NHC+1492-1690

National Humanities Center Resource Toolbox American Beginnings: The European Presence in North America, 1492-1690

I. CONTACT []

Topic framing questions:

• How did Europeans interpret the "newe fonde londe" upon their first contacts? • How did Indians respond to the Europeans? • How did these initial encounters frame future Indian-European relationships?

1) First Impressions []

Letter on Columbus’s first voyage, 1493 []

Letters on the voyage of John Cabot, 1497 []

Discussion questions:

Overall, what are the Europeans' first impressions of the new lands and their inhabitants? How do the native inhabitants respond to the explorers? How do the Europeans interpret these responses? What have you learned about evaluating documents of another age?

3) Illustrating the New World (Pt. I) []

John White, Paintings of the Algonquian Indians (North Carolina), 1585 []

4) Atlantic Coast []

Verrazzano, Report to King Francis I on his voyage along the coast, 1524 []

5) Pacific Coast []

Drake, Account of Drake’s encounter with the Miwok, California, 1579 []

Discussion questions:

How does the authorship of an account affect its reporting and implications? How would a captain's account differ from one written by a sailor/artist, scientist, chaplain, missionary, or Indian? Would you invest in a colonization venture in Europe in 1600? Would you accompany the first voyage to the intended colony? What characterizes the Europeans who chose to tempt fate and head west to the New World?

6) Indians’ Accounts http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text6/text6read.htm

Accounts of the Spanish arrival in Mexico []

Discussion questions:

How did the Indians interpret their first encounters with Europeans? How did their impressions influence future relationships with Europeans? How accurately can we know what happened? How does your ethnic heritage influence your response to these accounts? What questions would you ask the narrators? the recorders?

7) Spanish Conquest []

Council of Castile, Requirement, 1510 []

Cortés, Letter to King Charles I, 1520 []

Indian accounts of the Spanish conquest []

Las Casas,Destruction of the Indies, 1542 []

Discussion questions:

How does Cortés's letter reflect the spirit of the "Requerimiento"? How did the culture of the Aztec's shape the Spanish response to it? How do the details Cortés chooses to describe in his letter reflect the motivations, intentions, and expectations of the Spanish in Mexico? Compare Cortés's description of Tenochtitlán with its appearance in the Aztec description. What general pattern of Spanish conquest does las Casas present in A Brief Account? How does it compare with the Indians' accounts? How did las Casas structure his report to most influence the king's response?

II. EXPLORATION []

Topic Framing Questions:

• What motivated the Europeans' explorations? What were they looking for? • What led them to deem an expedition a failure or success? • How did the Europeans interpret the natural world they encountered?

1) Into the Interior: The Spanish []

Account of the de Soto expedition, 1539-43 []

Letter on Coronado’s expedition, 1541 []

Discussion questions:

Characterize the Spanish exploration of the interior of North America. What surprised you? What matches your expectations? How do the explorers respond to the environment, the Indians, and the hardships of their expeditions? To whom do the chroniclers address their accounts? How are the accounts political "texts"? To the native inhabitants, what do the Europeans appear to offer?

2) Into the Interior: The French []

Account of Cartier’s second expedition, St. Lawrence River, 1535-36 []

Champlain, Account of a battle with the Iroquois, 1609 []

Marquette & Joliet, Journal of the Mississippi River expedition, 1673 []

Discussion questions:

Characterize the French exploration of the interior of North America. What surprised you? What matches your expectations? How do the explorers respond to the environment, the Indians, and the hardships of their expeditions? How do the Europeans define success or failure in the expeditions? What are they looking for? To whom do the chroniclers address their accounts? To what extent are their accounts political "texts"? Contrast the French and Spanish expeditions. Are they more alike than different, or vice versa?

3) Northwest Passage: The English []

Lok, Reasons to pursue a Northwest Passage, 1577 []

Discussion questions:

Why was the search for a northwest passage a higher priority for England at this time than competing with Spain and France in North America? Why was the search not a high priority for France and Spain?

4) Illustrating the New World (Pt. II) http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text4/text4read.htm

De Bry, Algonquian Indians & Harriot’s account of 1585 Roanoke expedition []

De Bry, Timucuan Indians from LeMoyne’s account of Fort Caroline, 1564-1565 []

Discussion questions:

How do the de Bry engravings of the Algonquian Indians differ from the original John White watercolors (Topic I: CONTACT)? How are they "Europeanized"? It is likely that some Indians in the 1600s viewed the de Bry engravings of Native Americans. How might they have responded?

6) Failed Colonies []

Jesuit missionaries, Letter requesting food for Ajacan settlement (Chesapeake), 1570 []

John White, Account of his attempt to rescue the Roanoke colonists, 1590 []

Discussion questions:

What do the settlers see as the strengths and weaknesses of their colonies? Which do they ascribe to external factors? to themselves? Evaluate the colonists' planning for the settlements. How do they adapt to unforeseen problems? How did colonists' relationships with the Indians affect their fate? How did their perception of the natural environment affect their fate? How did the leadership in each colony affect its fate? What is critical for a successful colony?

7) The Slave Trade []

Azurara, Accounts of European slave trade in west Africa, mid 1400s []

Hortop, Description of English slave trafficking, 1591 []

Discussion questions:

How do the authors interpret the slave trade as a human, political, or economic institution? What is "right" or "wrong" in their estimation about the capture and sale of Africans? Compare the European-African encounters with the European-Indian encounters.

III. SETTLEMENT []

Topic Framing Question:

• What motivated the Europeans in their initial settlements?

1) First Arrivals []

Percy, On the first months of the Jamestown colony, 1607 [|http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text1] [|/JamestownPercyObservations.pdf]

Bradford, On the first months of the Plymouth colony, 1620-1621 []

Discussion questions:

Which experiences are shared by the "first arrivals"? Which are unique? What is the role of the environment? the native inhabitants? the European sponsors? Which decisions made in the first months of a settlement prove critical to its outcome? Do they seem critical at the time they are made? What surprised you in reading primary texts from these settlements? How do they compare with the cultural icons of "Columbus," "Jamestown," and "Plymouth"?

2) Hardship []

Percy, On the “starving time” in Jamestown, 1609-1610 []

Frethorne, Letter from Jamestown to his parents in England, 1623 []

Clapp, Memoir of the settlement of Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay, 1630 []

Discussion questions:

What are the varied responses to hunger and other hardships in the early settlements? Compare the role of religious faith in these accounts. Compare the accounts of Richard Frethorne and Roger Clapp. How do their motives for settlement affect their responses to the experience? What hardships could have been avoided through better preparation? Was some hardship inevitable?

6) Enslaved Peoples []

Las Casas et al., Accounts of enslaved Indians in the Caribbean, 1500s []

Discussion questions:

How do the Spanish regard the enslaved people in these accounts? To what extent are they seen as human beings and/or property? On what grounds do the Spanish clergymen justify or condemn slavery? How do these grounds compare with later arguments for and against slavery? In contrast to the clergymen, how does the Viceroy of Mexico relate to slavery? How do the Spanish respond to their physical and economic vulnerability as slaveowners? What solutions do they consider?

7) Go Ahead? []

John Smith, On the failures of the Jamestown colony, 1624 []

Discussion questions: What reasons are presented for keeping the colonies and promoting their growth? What arguments are presented or implied for abandoning the colonies? What personal interests of the authors are reflected in the documents? How does the audience for each document affect its argument?

IV. PERMANENCE []

Topic Framing Questions:

• What factors contributed to the permanent presence of Europe in North America by the mid 1600s? • What roles did commerce, religion, geographic setting, population diversity, and cultural perspectives play in developing a stable colony?

3) English Colonies I: New England Colonies []

Wills of Plymouth colony settlers, 1621-1694 []

Minor, Journal entries from a farmer’s year, 1668-1669 []

Rowlandson, On her three-month captivity by the Wampanoag, 1682 []

Cotton Mather, On the significance of the history of New England, 1702 []

Discussion questions:

How do these selections reveal the permanence and/or tentativeness of the New England colonies? What regional characteristics do they highlight? What is important to these settlers? What role does religious faith serve in these settlers' lives? How do the settlers deal with adversity, disappointment, fear, and the normal routines of life? In what ways are they hopeful or idealistic? Do their decisions reflect a trust in their colony's stability? To what extent did the colonies replicate "something approaching normal European societies"?

4) English Colonies II: Middle Atlantic Colonies []

Pastorius, Account of the German settlers in Pennsylvania, 1684 []

Richard Frame, Poem on the progress of Pennsylvania, 1692 []

Dongan, Report on the province of New York, 1687 []

Discussion questions:

How do these selections reveal the permanence and/or tentativeness of the Middle Colonies? What regional characteristics do they highlight? What is important to these settlers? What role does religious faith serve in these settlers' lives? How do trade and commerce contribute to the colonies' stability? How do the settlers deal with adversity and disappointment? In what ways are they hopeful or idealistic? Do their actions reflect a trust in their colony's stability?

5) English Colonies III: Chesapeake/Southern Colonies []

Berkeley, Report on the economic progress of Virginia, 1663 []

Newe, Letters to his father from Charles Town (Carolina), 1682 []

Discussion questions:

How do these selections reveal the permanence and/or tentativeness of the Chesapeake/Southern Colonies? What regional characteristics do they highlight? What is important to these settlers? To what extent are the "lessons" of the early English colonies reflected in the later colonies? What role does religious faith serve in these settlers' lives? How do trade and commerce contribute to the colonies' stability? How do the settlers deal with adversity and disappointment?

6) Servitude (Chesapeake Colonies) []

Alsop, Statement in praise of servitude, 1666 []

Revels, A “sorrowful account” of servitude, poem, ca. 1680 []

Court of Virginia, Punishments for a servant uprising, 1640 []

Indenture contracts (pull these up)

Discussion questions:

From these selections, how would you characterize the experience of indentured servitude? How do the authors' background and servant experience influence their opinion of servitude? Consider class, reason for their servitude, and status on return to England. What relationship between planters and indentured servants do you infer from these selections? What relationship between indentured servants and enslaved Africans do you infer from these selections? In the indenture contracts, who is contracting with whom for what? Who does and does not sign the contract? What does the template form signify about the institution of servitude?

V. POWER []

Topic Framing Question:

• How did the European rivalries of the 1690s in North America set the stage for the later imperial conflicts of the 1700s?

1) Imperial Rivalry I: Spanish-English in the Caribbean []

Documents (11, brief excerpts), 1498-1670 []

Discussion questions:

What power relationships between Spain and England are reflected in these documents? How does the dominant power work to keep its dominance? How does the challenging power work to establish dominance? If the countries are equal rivals, how do they position themselves to gain power? How does each country justify its actions? How does each feel entitled to its claims? What role do Native Americans play in the European rivalry? At any point are they the dominant power? What role do other European countries play in the rivalry?

3) Imperial Rivalry III: French-English in the Northeast []

Documents (2, excerpts) on the 1680s-1690s, publ. mid 1700s []

Discussion questions:

What power relationships between France and England are reflected in these documents? How does the dominant power work to keep its dominance? How does the challenging power work to establish dominance? If the countries are equal rivals, how do they position themselves to gain power? How does each country justify its actions? How does each feel entitled to its claims? What role do Native Americans play in the European rivalry? At any point are they the dominant power? What role do other European countries play in the rivalry?

5) Colonial Rebellion (English Colonies) []

Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia, 1676: Bacon’s View []

Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia, 1676: A Planter’s View []

Cotton Mather et al., Boston Declaration of Grievances, 1689 []

Publick Occurrences, A banned newspaper in Boston, 1690 []

Discussion questions:

What justifications are presented for these acts of resistance in Virginia, and New England? Which justifications would you identify as self-serving rationales? as sound statements of principle? as a middle ground between these? How does the colonists' self-image as Englishmen define their vocabulary of resistance? How do the colonists use the terms slave and slavery? What rhetorical effect do they intend? What aspects of these documents appear in the 1776 Declaration of Independence? What term most fits each of these events, in your opinion: uprising, revolt, rebellion, civil war? Does a discussion of terms clarify or obfuscate analysis of the events? What is the outcome of armed conflict in these rebellions? What is the contribution of printed broadsides and declarations? To what extent are these seventeenth-century episodes precursors of "modern revolution" in later centuries? Based on the newspaper Publick Occurrences, what inferences can we draw about life in Boston in 1690 and the concerns of its inhabitants? What do we learn about public discourse in Boston?

8) Africans I: English Colonies []

Anti-slavery petition of Quakers & Mennonites of Germantown, Pennsylvania, 1688 []

Beverley, On servitude and slavery in Virginia, 1705; Virginia slave code, 1705 []

Discussion Questions:

What master-slave relationships had evolved in the English colonies by 1700? How were these relationships affected by (a) planter-planter relations, (b) servant-slave relations, (c) slave-slave relations? For the planter-planter relations, how did class affect the power balances among white men? (See also POWER: Colonial Rebellion/Bacon's Rebellion.) For the servant-slave relations, how did race affect the power balances among servants (white and black) and slaves? (See also PERMANENCE: Servitude.) For slave-slave relations, how did ethnic identity affect the power balances among slaves, and the slaves with their masters? How did religion—of the master and of the slave—factor into the power relationships? What is the correlation of these factors to the power enslaved Africans could wield: (1) their numbers, (2) the presence of indentured servants, (3) the geographic region of the colony, (4) their masters' fear of their potential power? What aspects of the master-slave relationship are most condemned in the Germantown Mennonite petition? How do they formulate their argument to persuade slaveowners?

Online Resources

 //(See also the Supplemental Links included in each Section of the Toolbox.)// [|American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Exploration and Settlement in North America] , from the Wisconsin Historical Society [|Early Americas Digital Archives] , primary texts, 1492-ca. 1800, from the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities [|History Matters] , primary sources and other resources from George Mason University and the City University of New York (CUNY) [|Many Pasts]  (primary texts) [|Search Page] [|Online Forums]  (Archives, including History of Early Settlement in the U.S.) <span style="margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 15.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; text-indent: -15.0pt;"><span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|Digital History] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, primary sources and other resources from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History et al. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|Cultural Readings: Colonization and Print in the Americas] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, from the University of Pennsylvania <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|Library of Congress: Global Gateway] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> (Collaborative Digital Libraries) <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|Parallel Histories: Spain, the United States, and the American Frontier] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> / Historias Paralelas: España, Estados Unidos y la Frontera Americana <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|France in America] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> / La France en Amérique <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|The Atlantic World: America and the Netherlands] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> / De Atlantische Wereld: Amerika en Nederland <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|Meeting of Frontiers: Siberia, Alaska, and the American West] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> / Встреча на границах: Сибиръ, Аляска, и американский Запад <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|United States and Brazil: Expanding Frontiers, Comparing Cultures] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> / Brasil e Estados Unidos: Expandindo Fronteiras, Comparando Culturas <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 30pt; text-indent: -15pt;">[|Portals to the World] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|Library of Congress: Online Exhibitions] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|1492: An Ongoing Voyage] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|The Cultures and History of the Americas] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|John Bull and Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British-American Relations] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|The Hispanic and Portuguese Collections: An Illustrated Guide] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> - Encounters in America <span style="color: #0000ff; 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font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|Narratives of Chesapeake Bay and the Washington Region] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">, ca. 1600-1925 <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|Library and Archives Canada] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|Pathfinders and Passageways: The Exploration of Canada] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|Passages: A Treasure Trove of North American Exploration] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|Exploration and Settlement in Canada] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|Tracing the History of New France] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|New France, New Horizons: On French Soil in America] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">[|Smithsonian Institution] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|Crossroads of Continents: Northeastern Siberia and Alaska] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People of Southern Alaska] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|Unmasking the Maya] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|First American Art] <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; margin: 0in 0in 18.75pt 15pt;">[|Ancient Mexican Art] <span style="color: #0000ff; 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