QUESTIONS
ON ALAN TAYLOR’S “CANADA AND IROQUOIA, 1500 –
1650”
(assignment 9)
Readings
available on blackboard
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 13, the file name would be:
hussein_sa_9.doc
THIS
IS ASSIGNMENT 9
| |
Timing
This homework should take you between 2 hours and
fifteen minutes and 2 hours and forty minutes to
do: at least 63 minutes to do the reading (@ 3 minutes/page)
and one hour to do the questions, and 12 minutes to prepare
for the quiz. |
I will grade only 6 of the following questions;
that 5 will certainly include questions 1, 3, 4, and 6 and two more
questions chosen at random. ANY QUESTION YOU DON'T ANSWER, HOWEVER,
WILL BECOME ONE OF THE QUESTIONS I GRADE.
Question 1, 3, and 10 require synthesizing information from several
pages; moreover, these questions should be considered "long
answer" questions and will require more writing.
1) Ethno-centric French traders in the 17th century,
as Taylor notes, often liked to think of the Native Americans they
encountered as “perpetual children.” Today, romantic
visions of the Native American past often portray Indians as equally
helpless. For example, such visions of Indians often suggest that
they could not control their desires for the material goods and
alcohol that came with the Europeans.
What evidence does Taylor present that debunks (that is,
proves wrong) both of these remarkably similar conceptions
(the 17th century ethnocentric & 21st century romantic) of helpless
native peoples?
Be specific and provide examples.
(to be clear: Taylor does not
think either of these two similar conceptions
of Native Americans is accurate)
2) How did Native and French visions of the relationship
between trade and diplomacy differ? USE YOUR
OWN WORDS
3) (3 part question)Taylor writes on p. 98 that for many
native groups, “market incentives overwhelmed the inhibitions
of animism.”
Carefully
explain what Taylor means by:
(3A)
“inhibitions of animism”
DO
NOT SIMPLY DEFINE "INHIBITIONS" OR "ANIMISM."
CLEARLY SPECIFY WHAT THE PHRASE MEANS IN THIS CONTEXT IN THE READING--
explain to me which actions by whom got inhibited
by what ideas and why? USE YOUR OWN WORDS (
in·hib·it, vt to stop something from continuing
or developing)
(3B)
“market incentives” Again, don't
just define the words -- clearly specify what the phrase means in
this particular context. Being specific here requires
specifying which incentives for whom produced by which market for
which goods. USE YOUR OWN WORDS
(3C) Thinking about your answers above, carefully
explain how and why “market incentives” overwhelmed
“inhibitions of animism." Be specific and provide examples.
USE YOUR OWN WORDS
4) What had the Hurons done in their own territory
that encouraged them to stop being hunters of beaver and become
instead the commercial middle-men of beaver pelts in the North East?
USE YOUR OWN WORDS
5 ) What
social role did torture play among the Five Nations? USE
YOUR OWN WORDS
6) In the mid-17th century the Iroquois attacked their neighbors
with warfare -- as Taylor notes -- of "nearly genocidal
proportions." Taylor, in contrast to some historians, doesn't
think these wars are best described as "Beaver Wars,"
but rather prefers the term "Mourning Wars." Why
does Taylor think "Mourning Wars" is the more accurate
phrase than "Beaver Wars"? Be specific and provide
examples. USE YOUR OWN WORD
7) Why did commercial incentives mean that both the French and the
Iroquois were unwilling to make peace with each other? USE
YOUR OWN WORDS
8) Is it accurate to describe Europeans in this part of the New
World during this period as racist? Why or Why not? USE
YOUR OWN WORDS
9) Why did the particular form Christianity practiced by the Jesuits
make it easier for the “Black Robes” to integrate themselves
into Native society than it was for Protestant Ministers?
READ CAREFULLY!!! DO NOT CONFUSE THE JESUITS' PREDECESSORS
IN THE NEW WORLD WITH THE PROTESTANTS. USE YOUR OWN WORDS
10) The
Jesuits demands of "cultural concessions" (such as ending
the torture rituals) from the Hurons undermined unity in Huronia;
why didn't the Hurons simply expel the troublesome French?
(A helpful hint: pay close attention to the readings
on the topic of threats to cultural unity in Huronia; this information
will help you in an upcoming extra-credit assignment) USE
YOUR OWN WORDS
"end of assignment"