HIST 112 midterm - Primary source analysis

The Broken Spears: Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico

Leon Portilla; Aztec perspective on the Spanish conquest; emphasizes Indigenous experience, suffering, alliances, and resistance; shows the human cost of colonization and provides a counter-narrative to European sources.

Debating Empire: Sepulveda and Las Casas on the Conquest of the Americas

Sepulveda argued for Spanish superiority and just war; Las Casas defended Indigenous rights; reflects moral, political, and religious debates about colonization and early human rights discussions.

Leviathan

Thomas Hobbes; argues for absolute sovereign authority to prevent disorder; emphasizes human nature as self-interested and violent without strong government; foundational text for understanding absolutism and state power.

Of the Government and General Policy of a State

Jean Domat; explains natural law as basis for political authority; emphasizes hierarchy, obedience, and moral order; reflects European early modern ideas about law and governance.

The Social Contract: On Popular Sovereignty and the General Will

Jean-Jacques Rousseau; argues that legitimate political authority comes from the general will of the people; emphasizes freedom through collective decision-making; contrasts with absolutism and supports ideas of civic responsibility.

Treatise on Toleration

Voltaire; advocates religious tolerance and freedom of belief; critiques fanaticism and arbitrary persecution; illustrates Enlightenment emphasis on reason, individual rights, and secularism.

Eating Crabs Youth Book from Under Confucian Eyes

Examines gender roles and expectations in Chinese history; reflects how Confucian values shaped family, social hierarchy, and female behavior; offers insight into cultural norms and societal control.

On Collective Leadership from Old Manchu Archive

Discusses governance under Manchu rule; emphasizes shared authority and bureaucratic consultation; highlights indigenous state formation and adaptation within Qing political structures.

The Akbarnama

Abu-l Fazl; official chronicle of Akbar's reign; details administrative policies, military campaigns, and religious innovations; showcases Mughal governance, cultural synthesis, and Akbar's vision of imperial rule.

Jahangir's Night Debates

Abd al-Sattar ibn Qasim Lahauri; records intellectual and theological debates at Jahangir's court; illustrates Mughal engagement with philosophy, religion, and rational discourse; reveals court culture and elite scholarship.

An Ottoman Traveller, selections from the Book of Travels of Evliya Celebi

Evliya Celebi; 17th-century Ottoman travelogue; documents cities, culture, trade, and daily life; offers insight into Ottoman urbanism, diversity, and imperial administration.

Excerpts from Affonso of Congo, Evils of the Trade

Affonso I of Kongo; correspondence with Portuguese king criticizing the slave trade; emphasizes moral, political, and economic consequences; shows African agency in international diplomacy and resistance to exploitation.

Can Muslim States Enslave Muslims?

Ahmad Baba; explores Islamic legal and ethical debates on enslavement; questions legitimacy of enslaving co-religionists; demonstrates intellectual engagement with morality, law, and commerce in early modern Africa.

Travels to the Interior Districts of Africa

Mungo Park; European account of West African geography, trade, and society; combines observation with Eurocentric assumptions; offers historical evidence of African economic systems and global connections.