Homework One Answers - Student Thirteen

1. Which time period or periods in American History do you expect to enjoy studying the most? Why?

I am looking forward to studying the twentieth century, because it’s very interesting to see how America grows into a military and economic powerhouse.

Excellent. Several lectures will focus on the twentieth century.

2. When do you think Native Americans came here, and was it right for Europeans to settle here afterward?

I believe the native Americans probably came to North America when the continents split and drifted away, which would have been many thousands of years ago, There was nothing wrong with the fact that the Europeans settled in North America, however the ways that they dealt with the native Americans were reprehensible at times (violence, attacking peaceful native Americans, intentionally spreading disease among the native Americans.)

Good answer, but the claim that Europeans intentionally spread disease among the Native Americans is probably a liberal myth designed to smear the Christian Europeans. I don't think there's any evidence for the claim, and it seems implausible. At the time the germ theory of the spread of disease was not even known yet!

3. Christopher Columbus: overrated, or not given enough credit? Explain.

Christopher Columbus is not given enough credit nowadays. people tend to focus on his bad aspects for political purposes, while not realizing all the good that he did by rediscovering America, and establishing it, in addition to playing a key role in bringing Christianity to America.

Right. Superb answer.

4. True or false: the Puritans came to America in order to separate church from state (government). Explain.

False, the Puritans combined church and state, and executed or banished people who did not convert to Christianity. This is one of the reasons that Roger Williams took issue with that community, and founded Rhode Island as a colony that did separate church and state.

Terrific, but the banishment was not of people who did not convert to Christianity (Indians were there, for example), but of Christians who challenged Puritanical Christianity! (Minus 1)

5. Why do you think Philadelphia became the most populated city in North America by the mid-1700s, and the second most populated city (after London) in the entire British Empire?

Philadelphia was the most populated city in North America because of the fact that it allowed religious freedom. Unlike the puritans, it did not expel people that did not conform to Quaker beliefs, and secondly, Philadelphia adopted a more peaceful attitude when dealing with Indians, causing more Indians to flock to the city.

Good, but the nomadic Indians were not a significant part of the city population. See model answers when ready. (Minus 1)

6. In what ways did the colonies help build the economic strength of England?

The biggest way that England profited from the colonies was through mercantilism, which is when a country limits imports from other countries except for colonies, and exports to everyone. In addition to this, England would have the colonies collect raw materials and send them back to England, where England would sell them for a large profit. England profited a lot from mercantilism, because by having the colonies buy the finished product they would make money off of the colonies for doing little to nothing. In addition to importing a ton of products from the colonies, they would have an economic advantage over other countries, because they could continue to export products to the other countries, but they would not import as many products to other countries because they could get most of their products from the colonies, so the other countries would not be getting as much money from England due to the reduced imports, while they would still be buying products from England.

Excellent!

Honors

7. Identify one or more colonies for which the King of England revoked their charters and retook control over them. Why?

In 1624 King James revoked the royal charter of the Virginia colony because it was not being managed correctly. There had been numerous rebellions, plus they relied on enslaving workers, conflicted with the Indians numerous times, especially by the Powhatan empire, Around five thousand Virginians died in 1622 due to disease and the massacres by the Powhatan.

Good answer, but the English did not stop the use of slaves. In fact, England profited immensely from the slave trade. (Minus 1)

8. Discuss any of the debate or discussion topics from the lecture. were the Puritans right to be strict and to expel people of other religions?

I believe it was contradictory of the Puritans to expel people of other religions. If they call themselves Christians and follow Christ, they would not have arbitrarily excluded others based on their belief system—if you recall the parables from the Bible, Christ would not exclude Samaritans, gentiles, or Jews based on their religion. In particular one parable where a man is wounded after being attacked by robbers, and a priest passes him on the road without helping, and then a Samaritan passes him and bandages his wounds and helps him recover, it is clear that a Christian is not supposed to exclude others because they are a different race or religion.

Other passages do support expelling people, as in the letters of Paul and Jesus himself in advising disciples to shake the dust of their shoes and leave a town if it does not accept them. Also, there is an important right to freedom of association, which entails expelling folks as needed. (Minus 1)

9. Learning from the experience of the early settlements and colonies, how might our homeschooling community improve today?

I believe that we can learn from a colony such as Philadelphia, and not exclude others based on their religious beliefs. Too much of the time I encounter homeschoolers who refuse to speak to Muslims, or decide that since some Muslims do bad things, then all Muslims must be reprehensible. We can still do this while retaining our values, we don’t have to adopt other religions as our own, we just have to be open to theirs

Superb answer to the question.

Joseph M.

Grade: 86/90. Great start to the course!--Andy Schlafly 12:46, 13 February 2011 (EST)