1 Era 1: Three Worlds Meet, Beginnings to 1660

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

1 Era 1: Three Worlds Meet, Beginnings to 1660 ERA 1: THREE WORLDS MEET, BEGINNINGS TO 1660 Introduction People who study history are similar to detectives. They search the evidence looking for clues that will help them to solve mysteries and answer questions about people who lived many years—or even centuries—ago. As you will demonstrate to your students in the weeks ahead, the evidence historians use is much more than written documents: drawings and photographs, tools, clothing, toys, music, etc. In fact, everything created by human beings is evidence that can provide important clues about how people lived long ago. As you will see, scientific discoveries also can provide important clues for historians. The major theme of Era 1 is “Three Worlds Meet,” the story of how people from Asia, Europe, and Africa arrived, settled, and interacted in the Western Hemisphere. Since no pre- human remains have ever been found in North or South America, we can conclude that all people who lived in that part of the world (including the land that became the United States) had ancestors who migrated from elsewhere. Who were those ancestors? When did they arrive and why and how did they come here? How did they interact with the environment—and with each other? Era 1 is the study of those people and their “arrivings.” As we shall see, Europeans and Africans arrived in the Americas in the historical era, and so we have a great deal of historical evidence about the respective backgrounds, motives, and lives of people from these major groups. But those people who Christopher Columbus misidentified as “Indians” have a history that has only recently begun to be uncovered. Comparatively recent scientific breakthroughs have begun to answer the above questions. In 1949 chemist Willard Libby invented radiocarbon dating, which allowed archaeologists and other scientists to determine how old a particular object was (a stone, an arrow head, a skeleton, etc.). Radiocarbon dating told historians how long ancient peoples had lived in the Western Hemisphere. Those discoveries were supported by the work of historical linguists (scholars who study the history of languages) who approximated how many years it would have taken for the roughly twelve general language groups with around 2,000 dialects to evolve in the Indians’ new hands. Therefore, historians now know approximately how long these peoples had been living in the Western Hemisphere. 1 But where did they come from? In 1590 Jesuit José de Acosta reasoned that those people we now call (incorrectly) “Native Americans” were not native to the Western Hemisphere at all, but had walked those lands from elsewhere, leading the Jesuit educator to guess that the Americas and Asia “must join somewhere.” Recently geologists have determined that Acosta was nearly correct: pre-European settlers had come from East Asia, either across a temporary land bridge that was exposed around 11,000-12,000 B.C. when an ice age had lowered ocean levels around 250-300 feet, or by boat from northern Siberia to what is present-day Alaska. Even more recently, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) evidence has linked almost all Indian peoples with East Asian ancestors. 2 1 Libby received a Nobel Prize in 1960. The first radiocarbon dating laboratory was established at the University of Arizona in 1958. For historical linguists see Thomas D. Dillehay, The Settlement of the Americas (New York: Basic Books, 2000), 246. 2 Acosta reasoned that since Adam and Eve were natives of the Middle East, Indians had migrated from Asia. See Charles C. Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus (New York: Knopf, 2005), 156-57. Some Christians believed that Indians were descended from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, a theory disproved by Danish botanist Peter Wilhelm Lund, who in 1840 found human skeletons in Brazil side by side with skeletons of extinct Pleistocene mammals, thousands of years before the dispersal of the 1 Therefore, although scientists as well as history teachers don’t have all the answers to several important questions, 3 we do know enough to introduce our students to the major theme of “three worlds meet” AND (and it is a very important “AND”) help our students to understand that the historical colors of America were red, white, and black and that each of these major population groups contributed to the history of what would become the United States. Student Content Goals – 4th Grade 1. Identify the ancient civilizations of the Americas at the time of European arrival (Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Aztec, Mayans, Olmec, Mound Builders). Identify Native American groups in Tennessee. 2. Explain the culture of the Western Hemisphere’s native peoples prior to European contact. Explain how those cultures changed as a result of contact with European cultures. 3. Identify the major geographical features of North America and tell the importance of each to humans. 4. Understand the geographic, technological, economic, cultural, and scientific factors that contributed to the European age of exploration and settlement in the Americas. Describe the motives for exploration and settlement. 5. Describe the immediate and long-term impact of Columbus’s voyages on native populations and on European colonization. 6. List the characteristics of Spanish and Portuguese exploration and settlement of the Americas. 7. Identify the accomplishments of significant explorers and explain their impact on the settlement of Tennessee. Student Content Goals – 8th Grade 1. Identify the ancient civilizations of the Americas. 2. List the causes and examples of migration to the Western Hemisphere (including people later known as Native Americans). 3. Recognize the role of science and technology in European settlements of North America (compass, etc.). 4. Recognize Tennessee’s role in the early development of the Americas. Student Skills Goals – 4th Grade 1. Locate Native American groups on a map of the Western Hemisphere. 2. Read and interpret facts from a historical passage about an early American Spanish mission. tribes of Israel. The temporary land bridge spanning the Bering Strait has been named Beringia by scientists. The dates of the first migrants to cross Beringia are very controversial, with some scholars claiming migrants as early as 38,000 B.C. See Dillehay, The Settlement of the Americas , 1. 3 One important unanswered question has to do with the fact that almost all of the large mammals in the Western Hemisphere vanished within a comparatively short time (11,500-10,900 B.C.) whereas humans who had already arrived were not wiped out. What could have caused such a mass extinction? Human hunters? Rapid climate change? Another critically important mystery has to do with the DNA of ancient Indians. Of the four major DNA strains found in prehistoric Indian remains, one of the four cannot be traced back to the peoples of East Asia. Who were these people? Where did they come from and when did they arrive? How did they interact with the other human migrants (intermarriage, friendship and trade, warfare)? As with so many questions having to do with the prehistory of the Western Hemisphere, the answer—so far—is “we don’t know.” 2 Student Skills Goals – 8th Grade 1. Determine the difference between a primary and secondary source. 2. Understand the place of historical events in the context of past, present, and future. 3. Use historical information acquired from a variety of sources to develop critical sensitivities, such as skepticism regarding attitudes, values, and behaviors of people in different historical contexts. 4. Construct and read a timeline. Teacher Development Goals 1. Historical Context . Teacher improves content knowledge of the prehistory of the Western Hemisphere and the history of Africa prior to European intrusion. 2. Use of Primary Sources . Teacher clarifies the understanding of a primary and a secondary source and understands the strengths and weaknesses of each type of source. 3. Historical Thinking . Teacher is able to encourage students to understand the motives for migration and settlement in the Western Hemisphere and the major factors responsible for the evolution of advanced cultures (agriculture, etc.). 4. Integration of Technology . Teacher encourages students to understand technology as a learning tool and not just a series of recreational games. Timeline c. 36,000-20,000 B.C. First settlers arrive in North America via the Bering land bridge c. 8,000-5,000 B.C. Beginnings of agriculture in the Americas c. 2,500 B.C. Ancestors of Hopis and Zunis establish farming communities in the Southwest c. 500 B.C.-500 A.D. Hopewell “Mound Builder” culture flourishes in the Ohio Valley c. 700-1400 Mississippian chiefdoms dominate central and southeastern parts of North America c. 1000 Vikings c. 1100 Mississippian city of Cahokia, population 20,000 reaches its apogee c. 1200 “Pueblo” culture emerges in the Southwest 1271-1295 Marco Polo’s Journey to Asia 1325 Aztecs Build Tenochtitlan c. 1400-1600 Renaissance Period 1440’s Gutenberg Press c. 1450 Founding of the Iroquois League Late 1400s Portuguese School of Navigation 1492-1504 Columbus’ Voyages 1513 Ponce de Leon makes first Spanish visit to Florida 1519-1522 Magellan’s Voyage 1520s First epidemic diseases from Europe and Africa reach North America 1521 Capture of Tenochtitlan 1531-1533 Fall of the Incas 1534-1535 Cartier sails up St. Lawrence River Valley 1534-1541 French colonization attempts in the St. Lawrence River Valley 1539-1543 Hernando do Soto leads a Spanish army throughout the Southeast 1540-1542 Francisco Vazquez de Coronado
Recommended publications
  • 1807 Income Distribution Data
    Appendix 1: Data Sources (Arranged alphabetically by place) Bihar (India) 1807 Expenditure class Percentage of Average monthly Income in terms of per population expenditure per capita capita mean (in rupees) 1 15.24 0.68 0.43 2 4.85 0.83 0.53 3 16.18 0.88 0.56 4 6.68 0.97 0.61 5 8.52 1.03 0.65 6 10.39 1.42 0.90 7 8.91 1.56 0.99 8 11.21 2.06 1.30 9 9.89 2.64 1.67 10 8.13 4.45 2.82 Total 100 1.58 1 Income distribution data: A household census survey was made by a British official (Hamilton) of Patna city and 16 rural districts in the region surrounding it, all of which we take to be representative of Bihar. He recorded family size and monthly family expenditures in rupees. The data are summarized by ten income groups, approximate deciles (Martin 1838). Population and area: Population of 3,362,280 and area in km2 from Martin (1838). Urbanization rate: We use the rate for India (Jean-François Bergier and Jon Mathieu 2002: Table 1, 9-12% for 1800, based on Bairoch 1985 and Chandler 1987). Mean income in $PPP: 1820 GDP per capita in 1990 international dollars (Maddison 2001: 264). REFERENCES Bairoch, Paul (1985), De Jėricho à Mexico: villes et economies dans l’histoire, Paris: Arcades, Gallimard. Chandler, Tertoius (1987), Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, The Edwin Mellen Press. Bergier, Jean-François and Jon Mathieu (2002), “The Mountains in Urban Development: Introduction,” paper presented at the IEHA XIII World Congress, Buenos Aires, July 22-26, 2002.
    [Show full text]
  • A Conversation with Walter Mirisch
    history.wisc.edu FALL 2008 NEWS A Conversation with Walter Mirisch (BA ’42) “If you look at the history of blacks in films—from the inception of American films until the late 1960s—In the Heat of the Night was a revolutionary film. This change was brought about by people in the film industry, people like Walter Mirisch, who were humanists and who believed in the brotherhood of mankind and wanted to make films that spoke to the sense of brotherhood in themselves.” SIDNEY POITIER FINDING MYSELF alterMirisch WM: Oh yes. There were some very IN HISTORY (BA ’42) exem- extraordinary people there at my time. I Life Stories from Our Alumni Wplifies the best was very influenced by William Hesseltine Hollywood has to offer. He is a producer, in American history. I took a wonderful which in his case means he is an essential course in the history of the British Empire part of the film making process—from find- with Paul Knapland. And of course ing the story to editing to post-production. there was Chester Easum, who directed His intelligence, skill, experience, and my undergraduate thesis on the Rome- E-mail your humanity resulted in many films that enrich, Berlin Axis. He was very helpful, and he correspondence to: educate, but most of all provide entertain- taught me a great deal about historical historynewsletter@ ment of the highest order. He tells his story writing. And there were other really lists.wisc.edu. in his recent memoir I Thought We Were excellent people, such as Robert Reynolds Making Movies, Not History (UW Press, in Medieval history, and my advisor, 2008).
    [Show full text]
  • Overview of Race and Crime, We Must First Set the Parameters of the Discussion, Which Include Relevant Definitions and the Scope of Our Review
    Overview CHAPTER 1 of Race and Crime Because skin color is socially constructed, it can also be reconstructed. Thus, when the descendants of the European immigrants began to move up economically and socially, their skins apparently began to look lighter to the whites who had come to America before them. When enough of these descendants became visibly middle class, their skin was seen as fully white. The biological skin color of the second and third generations had not changed, but it was socially blanched or whitened. —Herbert J. Gans (2005) t a time when the United States is more diverse than ever, with the minority popula- tion topping 100 million (one in every three U.S. residents; U.S. Census Bureau, 2010), the notion of race seems to permeate almost every facet of American life. A Certainly, one of the more highly charged aspects of the race dialogue relates to crime. Before embarking on an overview of race and crime, we must first set the parameters of the discussion, which include relevant definitions and the scope of our review. When speaking of race, it is always important to remind readers of the history of the concept and some current definitions. The idea of race originated 5,000 years ago in India, but it was also prevalent among the Chinese, Egyptians, and Jews (Gossett, 1963). Although François Bernier (1625–1688) is usually credited with first classifying humans into distinct races, Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778) invented the first system of categorizing plants and humans. It was, however, Johan Frederich Blumenbach (1752–1840) who developed the first taxonomy of race.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of Appalachia
    University of Kentucky UKnowledge Appalachian Studies Arts and Humanities 2-28-2001 A History of Appalachia Richard B. Drake Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Drake, Richard B., "A History of Appalachia" (2001). Appalachian Studies. 23. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_appalachian_studies/23 R IC H ARD B . D RA K E A History of Appalachia A of History Appalachia RICHARD B. DRAKE THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Publication of this volume was made possible in part by grants from the E.O. Robinson Mountain Fund and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Copyright © 2001 by The University Press of Kentucky Paperback edition 2003 Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kenhlcky Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 www.kentuckypress.com 12 11 10 09 08 8 7 6 5 4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Drake, Richard B., 1925- A history of Appalachia / Richard B.
    [Show full text]
  • Books Added to Benner Library from Estate of Dr. William Foote
    Books added to Benner Library from estate of Dr. William Foote # CALL NUMBER TITLE Scribes and scholars : a guide to the transmission of Greek and Latin literature / by L.D. Reynolds and N.G. 1 001.2 R335s, 1991 Wilson. 2 001.2 Se15e Emerson on the scholar / Merton M. Sealts, Jr. 3 001.3 R921f Future without a past : the humanities in a technological society / John Paul Russo. 4 001.30711 G163a Academic instincts / Marjorie Garber. Book of the book : some works & projections about the book & writing / edited by Jerome Rothenberg and 5 002 B644r Steven Clay. 6 002 OL5s Smithsonian book of books / Michael Olmert. 7 002 T361g Great books and book collectors / Alan G. Thomas. 8 002.075 B29g Gentle madness : bibliophiles, bibliomanes, and the eternal passion for books / Nicholas A. Basbanes. 9 002.09 B29p Patience & fortitude : a roving chronicle of book people, book places, and book culture / Nicholas A. Basbanes. Books of the brave : being an account of books and of men in the Spanish Conquest and settlement of the 10 002.098 L552b sixteenth-century New World / Irving A. Leonard ; with a new introduction by Rolena Adorno. 11 020.973 R824f Foundations of library and information science / Richard E. Rubin. 12 021.009 J631h, 1976 History of libraries in the Western World / by Elmer D. Johnson and Michael H. Harris. 13 025.2832 B175d Double fold : libraries and the assault on paper / Nicholson Baker. London booksellers and American customers : transatlantic literary community and the Charleston Library 14 027.2 R196L Society, 1748-1811 / James Raven.
    [Show full text]
  • Glen Ridge High School 1 Page Oct 20, 2020 at 11:39 Am Weeding List
    GLEN - Glen Ridge High School Oct 20, 2020 at 11:39 am 1Page Weeding List (164) by Copy Call Number Alexandria 6.23.1 Selected:All Copies Call # Title Year Barcode LTD Use Last Use Bloom's guide to Khaled Hosseini's The kite ru... 2009 57820000588429 0 None Chromebook charger NONE 57820000297351 3 03/09/2020 Medicine, health, and bioethics : essential prim... 2006 57820000538013 0 None NO TITLE NONE EEUFET8I 0 None NO TITLE NONE ETU 0 None NO TITLE NONE AUCIEZEU 0 None NO TITLE NONE ENA1GCAL 0 None NO TITLE NONE OIAIQA8CNH5 0 None NO TITLE NONE UAADCEGLZU 0 None NO TITLE NONE EVECA 0 None NO TITLE NONE ZEIOHUAAA 0 None NO TITLE NONE CUOCEZMPE 0 None NO TITLE NONE KEAOUADNA 0 None NO TITLE NONE ED8ERHZU 0 None NO TITLE NONE ESEU 0 None NO TITLE NONE RAIQGCCOAU 0 None NO TITLE NONE AEZJEHSSSPU 0 None NO TITLE NONE CPNARECOE 0 None NO TITLE NONE SON 0 None NO TITLE NONE EEHBVNEUERZO 0 None NO TITLE NONE ENODBOAII 0 None NO TITLE NONE IHBDIIH 0 None NO TITLE NONE HTVUQZUKEEE 0 None NO TITLE NONE BBACCNZNU 0 None NO TITLE NONE 1301309 0 None Famous military trials 1980 57820000517881 0 None Geis 2016 5782000058211 0 None A Christmas carol 2008 57820000587959 0 None Recipes from the Chateaux of the Loire 1998 57820000169873 0 None The burning bridge 2005 57820000520174 7 12/07/2015 Winning in the game of life : self-coaching secr... 1999 57820000157423 0 None The scarlet letter 2006 57820000587991 0 None 20s & '30s style 1989 57820000079437 2 01/31/2013 The kite runner 2008 57820000585433 0 None The Hudson River and its painters 1983 57820000283815 0 None Literary criticism - French writers, other Europea...1984 57820000080427 0 None Napoleon's glands : and other ventures in bioh..
    [Show full text]
  • AHA Colloquium
    Cover.indd 1 13/10/20 12:51 AM Thank you to our generous sponsors: Platinum Gold Bronze Cover2.indd 1 19/10/20 9:42 PM 2021 Annual Meeting Program Program Editorial Staff Debbie Ann Doyle, Editor and Meetings Manager With assistance from Victor Medina Del Toro, Liz Townsend, and Laura Ansley Program Book 2021_FM.indd 1 26/10/20 8:59 PM 400 A Street SE Washington, DC 20003-3889 202-544-2422 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.historians.org Perspectives: historians.org/perspectives Facebook: facebook.com/AHAhistorians Twitter: @AHAHistorians 2020 Elected Officers President: Mary Lindemann, University of Miami Past President: John R. McNeill, Georgetown University President-elect: Jacqueline Jones, University of Texas at Austin Vice President, Professional Division: Rita Chin, University of Michigan (2023) Vice President, Research Division: Sophia Rosenfeld, University of Pennsylvania (2021) Vice President, Teaching Division: Laura McEnaney, Whittier College (2022) 2020 Elected Councilors Research Division: Melissa Bokovoy, University of New Mexico (2021) Christopher R. Boyer, Northern Arizona University (2022) Sara Georgini, Massachusetts Historical Society (2023) Teaching Division: Craig Perrier, Fairfax County Public Schools Mary Lindemann (2021) Professor of History Alexandra Hui, Mississippi State University (2022) University of Miami Shannon Bontrager, Georgia Highlands College (2023) President of the American Historical Association Professional Division: Mary Elliott, Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (2021) Nerina Rustomji, St. John’s University (2022) Reginald K. Ellis, Florida A&M University (2023) At Large: Sarah Mellors, Missouri State University (2021) 2020 Appointed Officers Executive Director: James Grossman AHR Editor: Alex Lichtenstein, Indiana University, Bloomington Treasurer: William F.
    [Show full text]
  • PEGODA-DISSERTATION-2016.Pdf (3.234Mb)
    © Copyright by Andrew Joseph Pegoda December, 2016 “IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE PAST, CHANGE IT”: THE REEL CIVIL RIGHTS REVOLUTION, HISTORICAL MEMORY, AND THE MAKING OF UTOPIAN PASTS _______________ A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________ By Andrew Joseph Pegoda December, 2016 “IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE PAST, CHANGE IT”: THE REEL CIVIL RIGHTS REVOLUTION, HISTORICAL MEMORY, AND THE MAKING OF UTOPIAN PASTS ____________________________ Andrew Joseph Pegoda APPROVED: ____________________________ Linda Reed, Ph.D. Committee Chair ____________________________ Nancy Beck Young, Ph.D. ____________________________ Richard Mizelle, Ph.D. ____________________________ Barbara Hales, Ph.D. University of Houston-Clear Lake ____________________________ Steven G. Craig, Ph.D. Interim Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Department of Economics ii “IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE PAST, CHANGE IT”: THE REEL CIVIL RIGHTS REVOLUTION, HISTORICAL MEMORY, AND THE MAKING OF UTOPIAN PASTS _______________ An Abstract of A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________ By Andrew Joseph Pegoda December, 2016 ABSTRACT Historians have continued to expand the available literature on the Civil Rights Revolution, an unprecedented social movement during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s that aimed to codify basic human and civil rights for individuals racialized as Black, by further developing its cast of characters, challenging its geographical and temporal boundaries, and by comparing it to other social movements both inside and outside of the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • Current Strategic Business Plan for the Implementation of Digital
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 482 968 EC 309 831 Current Strategic Business Plan for the Implementation of TITLE Digital Systems. INSTITUTION Library of Congress, Washington, DC. National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. PUB DATE 2003-12-00 NOTE 245p. AVAILABLE FROM Reference Section, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20542. For full text: http://www.loc.gov.html. PUB TYPE Guides Non-Classroom (055) Reports Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF01/PC10 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Computer System Design; Library Networks ABSTRACT This document presents a current strategic business plan for the implementation of digital systems and servicesfor the free national library program operated by the National LibraryService for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress, its networkof cooperating regional and local libraries, and the United StatesPostal Service. The program was established in 1931 and isfunded annually by Congress. The plan will be updated and refined as supporting futurestudies are completed. (AMT) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ., . I a I a a a p , :71110i1 aafrtexpreve ..4111 AAP"- .4.011111rAPrip -"" Al MI 1111 U DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Oth of Educattonal Research and Improvement ED ATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION .a.1111PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND CENTER (ERIC) DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS IN" This document has been reproduced as BEEN GRANTED BY received from the person
    [Show full text]
  • CURRICULUM VITAE: Stephen D. White Address: 138 Morrison Ave Somerville, MA 02144
    CURRICULUM VITAE: Stephen D. White Address: 138 Morrison Ave Somerville, MA 02144 USA [email protected] [email protected] Present Academic Positions: Associate, History Department, Harvard University Honorary Professor of Mediaeval History, School of History, University of St Andrews Asa G. Candler Professor of Medieval History (emeritus), Emory University Previous Academic Positions: 2013-14 Visiting Scholar, Department of History, Duke University 1989-2013 Asa G. Candler Professor of Medieval History, Emory University. 2012-13 National Endowment of the Humanities Fellow, National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, NC. 2010-12 Director, Medieval Studies Program, Institute of Liberal Arts, Emory University. 2009-10 Visiting Scholar, Department of Mediaeval History, University of St Andrews 2008 (spring) Visiting Scholar, Department of Mediaeval History, University of St Andrews 2004-5 Senior Fellow, Center for Humanistic Inquiry, Emory University 2002-4 Director, Medieval Studies Program, Emory University 1994-99 Coordinator, Medieval Studies Program, Emory University 1993-94 Visiting Professor of Mediaeval History, St Andrews University 1990-91 Director of Graduate Studies, Dept. of History, Emory University 1985-89 Professor of History, Wesleyan University 1988-89 Co-Chair, Medieval Studies Program, Wesleyan University 1986-87 Guest Lecturer, Faculty of Modern History, Oxford University 1985-86 Co-Chair, Medieval Studies Program, Wesleyan University 1980-84 Research Associate, Wesleyan Archeology and History Program at
    [Show full text]
  • Art, the Essential Historian by JOHN CANADAY
    NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES • VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2 • APRIL 1982 Humanities Art, the essential historian BY JOHN CANADAY I would like to know, sometime, why some people are spontaneously attracted to art—the visual arts especially— while others who have been conditioned by apparently the same circumstances are left either cold or puzzled by some­ thing that has interested me as far back as 1 can remember, fascinated me since adolescence, and enriched my adult life beyond measure—with no explanation that I can reach as to why it happened. In our close-knit family of eight, books were plentiful (my father's shelf included Dante, Samuel Johnson, and George Meredith) and our Kimball upright piano was subjected to constant abuse. But until 1 began bringing pictures into the house there were almost none, except for family photo­ graphs, on the walls. The only ones I can remember were a chromo of a German mountain scene with peasants (which 1 recognize in retrospect as having been in the manner of Ferdinand Waldmixller), a reproduction of an early Taos painting showing an Indian dipping water from a stream, and a tinted mezzotint of Gainsborough's Duchess of Devonshire, none of which explains why as a teen-ager I developed a passion for Holbein drawings without ever having been inside an art museum or having seen, so far as I can remember, any art books. I have no idea why, how, or exactly when this first love was generated, but I do know that art from that time until now has been an increasingly potent form of communication with the past and an enlarge­ ment of the world around me.
    [Show full text]
  • History Department Video Catalog
    1 HISTORY DEPARTMENT VIDEO CATALOG A ADVENTURES OF THE VIKINGS / 1996, 83 Minutes, 1 Videocassette. Covers the 300 year period commonly called the "Viking Era." Discusses the journeys of the Norwegians, Danes, and Swedes. Special attention given to the Viking discovery of North America. AFRICA Course: 1111, 1112, 1140, 4750, 4760, 4770, 4774 Basil Davidson series, 8 parts; 60 min. each) shelved by series; 2 parts per video; Filmed on various locations all over Africa, showing life as it is today, plus archival film and dramatized reconstruction of earlier times. Produced in England, in association with Nigerian Television. "Basil Davidson is one of the major world authorities on African history, and this series is very well done. In some places he is presenting personal interpretations for which there is not as yet a scholarly consensus. He is generally sympathetic to African reinterpretations of world history." ‐‐ Reid Part 1: "Different but Equal." Davidson goes back to Africa's origins to show that, far from having no great art or technology, Africa gave rise to some of the world's greatest early civilizations. Part 2: "Mastering a Continent." Looking closely at three different communities, this program examines the way African peoples carve out an existence in an often hostile environment. Two very different farming villages show how, in Africa, spiritual development goes hand in hand with technological advance. Part 3: "Caravans of Gold." Davidson traces the routes of the medieval gold trade, which reached from Africa to India and China in the east and westward to the city‐states of Italy. African rulers grew rich and powerful ‐ the King of Ghana was described by an Arab traveler in 951 as the wealthiest of all kings on earth.
    [Show full text]