RichieNgo

Wolf16
HonorsEssay#1:Contact

The Crusades refer to aseriesofeventsthat tookplacebeforethe Age ofExploration. Itwas

this period of time that the church had themostinfluenceonthelives ofthose who lived inEurope.
The church insisted on a twoworld mindset, the notion that suffrageonEarthwouldbeabsolvedin
Heaven. Because of this belief, people would commonly rely on the Church for answers to their
problems,anythingoutside ofthe Churchs influencewas discouraged,advertentlystallinganysortof
exploration. Technological advancements in Europe also halted during this period, dubbing it as the
DarkAges.Itwasntuntil1095whentheChurchrecognizedconflictthatthreatenedCatholicisminthe
Middle EastthatthePopedeclaredaholywarinordertoreclaim theHolyLand,anareainpresentday
Israel that is home to many religious sites. Though the events were meant to affirm the churchs
influence,itironically becamethe churchsatrophy.Crusaderswho tookpart inthe Crusadessailedto
the MiddleEast andinsteadofreturningreligiousglory tothechurch,broughtideasthatplantedseeds
of doubt in the churchs doctrines, such as mathematics, science, and philosophy. Theideasthatthe
Crusaders brought back challenged the twoworld heaven and earth mindset that the Church had
maintained.Peoplebegantoseetheworldmorerationally.
AscuriositypiquedtheChurchbegantoloseinfluencethiswaveofdissonancebecame known
as The Age of Enlightenment. The result of this spark led people to seek out theirownanswersfor
themselves, insteadof turningtowards the Church.Thetwoworldheavenandearthmindsetcrumbled,
thus replaced by a oneworld perspective thatpeoplefavored. Thisnewideathatwecould solveour
ownproblemsin thisworldbroketheinfluencethattheChurchhad,whichallowingforpeopletoseek
technology,andtrade.

 The Silk Roadwas anetwork oftraderoutes thatconnectedEuropetoAsia.Itwas Europes

prominent cusp of trade, as it made coveted commoditieslike silkandspices moreeasilyaccessible.
Spicessuchascinnamon,turmeric,pepper,andgingerwere greatlyvaluedfortheirabilitytopreserve
meat which made them essential for Europeans. When theOttomanEmpire conqueredtheByzantine
Empire in 1453 the Silk Road became treacherous, making trade arduous for the Europeans. The
blocking ofthe Silk Roadbecamethe catalystfortheAgeofExploration,asEuropenowdependedon
a new, faster way of getting to Asia. At this point, knowledge of the Earth being round became
apparent to the Europeans.Christopher ColumbussailedacrosstheAtlantic Oceanin 1492 hopingto
reach Asia, he instead inadvertently discovered theNewWorld.Columbusdiscoveryquicklyspread
throughoutEurope,thankstotheprinting press beingaccessible. Spain,Britain,andFranceresponded
bysendingfleetstoprospecttheNewWorld.
TheSpaniardscametotheNewWorldseekingreligiousandlargelyeconomicconquests.
EachsuperpowerthatcametoNorthAmericahadtheir ownmotivefor colonizingtheNewWorld, thus
affecting their treatment of the indigenous people. The Spanish in particular, had the most brutal
reputation when it came towards dealing with the Indians. The Spaniards previously had abusive
relationshipswith theMuslim population ofSpain,whichcontributedto theircruelnaturetowardsthe
Indians.Theygenerally thought ofthemselves assuperiortotheIndians,theSpanishwerearmed with
their religionafterall. TheyhadlittleregardtothenativesandinsistentlytriedtoconvertmanyIndians
to Christianity. Many Indians did not understand the Spanish language or refused, which gave the
Spanish justificationtoinflictmassmurderandplundering.TheSpanisheventuallyrelocatedIndiansto
undesirable parts of Mexican territory, which presently they remain unrecognized by the Mexican
government.
The Britishcameto thenewworldhoping toexpandtheirinfluenceandwealth.Sincereligion
wasntgenerallyone ofthe primaryreasonswhymostoftheEnglishmencameto North America,they

weremorekinder toadegreeintheirtreatmentoftheIndians.Theearlycolonistsfrequentlyswindled,
stole, and harassed local tribes, often into manipulating them into getting whattheywanted.Indians
were eventually given areas that were considered undesirable. Presently these became known as
reservations.UnlikeMexicohowever,theUnitedStatesfederallyrecognizedIndianpopulations.
The French,undeniably,hadthebest relationshipwiththeIndians.TheFrenchsoughtafterfur
and primarily were interested in expanding their economic influence in the New World, They
developed a relationship generally based on trade with the Indians. The Frenchhadtreatieswiththe
Indians,whichallowedthemtoremain independentastheirownnationsunderFrenchterritory. These
modernlybecamereferredtoasFirstNations.
The Jamestowncolonywasfounded in1607bythe Virginia Company, locatedinpresentday
Virginia.Thesuccessof theirestablishment wasduetotheircooperationwiththelocalPowhatantribe.
The settlers traded utensils and tools in exchange for corn and vegetables. Jamestown then became
dubbedasthefirstsuccessfulEnglishcolony.
The Virginia Company was mainly founded by wealthy landowners whose primary motives
were based economically. They were chartered by King James I who wanted to colonize the New
WorldinprospectofexpandingtheCrownsinfluence.
The Plymouth colony was founded by the settlers on board the Mayflower in 1620. It was
located in presentday Massachusetts. Whathad madethe colonysuccessfulwastheirtreatywith the
local Indian tribe that lived there. The settlers were abletolearnfromthe Indians sothat theycould
grow their own crops. Their relationship with the Indians was shortlivedhowever,astheybeganto
stealfoodfromlocaltribestosustaintheirsettlement.
The settlersaboardtheMayflowerwereknownasthePilgrims,agroupidentifyingthemselves
as separatists.ThePilgrimswerePuritans,asubgroup ofthe Anglican church.Theysoughttocleanse
what they believed to be Catholic influence, thus dubbing their name. The majorityof settlerssplit

fromthe mainland toseekreligiousfreedom,taking withthemtheir familiessothattheymaypractice

their beliefs awayfrom thepressuresofEngland.AsPuritanstheybroughtwiththemtheiridealstothe
NewWorld,whichtranslatedintoastrongworkethic.
The two settlements came to the New World seeking toaccomplish twodifferent goals.The
Pilgrims founded Plymouth finding religious freedom while the Virginia Company established
Jamestownforacquisitivemotives. Theimportantconclusiontodrawaboutthesetwocolonies,isthat
Plymouth settlers came prepared to settle in the New World, while the Jamestown colonists were
motivatedbyshortterm economicprospects.Thisdifferenceplayeda large rolein howbothcolonies
wereabletoendureorpersevere. SincethefailureoftheJamestowncolonywaslargelyinpartofhow
the majority of settlers were prospective landowners and investors. The Jamestown colonists were
unabletoselfgovern,whichwaswhytheycouldntoutlastthePlymouthcolony.
Puritan principles set by the Pilgrims eventually translated into independant themes in our
modern American culture. The Puritan values of freedom, abolition, and integrity, largely shaped
Northernideology.Presently,theseideasculmativelyshapeliberalleftwingideology.
Values held by the Jamestown settlers embodied Southern principles. Propriety, property,
capitalism, aristocracy, and culture, can be seen todayas modern rightwingconservative ideologies.
Thesestandards attributedtotheSouthernersstanceonslavery,whichtheyagreedwithbecausethey
thoughtofslavesbeingbetteroffwiththemworkingtheirplantations.
MoneyandGodplayasrelevantthemesthroughoutthecourseofU.S.History.
Aristocracywas prevalentintheearlyUnitedStates. Around thetimeperiodbeforetheRatificationof
the Constitution while keeping in mind the Bill of Rights had not yet been introduced yet, the U.S
governmentstoodtoserveaminorityofwealthycitizensthatownedproperty.Thisisstill,inaform,is
present in oursociety today. Inthisday andage,America has been facingaseverecaseof economic
inequality streaming from the wealthy upper class, middle class, and people living in poverty. The

richest 1% of Americans control nearly a third of ournations wealth,andthefiguresarereportedly

getting worse because the rich control that much of our economy. This calls forth the notion of
privilege, the wealthy argue that they haveearnedtheir wealth,whichpossiblyties intothePuritans
ideaofprivilege.ofhowGodintendedforpeopletobemoreprivilegedthanothers,.