Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking/Reading Questions:
Part of the summer assignment too!!! These questions require you to apply the information that you have been reading and on which you have been making notes. This requires you to THINK about what you’ve read and written. You will have to synthesize a response based on what you have read as well as prior knowledge on the material. You are encouraged to write formal answers to each of the questions; however, this is not required!
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
UNIT I: The Colonial Era---Chapters 1-6 Chapter 1
1. How did the Indian societies of South and North America differ from European societies at the time the two came into contact? In what ways did Indians retain a “world view” different from that of the Europeans?
Compared to the Europeans, the Indians had less technology, they were “kinder” to nature, and women were more important. The Indians had a world view different from the Europeans because the Europeans had seen more of the world than the Indians. 2. What role did disease and forced labor, including slavery, play in the early settlement of America? Is the view of the Spanish and Portuguese as especially harsh conquerors and exploiters valid---or is this image just another version of the English “black legend” concerning the Spanish role in the Americas?
Disease and forced labor decimated the Indian population, killing off about 90% of the entire population in the Americas. This view is partially valid because the Spanish and Portuguese abused the Indians and took all their gold, but the English were just as bad because they had constant wars with the Native Americans.
3. Are the differences between Latin America and North America due primarily to the differences between the respective Indian societies that existed in the two places, or to the disparity between Spanish and English culture? What would have happened if the English had conquered densely settled Mexico and Peru, and the Spanish
Part of the summer assignment too!!! These questions require you to apply the information that you have been reading and on which you have been making notes. This requires you to THINK about what you’ve read and written. You will have to synthesize a response based on what you have read as well as prior knowledge on the material. You are encouraged to write formal answers to each of the questions; however, this is not required!
CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
UNIT I: The Colonial Era---Chapters 1-6 Chapter 1
1. How did the Indian societies of South and North America differ from European societies at the time the two came into contact? In what ways did Indians retain a “world view” different from that of the Europeans?
Compared to the Europeans, the Indians had less technology, they were “kinder” to nature, and women were more important. The Indians had a world view different from the Europeans because the Europeans had seen more of the world than the Indians. 2. What role did disease and forced labor, including slavery, play in the early settlement of America? Is the view of the Spanish and Portuguese as especially harsh conquerors and exploiters valid---or is this image just another version of the English “black legend” concerning the Spanish role in the Americas?
Disease and forced labor decimated the Indian population, killing off about 90% of the entire population in the Americas. This view is partially valid because the Spanish and Portuguese abused the Indians and took all their gold, but the English were just as bad because they had constant wars with the Native Americans.
3. Are the differences between Latin America and North America due primarily to the differences between the respective Indian societies that existed in the two places, or to the disparity between Spanish and English culture? What would have happened if the English had conquered densely settled Mexico and Peru, and the Spanish