1) Columbus: Hero Or Villain?

1) Columbus: Hero or Villain?

Unit 2: First Contacts

We will study the voyages of Columbus (14921508) and try to understand a man who has meant many different things to different people over time. Which perspectives are important to seek out? And which part of Columbus’s legacy is most important: his navigation skill, the cultural diffusion that followed his voyages, or the genocide and other crimes he and his men committed against native peoples?

Debate and Persuasive Essay: Columbus Day vs. Native Peoples Day 3) New England, New Conflicts Wessagusset Massacre (1623) Pequot War (1637) King Philip’s War (1675) English colonists at Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, and Connecticut voyaged to an unknown land in search of religious freedom and economic gain. They staked out their claims to land that had long been inhabited by native peoples. Their arrival fractured the power dynamics of the region and raised the stakes for long-strained tensions between native sachems. Old alliances and power relations dissolved, while new orders—including the recent European arrivals—took their place. What patterns emerge when we compare and contrast several of these encounters over time?

Town Meeting and Persuasive Essay: Wait and see vs. attack

10th Grade Humanities Mr. Fussiner Mr. Schneider

2) Conquistadors and Explorers In 1532, a few hundred Spanish soldiers surprised the entire Inca army and took control of a vast empire. This is just one of many episodes in the long tragedy of Spanish conquest. Why was it that the Spanish conquered the Inca and not the other way around? Professor Jared Diamond shares his thesis—geographic luck. Furthermore, what would the world be like today if the opposite were true? Conquest wasn’t the only way the Spanish and native peoples interacted. We will follow the trek (1528-36) of Cabeza de Vaca, a shipwrecked Spaniard, and Estevanico, an African-born slave, who traveled along the Gulf Coast from Florida all the way to Mexico. After nearly a decade living among and traveling with native peoples, de Vaca’s countrymen did not even recognize him as Spanish when they met again. Some have argued that de Vaca and Estevanico were the first true Americans. Why should we care?

Student written and produced plays: “The Last Inca” and “The First Americans” (working titles)