Exams

Joshua Soon History 11, pd.2 9/6/11  History Exam

1. Yes, the Early Americans did have control over their environment. They did because they would adapt to to their environment and bend it to their will. 5 factors that allowed the early Americans to have control over their environment were first, the invention and power of tools. Tools such as stone-tipped spears and harpoons, bone fish hooks and needles and other implements had made them able to hunt, fish, and to protect themselves from the elements. Second, the ability of devised complex language gave the early Americans and advantage over their environment. They could strengthen emotional bonds and most important promoted cooperation. Third, Early Americans hunted and dominated most of their food, such as the mammoths, and in the end because they had such power of tools and communication they ran most of these animals to extinction. Fourth, they could adapt to almost every environment they were placed in, rather it be in the woodland areas or Great Plains, they could live and prosper. Lastly, their capability to change was a great advantage because most of the animals could not which made humans different and able to have control over their environment.

2. The emergence of human beings is suspected to originate from Africa. The making of stone tools in east-Africa and western Asia was considered similar at the time. These ideas of stone tools and others migrated throughout Africa and Europe, forcing others to adopt their innovations. Due to the invention of tools and communication, hunters from Asia migrated farther North, ending up in Alaska. Slowly the people who arrived in Alaska ventured throughout North America and later created the first tribes of America. For Europe, they were unique because of their printing presses, weapons, improvements in metallurgy, religion and books. In the Americas they were unique because of their cultivating, growing of corn, domestication of animals, types of tools, and different tribes. Africa was unique because they were a solitary nation that kept to them. In Asia they were unique because of their religion, type of cultivating, people, and environment.

3. The European rivalries in the 1400’s were mostly religious. This was due to the Protestant Reformation. The Germans had taken the ideas of Luther’s campaign against the sales of Rome’s spirituality Authority. France remained Catholic but took advantage of Rome’s troubles to secure control over the clergy of its kingdom. In Spain they tried to suppress the efforts of Protestantism in the Low Countries which would only further stimulate nationalist movements there, especially among the Dutch. During the reign of Henry VIII of England in 1534, he reputed the Pope’s spirituality authority and declared himself head of the English (Anglican) church. By the time of his death, England had become mostly a Protestant nation. Most of the merchant classes were attracted to Protestantism. In most cases business classes supported Protestant leaders. Due to most merchants siding with Protestant leaders, they hardly supported such religions as Catholics who were Italians and the Spanish.

4. The English went to America because of three reasons, exploration, mercantilism, and colonialism. The Spanish went to the Americas to spread catholic indoctrination of Native Americans; they were in search also for the riches in the new world. They were mainly looking for gold and silver and very valuable resource. The Spanish created a better colonial structure because they had benefited from the riches they had acquired by giving them control through wealth. They had also created many colonies along America and had explored many parts of America. They also carried weapons that gave them the power to overcome the Natives and quickly still the riches from them, such as Gold and silver. They were also frequently traveling to the Americas, unlike the English and other European nations.

5. The five reasons that the “prosperity undermined Puritanism,” was that first that these people ate well because of the abundant amount of food that they grew. They were farmers and grew barley, rye, oats, green vegetables, and also native crops, such as potatoes and most important Indian corn. The cultivation of corn was versatile and tasty when prepared in a variety of ways and was good for their livestock. When corn was put into the form of corn liquor, it was easy to store, and to transport. There was a lot of meat which was an important aspect to their lives. They grazed cattle, sheep, and hogs on common pastures or surrounding woodlands. Deer and turkey had also provided a good source of food too. Due to the Atlantic Ocean it had provided the Puritans with fish, like cod, which was preserved easily with salt. The New Englanders had an extremely nutritious diet. They had an abundant surplus of fire wood that provided heat during the winters. Due to their diet, and their lifestyle, it caused them be healthy and have longevity. This was a great shift in colonial culture because they were now becoming more independent and could fend for themselves. 6. Colonists reshaped the concept of democracy to fit their world by first; they would regulate how the citizens and people would behave such as laws requiring church attendance. Second they would levy taxes that would support their clergy. Third, they had banned the Quakers from participating their faith because they believed that they were acting “as a shield of the churches.” Fourth, the colonists set a price the price a laborer might charge for his services or even the amount of gold braid that servants might wear on their jackets, because they believed that they were enforcing the puritan principle that people should accept their assigned stations in life. Lastly, the colonists provided the death penalty for both adultery and blaspheming a parent and they felt they were defending the integrity of the families.

7. Mercantilism is a system that states a country should export more goods than it imports. Yes, this caused the colonies to justify according to the British because they were an important source of raw material. They were forced to supply raw materials that otherwise have to be purchased from foreign sources or colonists were to buy substantial amounts of manufactured goods produced in the mother country. The most valued raw materials that the British wanted were gold and silver because it was rare and could be traded at any time and contributed to the prosperity and power of a country. If the British could accomplish their goal of exporting more goods then importing goods then it would create “a favorable balance of trade.” If the country is a place of unfavorable balance then that country was obligated to make up the difference by “exporting” gold and silver.

8. The Enlightenment’s affect in America was more impacting then the effect in Europe because there were multiple religions, it was easier to develop new ideas and apply it to the society, and the colonies in America continued to grow and required more new ideas. The Americans also took much of the ideas from Europe and continued to grow upon them. So the ideas from England quickly grew throughout America. They also had reached America in a starling speed too.

9. The Declaration of Independence was written for all the people of the colonies both rich and poor because it was beneficial to all of them. Everyone gained independence from England. There we no restrictions on the Declaration that said the poor or rich rather it said the people of America. Richard Lee of Virginia said: “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally absolved. In this statement we see no discrimination on rather your poor or rich rather that all the colonists should be absolved from the Crown. Most important in the Declaration itself, are six words, “that all men are created equal,” which speak the truth that the declaration was for all the colonists rather poor or rich.

10. The shot heard around the world was mainly for American History, at the time only the British and the colonists were involved. It was uncertain who shot or fired the shot, but it was either the British or the Colonists. The events took place on American soil, and after that it caused an all out war in the colonies. This event caused the colonists to rally and changes their minds about being with the British. This was an important factor that caused the Revolutionary War between the colonists and British. Lastly, the world was not concerned about the conflict, only Spain, France, England and the colonists were involved. Essay#1 In the late 1500’s, England started to change its ideas on religion. During the reign of Elizabeth the first, the idea of politics took over religion. She was just like her father who also viewed politics over religion. During this time many of her so called people had conflicts when it came to the Church of England and their original beliefs in faith. So when the colonists’ moved to the new world, it wasn’t because of an economic gain but a religious cause that sparked them too. There were three reasons it was not an economic gain, the Church of England, religious freedom and the way the Holy Bible was interpreted The colonists did not like the Church of England. They believed there ideas and traditions were false and that there was no reason to believe in what they were preaching. A lot of Steadfast Catholics could not accept the ways of the new Church that was inputted by Queen Elizabeth the first. They believed the New Church was too much like the Church of Rome. The new church had rejected the richly decorated vestments worn by the clergy, the use of candles, incense, and music in church services. This caused many of the people to leave England or practice faith in private. During this controversial period of time there was little religious freedom in England. You either believed in what the Church preached or you leave England at once. Most of the people who did not believe in the Church formed their own little groups, who would preach and abide by the same religion. However, it was very hard for them to do this for a long period of time because of the risks they took to go underground. If they were caught they could have been exiled or other means of punishment. So the best idea was for them to sail to America and begin their own society based on a common religion. The bible played an important role in the reasons why the Colonists left England. The Bible was the only true evidence that their God and his teachings actually existed. The new Church of England interpreted the Bible passages differently. For example they said that in the book of Genesis, all human beings were properly damned by Adam’s original sin and what one did on earth did not have any effect on that person’s fate after death. This caused a lot of the colonists’ to question the ideas of the Church and in the end caused them to abandoned England. The constant changes to the Church of England and the traditions they ritually conducted were too different for the colonists’ to except. It was not the economic gain that they pursued but a religion they all could agree on. The main cause of their problems was not so much the economy but the spirituality of things. The Colonists’ found unease with the England’s spiritual state which embraced them to embark on their own “errand into the wilderness.”