...A lot of great nations have rich history of their own, whether it is bad or it is good. The United States of America has great history and tradition, from the Revolutionary War to the occupation of Afghanistan. When people who write about history discuss that of the United States, they often consider how eminent this country is and the great deeds other people of that country have done. Historians who write about the history of America often write about how it has had a share of great heroes from Christopher Columbus, Woodrow Wilson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, etc.. Nevertheless, historians often seem to not remember to mention the real heroes of America like, for example, John Brown and the Native Americans. Much of the history that historians write about don't always show precision. Since many historians only write about one side of history, it only makes it worse by not revealing the factuality of history and creates an erroneous image of what really took place. Many of our nation's great leaders have been distinguished as individuals who have the best interest of the country and every action they take on behalf of the country befittingly. For instance, in the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen, he writes, "Under [president] Wilson, the United States intervened in Latin America more often than at any other time in our history." (Loewen, 16). What reason did the United States have to start an intervention in countries that...
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...An Ocean of Time and Space: Two Final Frontiers “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue…” is the beginning of a poem we have all come to know and recognize as the story of Christopher Columbus’ expedition and their discovery of the Americas. It is the story of a new world, one that we can now call home, and one that continues to thrive as one of the most giving, fruitful, and defining lands on this planet. It is without a doubt the most important and revolutionizing moment in modern history. There are many theories to disprove that Columbus was actually the first discover the Americas, however it was his arrival that brought the Americas to the attention of all the European nations. Columbus was a pioneer who had the courage to venture into the unknown and find what was left to be discovered in a world that seems so small today, yet was so vast 500 years ago. Looking back upon his discovery today, it is easy to grasp and belittle the accomplishment he achieved as an inevitable conclusion, however when compared to a current unknown it is just as easy to grasp the magnitude of his finding. Today we refer to space as the “final frontier,” however, it seems unfair to refer to something as vast and limitless as outer space as one frontier. It is regarded as the last unknown to be conquered by human knowledge and innovation, and is by far the most puzzling mystery we have ever faced. There are infinite questions to be answered and a very few definite answers that can be given...
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...century. European explorers combined the Old and New Worlds through the Age of Exploration. The causes of the Age of Exploration resulted in the colonization of the New World. Religion, leadership, and money also known as God, Glory, and Gold were the causes of the Age of Exploration. Even though the Age of Exploration appears to have a good connotation it had some negative effects. The positive effects of the Age of Exploration had to do with people taking action. During the Age of Exploration there were many negative effects such as disease, slavery, and war, however, there were also many positive ones that still have an effect on the world today. The Age of Exploration was a very...
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...should “unconditionally and of their own free will [become] Christians.” The letter was very threatening, and stated that failure to convert into Christianity would lead to oppression against themselves as well as everything and everyone they loved. Ferdinand and Columbus were on the same side concerning the value of Native American lives. Bartolome de Las Casas claimed that the Spaniards Christians were the most violent. Columbus and all of his men were most likely the reason in which Bartolome de Las Casas wrote this. The Spaniards believed that the Taíno were the problem, but thought their inhumane acts were in some way justifiable. The Spaniards would often torture Indians for their unChristian religious beliefs, mostly because of Ferdinand’s letter. They believed that their torture methods were simply manual labor. By that time, the Taíno were seemingly slaves....
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...He was not afraid of standing up and fighting for what he believed in US history and would not stop after the Civil Rights. His intention in writing this book was so “that any one person, however he or she strains, can “see” history from the standpoint of others.”(Zinn 16). He wanted people to understand that with every victory there was a loss in history, as he started to explain in the first five chapters of his book. On October 13th Americans celebrate Christopher Columbus Day, remembering the first person that was said to discover their country. What people really do not know is the lies that came with such a deceitful discovery. All that I can remember is teachers telling me Christopher Columbus was the first to discover the U.S., and then those few people saying they believed that was false. After reading the first chapter I was able to understand the truth behind what Columbus did. Howard Zinn was able to lay out how Columbus became famous and what he destructed in the way. The reality is, Columbus never set a foot in the U.S. but only made it to the Caribbean Islands by mistake and then took over. He was welcomed by people on the shore called the Arawak...
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...period of discovery lasted from about 1418 to 1620. During this time, European explorers made many daring voyages that changed world history. A major reason for these voyages was the desire to find sea routes to east Asia, which Europeans called the Indies. When Christopher Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean, he was looking for such a route. Instead, he landed in the Americas. Columbus thought he had reached the Indies. In time, Europeans would realize that he had found what they called the ”New World.” European nations soon rushed to claim lands in the Americas for themselves. Early explorers often suffered terrible hardships. In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan set out with three ships to cross the Pacific Ocean from South America. He had guessed, correctly, that the Indies lay on the other side of the Pacific. But Magellan had no idea how vast the ocean really was. He thought his crew would be sailing for a few weeks at most. Instead, the crossing took three months. While the ships were still at sea, the crew ran out of food. One sailor wrote about this terrible time. “We ate biscuit… swarming with worms…. We drank yellow water that had been putrid [rotten] for days... and often we ate sawdust from boards.” Why did explorers brave such dangers? In this reading, you will discover some of the reasons for the Age of Exploration. Then you will learn about the voyages of explorers from Portugal, Spain, and other European countries. You will also learn about the impact of their...
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...yielded additional valuable information in the students' networking? * What is still unclear after the discussion with your classmates that needs to be clarified? During week ones discussion board assignment, we discussed the different types of health insurance billing and reimbursement methods. This discussion board assignment required taking the time to research the history of health insurance and how it has evolved over the years to the system that we know it as today. By utilizing the discussion board portion of this class, I was able to learn many things from my classmates’ postings. I learned the many different methods of healthcare reimbursement that is still currently used today. I learned the history of health insurance, and why it was developed for the patients in the first place. I also learned many different views and opinions of my classmates that allowed me to reconsider and further educate myself on the views of the future of the healthcare industry. The most compelling points that I absorbed from reading my classmates postings was reading every ones ideas and opinions regarding the future of the healthcare insurance industry. It was interesting to me to learn the different aspects of the universal health care plan that is in motion right now that I never would have considered before this assignment. By participating in this discussion board...
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...Spain and Texas Today in my summary of Texas: A Compact History I will be talking about the relationship that Spain had with America and Texas. Spain emerged from the Middle Ages and became the first great European nation. I personally think that it’s crazy for something to climb the ranks like that. When Spain supported Christopher Columbus’ voyage, they had the luck of finding where American Indian cultures extracted precious metals like gold and silver. Because of this find, Spain became the wealthiest European nation for a while. Spanish leaders began to search the New World for additional wealth. I liked reading about the relationships between the nations and how America came to be. I think it is interesting to know that modern America...
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...Indies Federation’ and its future replacements CARIFTA and CARICOM because of the Federation’s failure. This was all done in an effort to propel West Indian nations from colonialism to self-governance and economic self-sufficiency. There was no significance to the Caribbean until the year 1492, when Christopher Columbus set sail to the east on behalf of his country Spain. Columbus set sail in search of wealth, specifically gold and a better trading channel between Spain, China and Japan. His mother land Spain, was at that time, one of the four principal European powers to colonize the Caribbean by the early seventeenth century. The other three principal powers were the Dutch, the British and the French. While on his journey, which should have been easterly, Christopher Columbus somehow ended up in the west where he stumbled upon some islands; his search for the country in the East was unsuccessful. On the islands, situated in the west, he found natives which he called, “Indians”; most of them met their death through war and disease brought on by the Spaniards. In addition to this, because the islands were found in the west, he decided to call the area the “West Indies”. Columbus did not find what he set out to get as mentioned earlier because the natives did not have gold or anything of value that could be sold or traded...
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...Chapter 1: Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress The beginning chapter covers early Native American civilization in North America and the Bahamas, the genocide and enslavement committed by the crew of Christopher Columbus (to the West Indies), and incidents of violent colonization by early settlers. The native inhabitants, Arawak Indians, swam out to greet the European boats the first time they landed. Zinn cites Columbus' journal entries throughout the chapters, which included his reaction to the initial encounter with the Arawaks: 'They would make fine servants...With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.' This attitude ultimately led to enslavement, highjacking, murder and rape. Why did they murder thousands to millions of innocent Native Americans? The Spaniard's main aim was to prove to the royalty back home that the islands were wealthy and loaded with great resources, mainly gold. Columbus took some natives back to show the Queen of Spain (they died on route), and when he came back with numbers of men and ships, they started a regimented system of slavery and punishment on the natives of the West Indies. When looking at historical documents of this event, they all had one thing in common. They only speak of the friendliness of the Arawaks, of their genuine kindness and great hospitality. They saw the Spaniards as divine beings, meaning they would never do harm or, let alone, murder them. On his second voyage back, Columbus took 500...
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...Ashley Glover History Midterm 1. The first Europeans to come across North America were the Norse. They are better known today as the Vikings. Leaf Erikson, the leader, led the group of Vikings to North America looking for money and resources. However, no profit was found. On the other hand, though the Vikings did encounter Native Americans and called them Skraelings. Even though no profit was found the Vikings chose to bargain with the natives. Unfortunately, they left due to the fighting that occurred between them and the Natives. It is now five hundred years later and a man named Christopher Columbus is looking for a direct trade route to Asia. He begins searching for place that will fund his voyage. He goes to England first, and they...
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...new world and left their families, friends, and homes to start new lives. Under those circumstances, why would they still go? Religious oppression. Both the Protestant and Catholic churches were fighting for power in England. When Britain was under catholic powers, the protestant people were persecuted, and fled to the new world in hopes of being able to worship in their own ways freely. Another reason was economic struggle in Europe. Due to economic struggle, people were losing their jobs and became destitute. When the opportunity to come to the New World arose, many of the struggling people saw it as a way to start over and make their fortune in hope to alleviate the suffering in Europe. Beginning as early as thirty thousand years ago, during the Pre-Columbian Era, Americans came from Asia over a land bridge formed at the Bering Strait during the Ice Age. The new immigrants were gatherers and hunters, known as Native Americans, who reached a population perhaps as many as 100 million spread across Central and South America by the time the Europeans “discovered” the New World. Native Americans development of agriculture provoked new innovations and cultures that would influence America forever ("Study Notes - Free AP Notes," n.d.). During the Middle Ages, Europeans were ignorant to the existence of the Americas. Europeans became acclimated to an assortment of Asian goods including drugs, spices, perfume, and silk, however, key pathways to Asia were controlled by Muslim forces...
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...action, an intense climax, and a satisfying resolution. History, on the opposing hand, isn’t so simple. It continues to go on regardless of its many climaxes. To some critics, history can never give a decided ending. The Colonial era would serve as an example of that. The founding of America was a title wave of various controversies as well as having many ups and downs. The only resolution to such undependability, according to the leaders of that time period, was the eventual signing of the Declaration of Independence. The reason for this declarative action by the colonists was due to the indecisive and power tightfisted British government. To better understand this claim, it’s imperative to first analyze the origins of Colonial America. A question that ought to be asked is, why colonize? It was no doubt a risky endeavor by the British Commonwealth. Some critics, such as Christopher Columbus, would argue that it was due to religious attempts to expand Faith. It was in fact, something entirely different - power. It was a power move for the English leaders to encourage colonization in the New World. Eric Foner said it best, “National power and glory, they argued,...
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...There is evil in the world, but there is also good according to the author who is known for using satires in their writings. Francois Marie Arouet, later known as Voltaire, was born on November 21, 1964. Throughout his life he wrote and published fifty to sixty tragedies and comedies, including one of his most famous, Candide. Voltaire is known as one of the greatest satirist ever. Satire in the Merriam Webster Dictionary is defined as, “biting wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose vice or folly” (M-W). Candide is filled with satire against optimism however; this is a target amongst many other satires. He also satirizes religion, politics, and war. His religious satire is present throughout the entire work. A religious leader involved in sexual activity is a large part of Candide. One of the most obvious examples was when Pangloss apparently contracted a sexually transmitted disease from Paquette. “She had traced the disease back to a Franciscan Friar and traced it to...Christopher Columbus” (Voltaire 21). These men were supposed to have taken a vow of celibacy. Voltaire’s angle here with this satire was that the actions of these men were scandalous and these practices were actually quite common in their time. He felt that if one could not honor the vows he took then why should these people be taken seriously. They were the very men who were supposed to represent their respective churches, and instead they were making a mockery of their religion. Another prime example...
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...Historical Essay (Age of Exploration) By: Paige Yamate P.7 Many people know of Christopher Columbus, a famous Spanish explorer who said to have discovered North America, but what many people fail to realize is that he was not the first to uncover the “new world,” another name for the Western Hemisphere, in fact, there were hundreds of explorers doing just that. This era of unprecedented European Exploration is known as, The Age of Exploration. The Age of Exploration started in the 1400’s, and the motive for the sudden venture is search for new trade routes, wealth, adventure, and a way to spread Christianity and the word of God. Inventions and Technological advancement, such as cartography (the practice of map drawing), astrolabe (a navigation system bearing latitude and longitude), and stronger ships with cartels for faster travel, also played an important role in this era. Many Europeans discovered many new cultures and lands and pushed their own religion and culture onto them, resulting in the disappearance of some societies. However, this is not a bad thing, cultures, such as the Hawaiian culture that was thankfully converted to Christianity, drowned newborns that showed any peculiar defects when birthed. The Age of Exploration had a positive effect on the New Worlds and Europe because both societies gained new goods, proper medicine was discovered, and Europe civilized the New World. The Age of Exploration was positive because both societies gained new animals, crops...
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