Introduction to American Government and Early Colonial History

Participant Introductions and Classroom Demographics

• Student Backgrounds:

  • Alicia Lewis: A Sophomore student majoring in Political Science who owns a dog.
  • Daelin (goes by Eric): A Freshman majoring in Elementary Education. His first language is Hmong.
  • Allison: A Freshman majoring in Social Studies Education. She is involved in ATB writing.
  • Kara Mayes: A Freshman majoring in Elementary Education with a goal to become a first-grade teacher. She is the third oldest of $9$ siblings, whose ages range from $2$ to $21$.
  • Jacob McKenzie: A Sophomore English major originally from Gyeongsang, South Korea. He has traveled to all $7$ continents and $48$ countries. He speaks Korean and German (Deutsch).
  • Gabriel Newsome (goes by Wayne): A Sophomore majoring in Media Production Journalism. He refers to his leg as a "peg leg" due to nerve damage resulting from an accident.
  • Jeremiah Young: A Freshman Political Science major. He possesses the ability to identify nearly every country on a map. He notes that there are $193$ United Nations member states and $2$ observer states (the Holy See/Vatican City and Palestine), plus entities like Taiwan and Kosovo which lack UN status due to geopolitical pressures from nations like China.

• Attendance and Enrollment:

  • Students present include: Brooke, Torsten, Sarana, Savannah, Katie (Kacie), Willow, Kim, Chloe Bradley, Isabella Bryant (Lee), Benjamin Caudle, Cameron Clark, Dakota Clark, Mackenzie Caldwell, Summer, Gunner, Monica, Madeleine, Soraya (Zaria), Ella Fulton, Catherine, Louisa Hernandez, and Jane Howard.
  • Absent students: Madison Bricker, Clara Hampton, Kelly Lewis, Haley Spencer, Nathan Story, and Ethan Thomas.
  • A student named Sierra was mentioned as having stepped out during the roll call.

The Historical Context of American Governance and Global Trade

• Origins of Government Entities:

  • The foundations of American national government trace back approximately $700$ years to the evolution of trade and commerce.
  • Historically, geographers divided the single landmass of the Eurasian Continent into two distinct continents: Europe and Asia.

• The Silk Road and Eurasian Trade:

  • Trade between Europe and Asia involved the transport of luxury goods and essentials.
  • Major commodities included silk and various spices. Spices were critical not just for flavor, but for the practical purpose of preserving meat.
  • Successful trade was highly lucrative and could provide enough wealth for a person to be set for life.
  • Challenges of the Silk Road included:
    • The immense amount of time required for travel.
    • Harsh climates and the necessity of crossing vast deserts.
    • Difficulty maintaining supply lines.
    • Threats from bandits and highway robbers.

• The Development of Sovereignty and Borders:

  • The modern concept of firm, solid borders and national sovereignty dates back to the Treaty of Westphalia in $1648$.
  • This treaty ended the Thirty Years' War, which began in $1618$ and lasted until $1648$.
  • Prior to this era, there were no centralized police forces to protect traders from bandits; merchants were largely on their own, though costly insurance could be purchased.

Maritime Exploration and the Search for Western Routes

• The Shift to Sea Travel:

  • Due to the difficulties of land routes, water routes became a preferred alternative. In the $15^{th}$ century, there was no Suez Canal to connect the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.
  • In the context of the $15^{th}$ century (the $1400s$), the term "India" was often used as a trope for all of Asia, and "Ethiopia" was used as a stand-in for the continent of Africa.

• Portuguese Exploration:

  • Portugal and Spain were the primary maritime powers due to their ideal geographic location on the Atlantic Ocean.
  • The Portuguese invented the Caravel, a ship specifically designed for long-range maritime travel.
  • In $1488$, Portuguese explorers successfully navigated around the southern tip of Africa, known as the Cape of Good Hope, to reach the Indian Ocean.
  • Navigation was hazardous; ships too close to the coast risked running aground, while those too far out could be swept away by trade winds.

• Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo):

  • Columbus was an explorer from a city-state in what is now Italy, though he would not have identified as "Italian" in the modern sense.
  • Myth Debunking: No educated person in $1492$ believed the world was flat. The concept of the world as a globe had been established for nearly $2,000$ years.
  • Scientific Precedent: A Greek geographer in $307\text{ BC}$ calculated the circumference of the globe with within 2\text{%} accuracy.
  • Columbus's Errors: Columbus rejected ancient geographical wisdom and performed his own calculations. He underestimated the circumference of the Earth by approximately 50\text{%}.
  • Motivations: Columbus wanted wealth and titles, such as "Emperor of the World's Oceans."
  • Funding: After initial rejections, Ferdinand and Isabella of Aragon and Castile (modern-day Spain) sponsored his voyage.
  • The Voyage: Columbus sailed south from the Iberian Peninsula first to catch the trade winds before heading west. In October $1492$, his crew spotted land just as they were on the verge of mutiny.

The Columbian Exchange and the New World

• Discovery and Collision:

  • Columbus landed in the Caribbean, specifically areas now known as Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He never actually reached the mainland of the Asian continent.
  • The "Columbian Exchange" is considered by many historians as the most significant event in world history, representing the collision and interconnection of two previously isolated worlds.

• Biological and Economic Impacts:

  • New World Contributions: Potatoes and tomatoes were introduced to Europe.
  • Devastating Consequences: The lack of scientific and medical knowledge led to the transmission of European diseases that wiped out entire Native American tribes. Initial European settlers also faced extremely high death rates.
  • Columbus maintained until his death in $1504$ that he had reached Asia, despite evidence to the contrary discovered by the European intelligentsia.

• The Treaty of Tordesillas ($1494$):

  • With the imprimatur of the Pope, Spain and Portugal divided the New World.
  • A North-South line was drawn; everything west of the line was granted to Spain, and everything east was granted to Portugal.
  • The most significant territory east of this line was Brazil, which is why Portuguese is still the primary language of Brazil today.

• The West Indies and Sugarcane:

  • The real economic "El Dorado" was initially the West Indies rather than North America.
  • Sugar became a massive global commodity. Growing sugar was extremely backbreaking and time-sensitive work, which had lasting implications for world history.

Permanent European Settlements in North America

• Spanish Settlements:

  • Spain established the first permanent European settlements in modern-day United States territory.
  • Pensacola was the site of the first settlement attempt, but it was destroyed by a hurricane.
  • Saint Augustine, Florida, established in $1565$, is recognized as the first permanent and continuous European settlement.

• English Settlements and Jamestown ($1607$):

  • The first permanent English settlement was Jamestown, established in $1607$. An earlier attempt at Roanoke failed.
  • Motivation: Unlike later settlements driven by religious liberty, Jamestown was a for-profit venture founded by a corporation (the Jamestown Corporation) to send riches back to England.
  • Social Composition: The settlers were largely "second sons" of English families. Due to English inheritance laws, first sons inherited land, leaving younger sons to seek fortune abroad.
  • The "Gentleman" Problem: Many settlers were classified as "gentlemen," a status that defined someone who did not perform manual labor or work with their hands. This hindered the survival of the colony which required physical labor.
  • Environmental Miscalculation: Geographically, Jamestown is at a latitude similar to Southern Spain or North Africa. Settlers expected a Mediterranean climate and planned to grow olives and figs. However, they were unprepared for the brutal winters of the region.
  • Leadership of John Smith: Smith was a mercenary and explorer who claimed he was saved by the daughter of a local chieftain (Pocahontas). This story closely mirrored an autobiography he wrote about his time in Central Europe. Despite his potential embellishments, Smith’s leadership was vital. He sent false reports back to England describing Jamestown as a "paradise" to ensure the corporation continued to send supplies and settlers.