COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE

    In 1492 Columbus went on a voyage sponsored by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. He wanted to prove that you could reach the East Indies by sailing west. Columbus eventually landed on a tiny Caribbean Island. This voyage started what is now known as the Columbian Exchange. The book “The American Promise” defined the Columbian Exchange as “a transatlantic trade of goods, people, and ideas that has continued ever since”. The Columbian Exchange had long lasting impacts that greatly affected the culture of both the Europeans and Native Americans. Three major impacts include plants, technology, and disease. 

    When the English first came to the new world they struggled to find enough food to eat, and starvation was quickly approaching. This happened because the men that came over to the new world came without skills. According to Dr. Holden, a professor at Greenville College, “mainly rich men came over”. Fortunately the Indians brought over food, therefore, introducing them to provisions such as maize and potatoes. The colonists would trade their goods such as iron pots, steel knives, and axes. These plants grew in popularity among the colonies. The maize was popular because it was adaptable and grew quickly. In the same way, the potatoes were also important because of the fact that it “could resist cold and grow in thin soil” (Malone). It even made its way back to England. Tobacco also became widely known and demanded in England. It quickly became a cash crop in certain colonies. One plant that was introduced to the new world was sugarcane. It was difficult to grow in England, but the climate in North America made it ideal for growing. People quickly became addicted. It was “used in coffee, tea, chocolate, and rum ... making it one of the largest cash crops in history” (Malone).

          Furthermore, technology had a great impact on the Native Americans. The Europeans taught the Indians formal written language. In order to break down language and cultural barriers the “Europeans educated Natives by teaching them to read and write a European language...thus integrating culture” (Malone). One of the main motivations for educating the Native Americans was for trading purposes and to convert them to Christianity. They believed that if the Natives became Christians they would be better people and less barbaric. However, the Natives learning to write really only benefited the Europeans. Another form of technology introduced was weapons. The Indians primarily used bows and arrows when hunting but they would need more than one arrow to kill larger animals. After witnessing the power of a gun they realized that they could use that to hunt larger animals quicker. At the same time horses were introduced and provided Indians with a quicker way to chase down animals. Europeans also brought the plow to the new world which “cultivated large areas of land creating a surplus of plants for both Natives and Europeans” (Malone). Since the soil was rich, crop fields were established which brought about towns and farms. Even the Natives started to set up villages and settle down instead of constantly moving.

          Unfortunately, the Columbian Exchange also brought about negative effects. The Europeans spread deadly diseases to Native Americans.  Some of these diseases included influenza, small pox, and measles. The infectious diseases were unintentionally brought and the Native Americans mainly were infected, “due to the biological isolation and the limited intrusion of infectious diseases” (Crouthamel). These diseases killed about “80-90%” of the Native population. The deadliest disease was the small pox. The diseases spread rapidly because they were transported by air and touch. The Natives were not the only ones to be infected. The Europeans also became infected with certain diseases. However, the number of diseases that the Europeans were infected by was much smaller. They were infected by syphilis, polio, hepatitis, and Encephalitis.  The main disease that affected the Europeans was syphilis. It started out small then quickly became epidemic reaching Europe and infecting a large number of people

          Therefore, food, technology, and disease had a great impact on the culture of both the new and old world. There were not only positive impacts but also negative impacts that came from the Columbian Exchange. While the introduction of new foods helped increase population, the spread of infectious diseases also decreased population. Both negative and positive affects have impacted the European and Native Americans in ways that neither could image. 

Bibliography:

Crouthamel, Stephen J. "Columbian Exchanges." Columbian Exchanges. Palomar College, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. http://www2.palomar.edu/users/scrouthamel/colexc.htm.

Malone, Cory, Sarah Gray, Sean Ross, and Katie Ryan. "The Columbian Exchange." The Columbian Exchange. Gettsyburg College, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. http://public.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site19/index.html.

Roark, James L., Michael P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, Sarah Stage, and Susan M. Hartman. The American Promise. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print. 

BRITISH COLONIES

Over the years the number of people coming from New England and other areas to the new world increased. With the increase of population three different colonies gradually emerged. People started to come to the new world because of the stories they heard, plentiful land, and job opportunities. These colonies were known as the Northern, middle, and Southern colonies. The North colonies included New Hampshire, Massachusetts (Plymouth), Rode Island, and Connecticut. The middle colonies included Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. The Southern colonies included Carolina (SC and NC), Virginia, Georgia, and Maryland.  Even though economy and society showed that each of these colonies had many differences, they were also similar in certain aspects.

The Northern colonies had high marriage rates. Many families came to this colony which increased population and the opportunities for marriage. They had low infant mortality rate. The colonists lived in settlements or towns and created a government. They elected one governor to lead the people. Religion was the center of the colony. Some of the religions were Puritanism, Calvinism, and Quakers. Their economy consisted of farming, fish trade and timber. The fish trade brought about “shipbuilding and trained generations of fishermen, sailors, and merchants, creating a commercial network” (Roark 104) . They also did trade in livestock. All the work in the colony was done by the colonists themselves. They had no need for slaves.

          The middle colonies were the most diverse of all the colonies. They consisted of Germans, Pennsylvania Dutch, and “Scots-Irish”. Since the middle colonies were diverse they “were not as cohesive as the New England colonies because colonists in this region were not united by a single religion or code of beliefs” (The Middle Colonies). The colonist set up small farms with occasional cities here and there. Land was plentiful in Pennsylvania and there was an increased number of Quakers. The Quakers had a big influence on middle colonies. With the great diversity in the colonies, religious tolerance was practiced. No one forced anyone to practice a certain religion. Their major crop was wheat. They had a high standard of living thus allowing colonists to enjoy a wide range of imports. Instead of having slaves, people in the middle colonies had “redemptioners” (Dr.Holden). These people were like indentured servants.

          The Southern colonies had the largest population. The region was defined by slavery. The lives of the colonists were centered on farming. Their major cash crops were tobacco and sugar cane. In order to keep up with the farming they needed extra help. They began to use slaves to take care of the tobacco farms.  The people that first came to the Southern colonies were mainly men who were unskilled. In other words they were rich men who had no skills for farming. The population of women was low. A governor was selected to lead the people and the House of Burgesses was created. This was the wealthiest region. The classes were united by white supremacy. Wealthy dominated politics and the poor men were not allowed to vote.

Despite the many differences that contributed to their own identities they also had similarities. They each had rapid population growth. Their economics were based on agricultures. All three of them farmed a type of crop. They all saw a decline in religious fervor. Deism became prevalent among some elites. Deism means that God is watching but will not intervene. They all shared a British identity. Meaning that they functioned how British set them up and they united against potential enemies. Governors were common among each colony. Money came from the joint-stock company.

All in all one will notice that each of the three colonial regions had their own identity. They each came up with different ways to make their colony prosperous. The colonists that came to each colonial region also impacted how the colonies ran. Even though the land, economy, and society shaped the colonial regions in different ways they also provided similarities for each of the regions.

Bibliography:

"Comparing Settlement Patterns: New Spain, New France, New England." Comparing Settlement Patterns: New Spain, New France, New England. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2013. http://people.umass.edu/hist383/class notes/Comparing Settlement Patterns.htm.

"The Middle Colonies." The Middle Colonies. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2013. http://www.radford.edu/~rvshelton/Middle.htm.

Roark, James L., Michael P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, Sarah Stage, and Susan M. Hartman. The American Promise. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print. 

 

SALEM WITCH TRIALS

 

In Massachusetts there was a small town known as Salem. This town consisted of English people who were puritans. They had a great deal of faith in their religion and centered their lives on it.  According to Douglas O. Linder the author of the website “Salem Witch Trials”, this group of puritans had a “strong belief that Satan is acting in the world”.  This was supported by the diseases, natural disasters, and other negative things that occurred in the world. The Salem Witch Trials caused hysteria in a small town becuase of the actions of a few girls, mixed with religious beliefs.

Reverend Samuel Parris’s daughter Betty and her cousin Abigail would often listen to fascinating tales about voodoo and magic told by a slave named Tituba, in order to provide a distraction from stressful family situations. They decided to invite several of their friends over to listen to the forbidden tales. In 1692 the girls suddenly had strange, unexplainable symptoms come over them. They would randomly scream, mumble nonsense, contort their bodies, and have convulsions. The doctor could not explain what brought about such strange behaviors.  Therefore, the puritans turned to the supernatural for answers. The only reasonable answer to the puritans was that the girls had been bewitched.  The girls named people responsible for their bewitchment and they were three women who were misfits in the town.

This chain of events started what would become famously known as the Salem witch trials. “Most of the accused witches were older women, and virtually all of them were well known to their accusers” (Roark 108). There were some children and men that were also occasionally accused. They would be accused of sending their specter after a person and harming them such as chocking, pinching, or controlling their bodies.  Anybody could accuse someone of being a witch and that person would then be arrested and taken in for an interrogation by a magistrate and were given the chance to tell their testimony. Sometimes people would be accused of being a witch because they offended a certain person. The reverends daughter would accuse people that were against her family. After being examined by the magistrate they decided whether the accused is guilty or not, if found guilty they are placed in jail to wait for the trial. Then the trail is held by the grand jury and this is where witnesses are heard. The next trial is held by the Court of Oyer and Terminer. The verdict from this court is the deciding factor. Most of the accused were found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging (Linder). However, if the people accused of being a witch confessed to being a witch then their life was spared and they were kept in jail. The court would keep them alive in order to testify against other accused people.  Additionally if the person accused was pregnant they were left alone.

The Salem witch trials ended when Governor Phips’ own wife was accused of being a witch. He replaced the current court with a superior court and ordered them to excluded spectral evidence and use only clear evidence. This decreased the number of convicted significantly. The town’s people were also starting to doubt that all the people accused were actually witches. Phips eventually released all the accused from jail.  According to the website National Geographic, “Salem’s time to kill…claimed 25 lives”. “Nineteen convicted witches were hanged, and more than 150 accused witches crammed the jails before the trials were called off…” (Roark 106).  The other 5 people died while in jail which also included an infant and one was “pressed under heavy stones until his death” because he refused to give a plea at his trial (Linder). It was later revealed that every person that was accused of being a witch was actually innocent.

All in all the Salem Witch Trials was a very tragic event that turned a town upside down. It turned friends and neighbors against one another during a time when they were most needed. Anyone could be accused of being a witch or associating with a witch and their life would be over. It’s interesting that most of the evidence that produced a final judgment was simple the words from either the people in town or witches themselves.

Bibliography:

Linder, Douglas O. "The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692." The Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SALEM.HTM.

"National Geographic: Salem Witch-Hunt--Interactive." National Geographic: Salem Witch-Hunt--Interactive. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/salem/.

Roark, James L., Michael P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, Sarah Stage, and Susan M. Hartman. The American Promise. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. Print.