...Arguing why columbus day should not be a recognized holiday. Everyone has grown up hearing the rhyme “In nineteen hundred and forty-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” And if you haven’t then you probably lucky enough to not have one of those teachers that sing-songs everything at you. Christopher Columbus is often portrayed as the first European to sail to the Americas. He is sometimes portrayed as the discoverer of the New World. However, this is controversial on many counts. There is evidence that the first Europeans to sail across the Atlantic were Viking explorers from Scandinavia. In addition, the land was already populated by indigenous peoples, who had 'discovered' the Americas thousands of years before hand. Let’s take a look back on columbus’...
Words: 984 - Pages: 4
...Columbus day is the day we celebrate the discovering of america. Why do we celebrate Columbus when he did not even step foot on North America. In reality, the Nomads were the first people in America. If we wanted to celebrate a white guy why not Viking explorer Leif Erickson who came 500 years before Columbus. Also, when Columbus landed in the new world he did some horrible things to the natives who lived there. So why do we celebrate such a controversial day? Christopher Columbus sailed to many places but never North America. He landed on many caribbean islands, an island called Hispaniola, south america's coast, and central america. You may be thinking well he still proved the earth was round. Sorry that's incorrect many scientist figured this out long before he sailed and wrote several books about it. According to Valerie Strauss he even owned a copy of one of the books and new very well that the earth was round. The first people to “discover” America were the nomadic tribes who crossed over the land bridge made by the iceage in the Bering Strait. They traveled from Asia into what is...
Words: 463 - Pages: 2
...Columbus: The founder or the Tyrant? In 1942, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, at least that’s how some people see it. Christopher Columbus is said to be the man responsible for discovering America and proving the world to be round. Columbus day was not considered a national holiday until 1937put into effect by Franklin D. Roosevelt, largely due to the controversy of his travels to the new world. He was said to be a tyrant to the indigenous people of what he thought was America. Not only did he cause problems with the people he never actually landed in the states, instead he actually landed in what is known today as the Bahamas. Not everyone, even whole states, in America observes Columbus day as a holiday. It was never even celebrated at all...
Words: 328 - Pages: 2
...portrayal of famed explorers like Christopher Columbus and the exclusion of the achievements of other cultures and races. To prove this falsification, we have this quote, “Most textbooks note the increase in international trade and commerce, and some relate the rise of nation-states under monarchies. Otherwise, they do a poor job of describing the changes in Europe that led to the Age of Exploration.” (35). According to this quote, the portrayal of the origins of Age of Exploration is poorly described in many textbooks. Often textbooks miss out on important information crucial to our education of the past. Another example would be the quote “When textbooks...
Words: 779 - Pages: 4
...Columbus. A controversial man by many a person’s standards in today's society. Most people universally agree, though one can always find those who disagree, that Columbus abused the indigenous peoples of the areas that he explored. Which is why Columbus Day shouldn't be celebrated, because Columbus brought diseases, mistreated natives, and ignored cultures. Death seemed to run rampant wherever Columbus went. Illnesses and the treatment of them weren’t as advanced back then; consequently, more people died. But can there be too much death? Columbus arrived carrying many diseases on his ships. Those illnesses ravaged the natives as is stated by OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D. “When explorers from Europe reached America, they brought livestock and they brought diseases and the result was devastating” (About). Wait, we're celebrating a man who killed… well, how many people did this affect? How many were scarred or dead? The answer is a great many people died, “some say the impact was more destructive than the Black Death had been… possibly killing off… 90% of the native populations” (About). Wait, 90%?! When people went to a new place that had different diseases, it was expected for some people to die because medicine wasn't as advanced as it is now. But to kill off 90% of the population...
Words: 602 - Pages: 3
...not believe in ownership of land. Some eastern woodlands people used their women to do the farming. Woodland Indians used the resources of their environment intelligently. The entire population was involved in gathering, growing, and hunting for food, although work was generally divided along gender lines. Men were hunters, fishers, warriors, and toolmakers, while women managed the household, made mats, pots, baskets and clothing, and preserved hides. Women were also the botanists and farmers. In between and around the rest of their duties, they raised the children. Just as in our society today, most Woodland Indian women were working mothers. Generally speaking, men and women in Eastern Woodland Indian society did not spend much of the day together, men did not expect to control women, and both genders were respected for the contributions they made to the sustenance of the entire community. What was the Treaty of Tordisillas and what does this have to do with the Pope? Treaty of Tordesillas , 1494, agreement signed at Tordesillas, Spain, by which Spain and Portugal divided the non-Christian world into two zones of influence. In principle the treaty followed the papal bull issued in 1493 by Pope Alexander VI, which fixed the demarcation line along a circle passing 100 leagues W of the Cape Verde Islands and through the two poles. This division gave the entire New World to Spain and Africa and India to Portugal. However, the Treaty of Tordesillas shifted the demarcation line...
Words: 618 - Pages: 3
...To Kill A Mockingbird & Race Relations “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” (King). This quote by the notable Martin Luther King Jr. describes an image of society that has yet to develop. Ever since the European settlement of Colonial America, an air of Caucasian superiority has existed. African Americans spent centuries working on plantations while the Caucasians went about their privileged lives; they are still viewed as uneducated and a threat to the safety of Caucasians. Hispanics are viewed as people who work the jobs that the Caucasians refuse to do. Native Americans have become targets of sexual...
Words: 1005 - Pages: 5
...Buddhism and Christian Faith Jennifer Herron HUM/130: Religions of the World Week 9: Final World Religion Report February 19th, 2012 Glenda Mitchell Since the beginning of time, religion was a part of society, much like it is today in a more modern era. There are so many different religions and sects of religions which brings about different interpretations and meanings understood by the people who practice a certain religion. Each religion has its own individual story and theory on how this world came to be and what happened in order for it to be created. With so many different religions and people practicing each one it is easy to be disrespectful when it comes to others’ beliefs and sometimes all it takes is an open mind and the will to just learn about another faith and really get down to the bottom of understanding where it came from and how it all started. At the end of our lives we all wonder about the place beyond this world and many live by the thought that they will make it to this place whether it be called Heaven or something else. For this paper I chose Buddhism and Christianity to discuss and I will be able to explain the differences as well as any common beliefs these religions hold. To start off with I did not know much about Buddhism or what it was all about. My mother’s biological father was from Japan and so this is what really sparked my interest about this religion, other than the fact that I just think it is completely interesting. I spent a lot...
Words: 2081 - Pages: 9
...The Social Studies (2011) 102, 175–179 Copyright C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0037-7996 print / 2152-405X online DOI: 10.1080/00377996.2011.585551 9/11 in the Curriculum: A Retrospective DIANA HESS1 and JEREMY STODDARD2 1 2 Curriculum and Instruction, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA School of Education, The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA This article uses a curricular analysis study to examine how the events of 9/11 and their aftermath are presented to secondary students in supplemental curriculum and social studies textbooks published from 2002–2010. Shortly after 9/11, many political leaders and social studies educators advocated teaching about 9/11 and its aftermath because these events provided a unique “teachable moment,” even though there was often bitter disagreement about what ideological messages related to 9/11 should be promoted in the schools. Within one year, many non-profit organizations and even the United States Department of State developed materials on 9/11 that were disseminated to secondary schools. As the first editions of post-9/11 textbooks came out, it was also evident that content about 9/11 and what happened in its wake would be given special attention. To investigate what was being communicated to young people about 9/11 and its aftermath to students, we analyzed nine curricula from the non-profits and the government in the first few years after 9/11, a sample of nine of history and government...
Words: 4659 - Pages: 19
...The Transatlantic Slave Trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade took place across the Atlantic Ocean from the 16th through to the 19th centuries. The vast majority of slaves transported to the New World were Africans from the central and western parts of the continent, sold by Africans to European slave traders who then transported them to North and South America. The numbers were so great that Africans who came by way of the slave trade became the most numerous Old World immigrants in both North and South America before the late eighteenth century. The South Atlantic economic system centered on making goods and clothing to sell in Europe and increasing the numbers of African slaves brought to the New World. This was crucial to those European countries which, in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, were vying with each other to create overseas empires. The evolution of slavery is crucial to understanding the importance of currently standing issues. Slavery began in 1440 when Portugal started to trade slaves with West Africa. The first Africans imported to the English colonies were also called “indentured servants” or “apprentices for life”. By the middle of the sixteenth century, they and their offspring were legally the property of their owners. As property, they were merchandise or units of labor, and were sold at markets with other goods and services. By the 17th century, Western Europeans developed an organized system of trading slaves...
Words: 1550 - Pages: 7
...racial profiling be a legitimate law-enforcement policy in some areas? Should Affirmative Action for state university enrollment be continued? Should the primary method of public school funding--property taxes in individual school districts--be amended to create more fairness in schools? Should high-school history classes and social-studies curriculum be changed to reflect diversity and multicultural perspectives? Should Christmas, Easter, and other religious observances be considered national holidays? If a university offers "African-American Studies" or "Black Studies" as courses, should it also offer "European-American Studies" or "White Studies"? How do certain television programs perpetuate racial or ethnic stereotypes? Should Columbus Day be discontinued in favor of a new post-colonial perspective? Should schools only purchase textbooks that offer revised or alternative histories of historical events? What should be done about racial disparities in the sentencing of criminals? Should the American government pay reparations and return land to Native Americans? Should hate groups have the right to distribute literature on university campuses? If research shows that certain racial or ethnic groups receive poorer medical care on average, how should this problem be corrected? Should governmental organizations have staffs that accurately reflect the racial, ethnic, and gender balance in society? Gender and Sexuality What should be done to eliminate salary disparities...
Words: 4167 - Pages: 17
...craft (http://www.aliens-everything-you-want-to-know.com). The term ‘alien’ is a verbally abused term. As defined in the Oxford American Dictionary, the term refers to a person who is not a citizen of a country in which he is living. In our community today, the term is more commonly used when referred to space beings. For this research matter, the term aliens will be referred to as space beings. From the ancient times, countless sightings of UFO’s have been recorded. A lot of archaeologists claim that aliens have been here since the beginning of our world. According to Harold E. Burt, Aliens are a part of earth’s history. They have been here during our entire existence. When the Roman Empire was in full bloom, they were there. When Columbus crossed the Atlantic, they were there. When Christ was born, they were there! Thanks to Will Smith and Tommie Lee Jones, everybody has heard of or seen the fictitious action-comedy movie ‘Men in Black.’ The movie is all about the existence of aliens lingering with us in our community without our knowledge. It also showed that aliens also work for the organization, but what we do not recognize is that the movie has exposed the truth about the existence of the Men in Black. First, what does the term ‘black’ mean? We probably have heard from a lot of action movies where the phrase ‘He’s gone black’ is a common expression for those agents who have erased their personal records as if he...
Words: 1567 - Pages: 7
...TOPIC 1: THE AMERINDIANS Week 1: THE ARAWAKS (Theme One) PAPER: CORE CONTENT----BAHAMIAN-WEST INDIAN HISTORY References: Bahamian History Bk.I by Bain, G. Macmillan,1983 2.Caribbean story Bk. I and II By Claypole, W Longman (new edition) 1987 3. Development to Decolonization by Greenwood R, Macmillan, 1987 4.Caribbean people Bk.I by Lennox Honeychurch. Nelson, 1979 The Migration of the Indians to the New World. It is believed that the people who Columbus saw when he came to the New World were nomadic hunters from central and East Asia who followed the buffalo and deer. When the herds moved, people moved after them because they were dependent on the animals for food. It is therefore suspected that the herds led the people out of Asia by the north-east, across the Bering Strait and into North America. They crossed the sea by an ice –bridge when it was frozen over during the last Ice-Age. They did not know that they were crossing water from one continent to another. Map 1 Amerindians migration from central Asia into North America. The Amerindians settled throughout North America and were the ancestors of the many Red Indian tribes we know today, as well as the Eskimos in the far north. In general, they were nomadic but some followed settled agricultural pursuits and developed civilizations of their own like the Mayas in South America (check internet reference for profile on this group, focus on...
Words: 69958 - Pages: 280
...Carlson Gerelus Professor Patel In to Sociology Film Analysis Media Influence We’ve likely to grown up thinking that the main stream media was our friend, the middle man that is always there when we need it. Faithfully provides us with information that is of common sense and natural judge for everything that matters. They’ve told what to eat, what to drink, how to eat, how to drink, what wear to, and what the standards of beauty should be and look like. The content that’s important, and a reliable guide to existence. As we’ve gotten older we have come to realize that this isn’t quite true as we would want it to be. For that we have to go in depth with what is wrong with the main stream media. From time to time, the greatest messages have been propagandized through the usage of movies and drama over the asphyxiation of motive and emotional sequences, disregarding any logical or factual sequences, thus having media outlets pushing emotional content to its viewers, distorting fantasy from reality. This content is necessary in the eyes of the distributor that is trying to get its consumers to do something or believe in the same ideology as the distributor would want them to believe in. Rather than go through a discussion or debate using logic and facts. Let’s take Fox News for example, a right wing news outlet that specializes in taking tender topics to the extremes to get its viewers hooked on its coverage for consumption, allowing one side of an argument to be seen but...
Words: 2228 - Pages: 9
...The Stricter the Safer! Gun control, due to rights under the Second Amendment, has been a controversial issue for centuries. The Second Amendment of the Constitution states: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Had the amendment simply said the right to bear arms, gun control would not be a controversial issue to this day. The debate is whether the Second Amendment is stating that each and every U.S citizen has a right to keep and bear arms, or whether it is stating only members of the militia have the right to keep and bear arms. If the Second Amendment was referring to each person individually, then it would have never mentioned the militia. According to Warren Burger, the late U.S Supreme Court Chief (in regards to the Second Amendment), “‘This has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud on the American public by special interests that I have ever seen in my lifetime’" (Durston 1). The United States is one of the leading countries with high suicide and homicide rates, and if we don’t put higher restrictions on these lax gun laws, we will continue to have one of the worst homicide and suicide rates in the world. Some people would say that people have the right to own a gun to protect themselves and their homes. Self-defense is the number one reason why some people think we should have guns. According to Kenneth Jost, Americans own between 200...
Words: 3649 - Pages: 15
