...In the early and mid-sixteenth century, the English people began to think of colonizing America because it serves as a source for goods and raw materials and provides a market for finished product. In the year 1607, England established its first permanent settlement was called Jamestown. But to the territory itself, they gave it the name Virginia, honoring England’s late virgin queen. After a disease that killed most of them, England appointed John Smith with several other men to serve the colony’s council. Later, the Dutch were given a monopoly to trade and make colonies, but instead they worked in piracy. Some separatists, later known as Pilgrims, escaped to Holland running away from corruption. All the early settlers started writing letters to their families and friends back in England, and these letters developed into diaries that later served as the first American literature. Shortly after, black slavery began in America slowly, mostly of slaves coming from Africa. This colonization gave rise to a language hierarchy in which the language of the colonizers, the British, was considered as the most prestigious languages and came to dominate the governmental and commercial formation of each colony....
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...Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus born in Genoa Italy was the son of a skilled weaver. Columbus earned his chance when the king and queen of Spain agreed to finance his voyage to discover a new trade route connecting Spain with Asia. In 1492 He sailed across the Atlantic arriving instead in the Caribbean where he raped, killed, and enslaved innocent Natives. America’s memories are filled with symbols of adventure and bravery associated with Columbus, yet the facts behind the fiction have somehow been lost in a haze of patriotism. Columbus set out with three ships; the Pinta, the Nina and the Santa Maria in search of Asia to find precious items such as gold and spices. Not realising that the Americas existed, Columbus first appeared in the Bahama Islands. When he first came in contact with the Arawak men and women, he entered into is log, “they would make fine servants… we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever they want” (pg 1). Columbus and his men coming from Spain had weapons that the Natives simply could not fight against, leaving them helpless and unable to fight they were mistreated and abused. Another example of Columbus abusing the natives is when he entered into his log, “as soon as I arrived… I took some of the natives by force” (pg 1). Columbus took some of the natives so that they might show him the land and where he might find gold, but instead of trying to communicate with these people he forcibly took them as slaves. “In...
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...still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans. That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet. These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights. Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this...
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...Hunger in America Why are so many people starving? Why are so many Americans starving? Children Starving on Side of Road 1 Every day people throw perfectly good food away without a second thought. Many people do not realize that many Americans spend most of their days starving or without food. In 2012, 49 million people did not have enough food in their homes; 15.9 million of them were children (“Hunger”). Hunger is not just in the third world countries, it is also here in America and people need to realize this. Can we end hunger in America? Where is there the most hunger? Mississippi 20.9% Arkansas 19.7% Texas 18.4% Alabama 17.9% North Carolina 17.0% Georgia 16.9% Missouri 16.7% Nevada 16.6% Ohio 16.1% California 15.6% (“Hunger”) Americans have all the power to end hunger in America. There are so many things that people and the government can do to help. The 2014 Hunger Report has a plan to end hunger by the year 2030. This plan consists of a jobs agenda, a stronger safety net, human capital development, and public-private partnerships to help innovative community led initiatives against hunger (“Ending”). If people just help out in any way possible hunger could be stopped...
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...Rosamarie Rivera Hist 151 Professor Cotter 9/16/2010 Endentured servants were sometimes lured with food and drink to ships where they were convinced or forced to be in contract. Children were valuable laborers and because of the poverty in London slums were enticed with candy onto the vessles. They would even grab elderly people, drunk people sleeping in a gutter and shipped them off to the Americas for labor. The ocean journey to America usually took eight to twelve weeks. It was a difficult trip. Indentured servants were packed into the ships tightly, often being held in the hold without a chance to get fresh air. They were treated horribly and at times were left to starve. When they arrived in the America's they were either put into a contract for five to seven years, or bought as slaves. During their lives as endentured servants they had few to no rights. They weren't allowed to leave or marry without permission and could not vote. Most indentured servants were put to work in the tobacco fields of Virginia and Maryland. This was hard manual labor under the grueling hot summer sun, under which Europeans were not accustomed to working. Overseers would beat the servants to work faster. If an endentured servant survived the ordeal and wasn't conned, impregnated, or punished, he/she was freed and given fifty acres of land, three barrels of corn, some clothes and two hoes. The treatment of the endentured servants is later reflected in African slaves. The manners of which...
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...Britain over the French in North America. What impact did this victory have on the American colonies? Great Britain and the French had ceaselessly been fighting and the British were not looking so well. It was only until 1758 that the British began to make a turn around against the French, that not only led to many victories, but also led to friendly rivalries. Although the Colonials and the British fought together and obtained their goals, a new conflict evolved, thrusting a spire of scorn between the two prior allies. Led by William Pitt the British essentially gained the upper hand on the French when they cut off their supply from the mother country to Canada via British naval forces at sea. Because the French relied heavily on goods transported at sea, they were left crippled and in a defense only mode. With this strategic gain, Pitt set out to conquer all and take over french territory by overtaking Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Louisbourg, Fort Duquesne and Quebec. Aside from the failure by Abercromby at Ticonderoga that was later redeemed, the British objectives were a success and the French were devastated. The most devastating blow was the attack on Quebec and Montreal where the British aimed “to rip the heart out of Canada.” (Millet & Maslowski 1994). Britain was successful and took over Quebec although France made great efforts to retake it in failure. Later in 1763, the Peace of Paris was signed therefore ending the war in North America. With this treaty being signed...
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...Hola como estas? What is with it these days. Are these the only word people know how to say. Honestly I think everybody should get a chance to live how they want do you understand what I am saying. We should have a language everybody can relate to. Why whenever we go places do we have to include English so americans can understand what is going on around them? I do not think it is fair that the main languages we include here in America are English, Spanish, and French. Those are not the only languages that other people from other countries understand. Either we in America should have a better variety of languages displayed or we be taught a language we all can understand fully and completely. I mean I know Spanish. It is really easy to understand some French words because Spanish and French are so closely related that some words are very similar to the other. It is also cool because where I live there are so many schools with different immersion programs such as Russian immersion, Spanish immersion, german immersion, and Japanese immersion. They have so many French classes to offer but there do not seem to be any immersion programs for French. I really do not understand why they do not. if I could I would definitely join French immersion. It would be so awesome to learn a language like that. Anyways all in all I believe it to be an awesome idea to have opportunities where people could learn new...
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...‘The Kite Runner’, written by Khaled Hosseni, tells the story about part of the protagonist----Amir’s life from Afghanistan to America from his own perspective. It’s a story about destiny, friendship, redemption and forgiveness. And it’s also a story about father and son’s difficult relationship, Baba is the only person who is with Amir from the start to the end. However, Baba and Amir’s relationship eventually works out. The difficulties of Baba and Amir’s relationship starts from the time they live in Afghanistan. Because of Amir’s different characteristics from Baba, Baba doesn’t like Amir in many situations. He presents his dissatisfaction and dislike towards Amir to Rahim Khan and even says if he didn’t physically see his wife’s child birth process, ‘(he’d) never believe (Amir) is (his) son’. From Amir’s perspective, Baba find it difficult to accept him because he likes books but not sports. Moreover, in Amir’s mind, it is himself who ‘had killed (Baba’s) beloved wife, (Baba’s) beautiful princess. This sort of self-accusation intertwines in Amir’s mind for a long time. It has such a deep impression that Amir can’t stop thinking about this question, ‘didn’t all fathers in their secrets hearts harbor a desire to kill their sons?’ However, from readers’ perspective, Baba’s attitude towards Amir is comprehensible, as Baba has to divide his love between his two sons. It also interprets the reason why Amir is always trying to win Baba’s love from Hassan, and teases Hassan in...
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...The Effectiveness of Immigration Threatens American Culture The essay Immigration Threatens American Culture is written by Lawrence Auster In this essay, the author will evaluate the effectiveness of Auster’s paper in terms of its claims, evidence, and the presentation of the claims and evidence. The author’s main claim is that post-1965 immigration is threatening the American Culture. It is clearly stated fairy early in this essay because the author makes a clear introduction, lists many examples of the negative influence of outside culture on American society, and then stresses the thesis. In terms of his subsidiary claims, he proposes the reason why American people allow the negative impact of immigration take place and even feel helpless about the issue. They are not very related claim because he focuses on criticizing the law makers’instead of explaining why immigration threatens American culture. Besides, his claim is very partial because he ignores all positive influence of immigration. As for the evidence in this paper, the author adopts various types of evidence including the facts, examples, expert testimony and analogy. The number of the evidences is a bit over sufficient. The author uses so many simple examples and facts in each section of the essay especially the first paragraph. The evidences are relatively very specific, because the author writes down the examples or facts with very detailed information. For instance, the name,...
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...new world and the old world. Explorers from Europe and Asia were bringing their plants, animals and diseases over to the new world as well as returning home with new items. There’s no doubt that the Columbian Exchange changed the world. Although more things were brought to the new world, I think the people from the old world benefitted the most. Many of the plants from the new world became stable crops when brought back to the old world. Also, although several diseases were brought back from the new world, the people of Eurasia were able to build immunity to them, whereas the diseases they brought to the new world killed upwards of 90% of the native population. One plant from the Columbian Exchange was the potato. Originally from South America the crop came to the old world and became extremely important. Marie Antoinette turned the potato plant’s flowers into a fashion statement, and wore them as encouragement for French people to eat potatoes. They became the most important food source to the people of Ireland. When first introduced, the Irish only used potatoes as supplement to their diets, but by the late 17th century, they were the main food in the Irish diet. The Irish relied so heavily on the potato that the Irish potato famine caused roughly one million deaths in the mid 1800’s. Tomatoes brought over from the new world back to the old world changed food forever. At...
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...As farming became fundamental to ancient societies in Central America, it had a drastic impact on the population of these societies. Identify what you believe to be the three most important effects of farming, and explain your choices thoroughly. The discovery of farming by the people of the ancient societies of Central America was undoubtedly what ensured their survival. There are many ways that farming impacted these peoples, but three affects that are arguably (do not use I or me in your writing) the most prolific were the ability to produce more food in smaller areas, population growth, and the development of civilized societies (Faragher, Buhle, Czitrom, & Armitage, 2009). Farming in Central America was a process that was developed over thousands of years, with a certain amount of creativity and ingenuity. The people of this land discovered that by gathering and replanting seeds from wild food sources, they could control the growth of the food, produce larger quantities, and condense it into a smaller space. According to Faragher and associates (2009), “…a foraging society might require 100 square miles to support 100 people, a farming society required only a single square mile.” (p. 8). This led to a great increase in food supply with a reduction in the distance to travel to collect it. This allowed people to become more settled in one area and enabled them to have larger families. As farming developed, the need for more people to work in the fields as well as the ability...
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...America is sometimes referred to as the land of opportunity and even when America was first being colonized that statement seemed to ring true. People decided to move to the New World for multiple different reasons, but the one thing each of these people had in common with their motives was that they were in search of new opportunities and the chance to have a better life. Some of these groups of people included the members of the Virginia Company and the Pilgrims (Tindall & Shi, 27). After making peace with Spain many of the men who had been adventurers working for James I needed somewhere to go and the idea of getting rich quick by striking gold seemed like the perfect plan. Thus The London Group of the Virginia Company was born and the plan to voyage over to the New Land and form a colony was set into motion. The Virginia Company, a for-profit enterprise chartered by James I, had stock holders who thought that the colony would be a source of gold, wine, olive oil, and forest products that were needed in England (Tindall & Shi, 27). Many of the stock holders also still had hopes that they would find a passage to India (Tindall & Shi, 27). So on May 6, 1607 three ships set sail with 105 men aboard and four months later landed in what they named Virginia and started the first permanent colony in Virginia (Tindall & Shi, 27). The men built a small colony but many of them did not know how to hunt or fish. They had, after all, come to the New World to get rich not to learn...
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...When the New world had come into being there was a majority of people that started to leave England for better opportunities in the Americas. Some people had left to the Chesapeake region (the south) and some left to the New England Region (the north). Each individual had sought for the desire to start a new life where there was hope, happiness and success. Even though most of the people, if not all that had arrived in these regions came from English Origin, the colonies had developed into two distinct societies by the 1700’s. The colonies had become into two distinct societies because of how they maintained law and order within society and how people worked together ended up causing a dramatic change on how the colonies would become in the...
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...American is but to me it's about being able to be yourself and have pride while doing so. It’s difficult to understand what makes an American as shown in the piece “America and I” written by Anzia Yezierska telling about an Immigrant's experience of becoming an American. People from all over the world come to America to get hope and peace. Being an American isn't always easy, depends on how much you work for what you want. “What is an American?” written by J. Hector St. John Dr Crevecoeur shows the pride people have for our country, the rights we have to offer, and the freedom to be whom we want to be. In America we get a lot of freedom. We have the right to stand up for ourselves and speak up for what we believe in. If you don't agree with how something is going on in our country you have the right to stand up and speak for yourself. We have many rights that other countries do not. Many people come to America to get this choice because...
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...European colonization in Texas started in 1689. It was ordered by St. Francis in order for Spain to spread Christianity, Spanish culture and also to establish control. This era began with missions and presidios. There are many Spanish colonizers who helped Spain attempt to reach their goal. Four significant people are Fray Damian Massanet, Jose de Escandon, Antonio Margil de Jesus, and Francisco Hidalgo. Fray Damian Massanet was the founder of the first Texas mission. He also helped found the missionary College of Santa Cruz de Queretaro. He arrived in Texas by boat in 1683. He was sent to search for La Salle’s Ft. St. Louis and to help with the San Francisco de los Tejas mission. He argued with civil authority about the horses he was keeping at the San Francisco de los Tejas Mission and the horses had to be commandeered. Due to floods, failed crops, shortages in supplies, and bickering with the Tejas Indians, Massanet’s missions did not succeed. On October 25, 1693, Massanet, and the other surviving priests set the leftovers of the failed mission on fire. Shortly after, he returned to his missionary College in Queretaro. Even though the mission failed and only lasted three years, it was the first step in Spain’s attempts to control Texas. Jose de Escandon was known as the first colonizer and first governor of the colony Nuevo Santander. He was involved with many missions including, Camargo, Reynosa, Mier, Revilla, Laredo, and Nuestra Señora de los Dolores Hacienda. In 1740...
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