In this weekly discussion assignment you will need to:
1. Choose one of the documents below.
2. Write a 250-300 word initial post and present your interpretation of the document and the material to which you have been introduced. You can do this by following the guiding questions in the Document Tutorial Page. Avoid a summary. You must also comment on how this person's story relates to the concept of "Other" that you've studied about in the previous pages.
Jacques Cartier on Meeting the Micmac Indians (1534) (https://faculty.sanjuancollege.edu/krobison/documents/Cartier-micmacs.htm)
• What kind of reception did the explorers encounter?
• How do you account for this? How did the explorers communicate with the indigenous people?
• From this account, do you think the indigenous people had seen foreigners before? Why or why not?
Charter to Sir Walter Raleigh : 1584 (https://avalon.law.yale.edu/16th_century/raleigh.asp)
• What is the significance of providing an official charter, such as was given to Sir Walter Raleigh by Queen Elizabeth?
Montezuma's Greeting to Hernan Cortes (https://web.archive.org/web/20000304002237/http:/www.humanities.ccny.cuny.edu/history/reader/cortez.htm)
• How does King Moctezuma react to the arrival of the Europeans? Does he show fear?
• Does he act superior to them, or does he address them as equals, or does he subordinate himself to them?
• How does he seem to explain the appearance of these strangers?
• What ideas explain the behavior of the King?
The Privileges and Prerogatives Granted by Their Catholic Majesties to Christopher Columbus (https://avalon.law.yale.edu/15th_century/colum.asp)
• In what ways does this document challenge what you have been taught about Christopher Columbus?
• What responsibilities were Ferdinand and Isabella allotting to Columbus after he "discovered" and "conquered" the land he found?
Micmac Chief's Observation of the French (https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=3&psid=630)
• How does the Micmac Chief talk about the Europeans?
• Does his response to the French match up with what we are traditionally taught about Native Americans?
Jacques Cartier: First Contact with the Indians
• What does Cartier think about the first attempts by the Native Peoples to communicate with him and his crew? How did Cartier and his men respond? Why did the Indians and the explorers respond as they did?
• What was the significance of the cross erected by Jacques Cartier and his men? What does this action indicate about the possibility of a more significance clash of cultures and customs between these two groups?
From the Journal of Christopher Columbus (https://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/columbus1.asp) read only the first paragraph; Friday, 3 August 1492; Wednesday 10 October; Thursday 11 October
• Where did Columbus land? Where did his subsequent voyages take him?
• How did Columbus describe the native peoples he encountered? What plans did he have for them?
• How ling did the voyage to the New World take? What factors would inspire people to undergo such a journey?