Part 1:

1. Old Worlds, Cahokia, Indigenous Slavery

The old world was the part of the world that was known before Europe had contact with

the Americas. Although there were people, Native Americans, already living in the

Americas, they hadn’t been discovered yet. One place that they were living in was called

Cahokia. Cahokia was probably the largest city north of Mexico before the late 18th

century. It was organized around something called chiefdoms, which is a hierarchical

system where the leader has almost sacred authority (Richter p. 4). In Daniel Richter’s

“Prologue: Early America as Indian Country”, he commented on how the social structure

worked by stating. “organized as chiefdoms and characterized by a sharp divide between

elites and commoners, a specialized artisanry, widespread trading networks, and

elaborate mortuary rituals, to which the burial mounds attest.” The social hierarchy was

mainly preserved through frequent warfare though and these war captives would be

enslaved which turned into an important part of the North American economy then.

Indigenous slavery was not based not on holding people as property like it was with the

Colonies. Instead, the Native Americans saw them as people who didn’t have connections

and it was not always permanent. Marriage or even adoption could make it so they slave

became a part of the community. This was done quite often and most of the times the

people were not slaves their whole lives. Slavery and trade had become an important way

that many indigenous communities could grow and also maintain power. The common

theme of old worlds, Cahokia, and indigenous slavery is Native American culture

because it affected each thing in its own way.

2. Three Sisters, Fences, Tobacco

made the three sisters become a principal food source for Native Americans (Richter p.

6). These three sisters are corn, beans, and squash. These crops were first grown in the

eastern woodlands area, which was a large agriculture based area (lecture 2). Some native

communities would even burn underbrush and clear grounds to make an area to plant

these three sisters. When the colonies started farming and growing these three sisters, it

became something that was traded a lot. The colonies traded these crops with each other

as well as back to the mainland (Britain). Along with the three sisters, the colonies started

to have a high demand for tobacco and started to grow it in abundance to trade. Tobacco

was easy to grow in America and England, especially Virginia. Jamestown grew

tremendously due to tobacco due to the land and workforce. Farmers would often fence

in their crops as well, to protect them. The common theme of three sisters, tobacco, and

fences is agriculture because all there was a huge influence on early agriculture in North

America.

3. Atlantic Slave Trade, Middle Passage, Charleston

The Atlantic slave trade was the trade of slaves from Africa to the Americas and Europe.

It facilitated the forced taking of native Africans from their homeland and transporting

them with the purpose of becoming a slave. They were often taken by force while they

were young and able workers, never to see their home again. These slaves were

transported through the middle passage. The Middle passage was the primary way of

moving the slaves. It started with the ships leaving Europe, going to Africa to collect the

slaves, then leaving Africa to the Americas. These ships would often arrive in Charleston,

which was a significant colonial port. Once they would arrive in charleston the slaves
 were then sold or moved to other colonies to be sold. Often the people who sold the

slaves would then buy American goods with the profit from the sale and return to Europe

to sell the goods. The common theme in these words is the slave trade because it is the

trade, route, and destination of slaves from the 16th up to the 19th century.

Part 2:

1. (2) The Spanish and the French went about colonizing North America in different

ways. The French overall were “better” to the Natives and had intended to have

permanent colonies while the Spanish were more interested in quick gold and land. The

Spanish were seen as useless to the Native Americans, while the French were not because

they had brought valued trade goods and ties to European manufacturing (Duval p. 65).

The French had some appeal to the Native Americans because they had valuable

trade goods and were willing to cooperate with them. They had put effort into learning

their ways and in doing so they realized that they shared some customs, for example, men

greeting outsiders. This had helped the French form a positive relationship with the

Natives. The Quapaws had an especially positive relationship with the French and had

achieved their goal with the French. These goals included, “reciprocal exchange relations,

weapons, and assistance against their enemies” (Duval p. 67). Due to this, the French and

Quapaws were seen as allies and the French seemed to serve the Quapaws interests.

Overall the French Colonization of the Americas was relatively non-violent and seemed

to actually show a positive relationship between the Natives and them.

The Spanish, however, had different ideas when it came to how they wanted to

colonize the Americas. When they first arrived they tried to assert their dominance
 through violence. They raided and pillaged villages to get riches and land, creating a

negative relationship with the Natives right off the bat. The Spanish never took the time

to learn about the natives or develop trade and instead just went through them for power,

land, and gold. They never had a positive experience with them and in turn were always

fighting. Seeing this, it shows that the French were much more successful in their

colonization attempts, while the Spanish were not.

2. (4) There were different types of unfree labor in the 17th century. There were slaves,

as well as indentured servants. Slaves had to serve their whole life and had little rights,

while indentured servants were contracted to serve for certain amounts of time. Once the

colonies were formed unfree labor expanded tremendously as well as slave trade.

English servants were sent to the colonies when they were first started and were

mostly poor English men and women contracted to work for several years in return for

free passage to America and the bare necessities (Servitude in British America: Five

European Perspectives, 1705-1750). After their contract had been fulfilled, they were

allowed to leave and were free. These servants often had laws that protected them as

well. Some of these laws were that white women would not work fields, the masters had

to provide necessities, if they were ill they didn't work, and that their complaints were to

be heard. These laws were required to be upheld and the masters could be punished if

they were not.

Once the import of African Slaves had started in the colonies, though, unfree

labor started to change. These slaves were brought to the Americas against their will,

sold, and the forced to work for the rest of their lives. Unlike the indentured servants

there weren't laws in place to protect the slaves or their livelihood. They are often not
 even given a home, just ground and tools to build one themselves (Moraley p. 1). When

there became more farmland and more slaves to work it, the laws became even less and

they were beaten and treated terribly. Due to the change in needs there were more slaves

and less indentured servants causing the experiences of unfree laborers to decrease

drastically.

3. (1) The Powhtan tribe had a rough first encounter with the Europeans that had

discovered them in Virginia. The British had encountered them in the 1600’s and it had

led to immediate war. This was because they saw a huge opportunity for tobacco growth

and eyed the native land to do so. After one of the British men was almost executed, they

realized making a positive relationship was important to be able to survive and thrive.

There was a brief time of peace before the first Anglo-Powhatan war and a brief time of

peace after the war when Pocahontas was married to John Rolfe. In 1684 though, they

were abolished from their long time war with England (lecture 7). All of this combined

shows that they had a very negative relationship with Europeans, besides their brief times

of peace.

The Wampanoag were discovered in the earthly 17th century by the British in

what is now Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Many of the Wampanoags were lost when

the British had brought smallpox and various other diseases to them (lecture 9). Having

so many of their own gone, the British easily captured their land. Many more were also

killed during King Philip's War. Having barely any left, many were sold off as slaves.

They were often sent to the Caribbean. Due to this, they were never able to establish a

real relationship with them besides war and captivity.

Europeans compared to the Powhatan and Wampanoags. The French were the ones that

sought to colonize them and had gone about it in a different manner than the British.

Instead of taking over the land, they tried to learn their culture and establish trade. They

were successful and the Quapaws were “happy” with the situation because they had

access to new weapons, valued trade goods, as well as protection. This had made for an

alliance of sorts with the two and was beneficial for both. Along with learning their

culture the French even married into the Quapaw to strengthen their relationship (lecture

6). This has shown to be one of the only positive encounters between Europeans and the

Indigenous.

Extra Credit:

I think that if future historians were to write about my life they would use my social media, most

likely twitter. I think they would use my twitter because it is what I have used to express what

i’m thinking, feeling, or doing. It would all be directly from me and there are a lot of things on it

they could use. I think they might use it to show what I am like as a person in the sense of how I

view the world. I’m also pretty funny so they could use it for some comedic relief, you know.