Notes on Don't Know Much About History

Paraphrase ·      Page 27 In 1612 John Rolfe crossed Native Virginia tobacco with seed from a milder Jamaican leaf. ·      Page 29 Portugal started the slave trade. ·      Page 29-30 In 1620 the Mayflower landed with it’s boat load of pilgrims. ·      Page 31 “The first written constitution in North America” was the Mayflower Compact. ·      Page 35 Roger Williams was a religious nonconformist that disagreed with the principles of England’s official church. ·      Page 39 “Charles II granted his brother, the Duke of York, the largest and richest territorial grant ever made by an English monarch.” ·      Page 39 The Swedes didn’t do much in North America, but they did introduce the log cabin. ·      Page 40 The French were more into trade rather than permanent settlements. ·      Page 50 In 1637 the Puritans declared war on the Pequot Indians. ·      Page 57-58 In the 1740’s two powerful evangelists started the Great Awakening.

Analysis ·       This provided a crop for Virginia to sell back to Europe thus making Virginia a profitable colony. ·      Portugal used African slaves on the sugar plantations of the West Indies. This is influential because it created the Barbados slave code and influenced the treatment of slaves in America. ·      The Mayflower was way off course and therefore was able to create self government such as the Mayflower compact. ·      The Mayflower compact allowed for a template of future self-government in America. ·      Roger Williams was banished and founded Rhode Island, a colony for religious freedom. ·      The grant the Charles II gave to his brother included the already formed, New Amsterdam (made by the Dutch). This eventually dot turned into New York. It is important because it is very racially and religiously diverse (due to it being a sea port). ·      The log cabin is important because many pioneers used it as a quick form of a very warm house. Also, I live in a log cabin. ·      The French’s interest in trade rather than permanent settlements affected their relationship with the Natives in that area. Instead of taking Natives’ land they traded with the Natives and built good relationships. This will be important when the French and Indian war takes place. ·      The puritans wiped out the Pequot Indians completely. The Iroquis then realised that the English should not be trusted and they braced themselves for war. ·      The Great Awakening sparked new religious ideas and reforms. It added to American nationalism and colony pride. This influenced and set the stage for the American Revolution.