support/back up my conclusion that the benefits did outweigh the consequences.
Throughout many historical interpretations of the explorer, Christopher Columbus, many included his voyage of seeking for a new route from Europe to the land of the riches, Asia. Although Columbus never set foot in Asia, he had traveled west and discovered the New World, and led many influential impacts. From Columbus’s exploration, it created several questionings along with controversies, debating whether people should celebrate Columbus Day. Nevertheless, Columbus Day should not be a national holiday, because the honor presented by the holiday does not suit many of Columbus’s despicable actions. Columbus had received the wrong title for his journey, his discovery lead to massive amounts of murders, and his greed for valuables and fame was also part of Columbus’s
In this paper the short story by Olaudah Equiano Life of Olaudah Equiano and The Journal of Christopher Columbus by Christopher Columbus will be compared. I will go over various points such as descriptive details, emotional appeal, and word choice to find what the author's purpose is in these two different narratives.
Upon the news of Columbus’s voyage to the West Indies, Europeans saw the chance to claim the land or resources
The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD. There were many factors that went into the fall of the Roman Empire. Economic problems they dealt with was one of the main reasons the Empire fell. Since the romans were not doing good Economically they could not fund the military in order to protect them, which also led to the fall of their military. Socio-Political problems were also a factor; there was a decline in interest to public affairs. While that was happening a civil war was going on. The military was in bad shape and was interfering with the politics. The three Major causes of the the Fall of Rome were Economic Problems, Socico-Politcal problems, and external invasions that lead to the country not being able to protect itself.
Although British officials consistently widened the definition of piracy, they failed to clearly differentiate the significance between a volunteer and a forced sailor on board a pirate ship. Therefore, nothing contributed to the unpredictability of the later trial proceedings as much as the inconsistency of pirate designations. If seventeenth century piracy trials hinged on the question of violating commissions, those after 1715 rested on determining the accused’s voluntary participation. The court’s determination of a sailor’s status was frequently random and wildly erratic. Worse yet, some justices made no effort to determine the active participation of individuals aboard pirate vessels, leading to instances of brutal rulings even by seventeenth
The businessmen of colonial New York strove to succeed in their trade by any means possible, often resorting to violence and bribery in order to increase their profit margin. However, their methods were not limited to violence. Throughout Defying Empire the reader is often bombarded with descriptions of the mindsets of the eponymous merchants. The text goes into detail cataloging the general thought processes behind some of the most ingenious smuggling conventions of the 18th century.They utilized any tools at their disposal in order to continue their businesses including powerful connections and money. In order to get contraband past the Britain the merchants disguised their ships with flags of truce(Truxes 87-104), used legal goods as covers
The conquered had to deal with loss of population and destruction of political structure. The loss of population was caused by European disease. Their political structure was demolished and replaced with European institutions, religion, and culture. On the other hand, the conquerors were faced with new land and riches. Many people left Spain to go to Mexico to find new land. The conquered also searched for gold and silver, which led to different economic effects on the
We recognize in the construction of the work „Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire“, that Edward Gibbon, in the first works a total period of 460 years. He begins in 180 AD and ends in 641 AD. Here we see, that the author is largely concerned on the time especially during and after the fall of Rome. In the chapters four to seven he deals with the successors of Marcus Antoninus, namely Septimius Severus, Severus Alexander and Maximinus I. The organization of these four chapters emphasizes the structural conformity of the treated emperors, less in the similarity of their policies than in the comparability of the political problems of the time. To Gibbon it was clear that, despite apparent differences, the Roman policy of that era was fraught with the Romans