We spent the majority of today talking about history. In particular, we noted the basic method we use to study historical events: using documents. Primary source documents are the originals from the time, and reflect the actions of people at the moment of history. Secondary documents are based on primary documents, and are written after the fact. There are even tertiary documents based on secondary documents, like many history textbooks.
In this case, the benefit of examining such documents is it allows us to evaluate what really happened in almost mythic events set in our nations history. In particular, one of the founding myths of America is the helpful and loving Indian Princess: Pocahontas. Most of us are familiar with her story. Out of love, she saves John Smith from execution. But what really happened?
In class, we started by examining two clips from movies that try to depict this event. The first is Disney's Pocahontas. In this, angry and fearful natives are about to kill Smith, but a loving and pacifistic Pocahontas intervenes to save him.
We discussed these as a class, and the final question of the text is due as a CAR on Thursday, as are the SARs for the Columbian Invasion text.
pocahontas.docx |