The Vikings Discover America Summary

In writing A Voyage Long and Strange, Tony Horwitz’s goal is clear, to educate others on early America and debunk ignorant myths. Horwitz’s reason for wanting to achieve this goal is because of his own ignorance that he sees while at Plymouth Rock. “Expensively educated at a private school and university- a history major, no less!-I’d matriculated to middle age with a third grader’s grasp of early America.” Horwitz is disappointed in his own lack of knowledge of his home country, especially with his background history and decides not only to research America’s true beginnings, but to also follow the path of those who originally yearned to discover America.

Throughout the text, Red, White, & Black: The Peoples of Early North America, the author, Gary Nash addresses not only the history of the United States, but also the history of North America as a whole. With his simple vocabulary and well-researched facts, Nash’s unbiased opinions reveal an accurate account of conflicts and cultural blending between multiple groups of people. As the title suggests the three groups of people are different races; it represents Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans. Although the title may not be considered politically correct due to the referral of Africans as blacks, Native Americans as red, and Europeans as white, it reveals the ignorance and also inability for the different races to communicate with each

In the Non-fiction book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus, Charles Mann aims to debunk an array of beliefs about Native Americans that most scholars once insisted were true. Mann’s research suggests that the native people of the Americas are more intelligent and sophisticated than previously predicted, live in higher numbers and greatly impact the natural landscape. The book is split into three parts: Numbers from Nowhere, Very Old Bones, and Landscapes with Figures. These parts focus on the population, culture, origins and the environment. Mann builds his arguments by reassessing a myriad of pre-existing views about the Americas prior to 1492. He then uses his new findings to prove his theories. This informative read provides

The first chapter of both A​People’s History of the United States (​Zinn, 1980) and​A 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 A​Patriot’s History​is 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 A​Patriot’s History​was

1491 by Charles Mann is a book about the Native Indians lives in a pre-Colombian America. Throughout the book Mann states that a great deal of the information he is giving is new speculation. However, not all of the speculation has evidence clear enough for one to be sure what he claims is true. Mann’s writing style is thought provoking, intriguing, and engaging.

“Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress”, chapter one of “A People’s History of the United States”, written by professor and historian Howard Zinn, concentrates on a different perspective of major events in American history. It begins with the native Bahamian tribe of Arawaks welcoming the Spanish to their shores with gifts and kindness, only then for the reader to be disturbed by a log from Columbus himself – “They willingly traded everything they owned… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” (Zinn pg.1) In the work, Zinn continues explaining the unnecessary evils Columbus and his men committed unto the unsuspecting natives. The argument that seems to be made (how Columbus

Two scholars, Erikson and William Balée believe that almost all aspects of Native American life have been perceived wrong. Although some refuse to believe this, it has been proven to be the truth. Throughout Charles C. Mann’s article from The Atlantic, “1491”, he discusses three main points: how many things that are viewed as facts about the natives are actually not true, the dispute between the high and low counters, and the importance of the role disease played in the history of the Americas. When the term “Native American” is heard, the average person tends to often relate that to a savage hunter who tries to minimize their impact on their surrounding environment. For the most part, this is not the case. In reality,

Therefore, the elites could more easily condescend the servants, and keep their superiority. To add on, Zinn used testomonial evidence to back his thesis, as he described that “one observer testified:’"I have seen an Overseer beat a Servant with a cane about the head till the blood has followed, for a fault that is not worth the speaking of...." The Maryland court records showed many servant suicides. In 1671, Governor Berkeley of Virginia reported that in previous years four of five servants died of disease after their arrival. Many were poor children, gathered up by the hundreds on the streets of English cities and sent to Virginia to work’” (Zinn). Zinn uses this to effectively portray the mistreatment, and separation of the classes. Throughout this chapter, Zinn uses historical argumentation as he argues how each circumstance led to more racism, and separation of the classes. This consequently raises doubts about the past, as it questions how the upper and lower classes

Jane Tompkins, when researching about Indians while preparing to teach a course on colonial America, encountered a problem. This problem was that if the events of history were determined by the “observer’s frame of reference”, then we might never know what really happened.

Bias and point of view often impact one’s perspective on history, as it results in the emphasis on some topics, and the avoidance of others to portray one side in better light. The description of Columbus’s treatment of the Indian tribes, his nature, and his wishes support the idea of emphasis on different aspects of history. To prove this thesis, Zinn describes the reality of Columbus’s goals and motivation. In return for his work, he would receive a portion of the profits made in addition to power over the new area and the fame that he would acquire from his expedition. His true motivations, often avoided when discussing this topic,

Between the years 1600 to 1700, English colonists were just settling the New World and establishing their own colonies, yet this colonization didn’t come without obstacles. Upon entering the seemingly unscathed land, colonists were greeted by Native Americans. At first, the two groups expressed a relationship characterized by amity and cooperation, yet as time went on, the “white superiority” of the colonists and the belief that they were primary owners of land soured the relationship. It was just a matter of time before the colonists would take over and run out the Native Americans. Primarily peaceful and affable, the relationship between the Indians and English steadily depreciated as the English overran the lands of the Indians while the

Ravagers, Pirates, pagans: These words sums up the Vikings for the people who lived in europe during medieval times. Although the Vikings are seen as barbaric fighters, they brought many important technological inventions and had many achievements that made a great impact on european culture.

“On the thirty-third day after leaving Cadiz I came into the Indian Sea, where I discovered many islands inhabited by numerous people. I took possession of all of them for our most fortunate King...no one making any resistance” this is part of the letter he wrote this means that when he discovered the Americas he found the natives and they all became friends article A backs this evidence up because they talk about how Columbus was happy to see Indians in the new land and how he was brave and cool but it wasn’t always like that.

The Vikings were a group of Germanic sea dwellers who traded with and raided towns all across Europe out of their Scandinavian homeland. During the late 8th to 11th centuries they ruled all of Europe through their barbaric ways. Even other cultures outside of Europe saw the barbaric ways in which the Vikings acted towards the villages that they encountered. One such case of this was a Muslim Chronicler, Ibn Fadlan, recounting of the Vikings as “[T]he filthiest of God’s creatures.” While they were very savage in their actions, this very trait gave them the ability to be able to roam through and ravage an entire town fully unopposed and within a very miniscule timeframe. According to another one of Fadlan’s writings, “Each man has an axe,

If the Vikings weren’t traveling far from their homeland, cruising along the shore was always an easy option of navigation. “When venturing beyond the horizon, natural phenomena helped to indicate the way,” (Richard Hall, Exploring the World of the Vikings, 54). If only water lay in all directions, the Vikings could tell where they were by using natural ocean life such as whales or seabirds to signify how far they were from land. Other natural phenomenas included cloud and wave