Short Answer Questions
( homework 6)

Note:

(1) assignments appear in the syllabus on the day assigned, not the day due

(2) You must submit your written work by blackboard

(3) BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE FILE-NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR THIS COURSE (5% penalty if you do not).

All files should be saved on your computer as: your last name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the first two letters of your first name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the assignment number. So if a student named Saddam Hussein were to submit assignment number 10, the file name would be:

hussein_sa_6.doc

THIS IS ASSIGNMENT 6

 


SHORT ANSWER QUESTION

ON

TIGNOR, WORLDS TOGETHER, WORLDS APART, P. 102

(text available here, starting from "Spain's Tributary Empire")

 

MAKING SENSE OF P. 102

In this page, the authors of this textbook describe an interesting phenomenon, but use some fairly and unnecessarily complex language. In this question, we will decode their writing.

First, we need to know what "tributary" means. The word comes from "tribute," which is a payment in money or other valuables made by one ruler or group of people to another as the price of peace, usually after having been conquered.

Next, let's examine what "decapitated" means in this context. To decapitate a person is to behead them; what might it mean to decapitate a polity?

Finally, the authors use the word "extant" -- this word just means something not destroyed, lost, or extinct. So, "extant commercial systems" here refers to something that predated the Spanish conquest. You might also have to look up the word "dismantle" if you don't know what it means.

THE QUESTION

Using the discussion above to make better sense of the passage, answer the following question with a paragraph of at least four sentences--be sure to organize your paragraph around the familiar claim/evidence/warrant format.

"Why is it INaccurate to describe the Spanish conquest in the New World as largely pushing aside native societies and replacing them with Spanish rule and practices?"