Dbq Essay On The Pilgrims

He describes that “Eastern Indians had observed autumnal harvest celebrations for centuries” (Loewen 90). This fact makes more sense considering students have always been taught that the Pilgrims feasted as a celebration, but they actually learned these new traditions from the Indians. Loewen informs the reader that the Pilgrims were not even included in the Thanksgiving tradition until the 1890s. He also includes that the Pilgrims were not even called “Pilgrims” until the 1870s.

In the text it states “ I had gotten into a world of bad spirits” (Equiano 58). Equiano referred to his captors as bad spirits because as soon as he arrived on the boat he was roughed up by the captors. He called the captors savages because he had never been around people like them. In the text Bradford states “ He directed them how to set their corn where to take fish and produce other commodities” (Bradford 11). This shows how the pilgrims became accustomed to being around the Native Americans. They were so kind to them that the Pilgrims were no longer scared , and they learned skills to live.

The Pilgrimage of Grace was a religious uprising in York, England which started in late 1536 and finished in early 1537, where people lead by Yorkshire lawyer Robert Aske staged protests and demonstrations in opposition to King Henry VIII’s dissolution of monasteries and break from the Catholic Church. This rebellion was mostly aimed at Thomas Cromwell, who was Henry’s High Chancellor; and many of these marchers influenced Cromwell’s policies. The participants of the Pilgrimage of Grace had a goal to reinstate the Catholic Church, and a concern of the economic impacts caused by losing monasteries; those who opposed the movement had a goal to punish leaders and anyone associated with the movement and a political concern of losing power for

The first Americans came from Asia, beginning as early as thirty thousand years ago, over a land bridge that formed at the Bering Strait during the Ice Age. The new immigrants were hunters and gatherers, and over a period of fifteen thousand years various groups spread over the American continents. By the time of the European “discovery” of the New World, there were perhaps as many as 100 million native Americans, the vast majority living in Central and South America.

The European colonists and the Native Americans of North America had very different views on nearly everything they encountered in their lives. Living in vastly different cultures lead both groups to have two extremely different outlooks on four main topics; religious beliefs, the environment, social relations, and slavery, differences which the colonists used to their advantage when conquering the peoples of the New World.

There are many reasons Native Americans and European Colonists did not have a good relationship. The reason for conflict between Colonist and Indians was due to the Colonists insatiable greed for power and land. Some of the reasons not only included physical mistreatment but also an ethical mistreatment of the Native Americans. European Colonists not only brought with them many different diseases that would later aid in the genocide of many Native American tribes, but also a mindset in which they felt superior to there Native neighbors. This feeling of superiority led to an outbreak of violence and many different civil wars. Due to the Native American and the Colonists irreconcilable

The creation the Mayflower compact was a very significant event in the history of the United States because of its example of a the first type of government in North America. The Mayflower Compact was draw up by a group of people known as Pilgrims in 1620. These people, mostly English, were in search of more religious freedom and better lives in the New World. 100 pilgrims began this journey in September of 1620 (History.com staff). Before, landing in New England, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact. This legal document created “just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices” (History.com staff). This was the first example of a self-government in the New World. The founding fathers would later use many of the ideas in the Mayflower Compact in other governing documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Through these examples, it is clear that the Mayflower Compact is significant to American history because it provided many ideas of self government that are still used in our governing documents today.

Native Americans had inherited the land now called America and eventually their lives were destroyed due to European Colonization. When the Europeans arrived and settled, they changed the Native American way of life for the worst. These changes were caused by a number of factors including disease, loss of land, attempts to export religion, and laws, which violated Native American culture.

The Mayflower Compact, written and signed in 1620 by forty-one white men aboard a ship called the Mayflower, provided basic laws for those who first arrived in America. Eventually the thirteen colonies expanded, which brought an economical benefit and expanded trade for Britain. However, in the mid-1700s, Britain pushed the colonists to their limits, imposing them with unfair taxes. As a result, in 1775, colonists revolted in the American Revolution. When the war ended, colonists gained their freedom, from Britain, with the signing of The Treaty of Paris (1783).

In what way is the “unlikely pairing of histories” at the thanksgiving celebration especially American? For many years, it has been a tradition for American to sit around the table and tell stories of the past and which we’ve overcome.

The colonies had developed a strong sense of their identity and unity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution. The Pre-Revolutionary Period showed how the English colonies buckled down and united. They grew into one major entity which was not going to be taken for a fool, especially not by England.      When England engaged in the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the colonies and their mother country joined together to fight the French. The colonies used popular images to entice people to join the war effort.

     Religion was a very important part of everyday life in colonial America. Sometimes people were not allowed to question what they were taught, and if they did so they were punished accordingly. Before 1700 some colonies had more religious freedom then others. While others colonies only allowed religious freedom to a select group, others allowed religious freedom to all different kinds of religions. In the overall there was quite a bit of religious freedom in colonial America

The life of Irish immigrants in Boston was one of poverty and discrimination. The religiously centered culture of the Irish has along with their importance on family has allowed the Irish to prosper and persevere through times of injustice. Boston's Irish immigrant population amounted to a tenth of its population. Many after arriving could not find suitable jobs and ended up living where earlier generations had resided. This attributed to the 'invisibility' of the Irish.

In one basic respect, the Pilgrims are a logical outcome of the Reformation. This alliance was dangerous, as Separatist were often arrested, imprisoned, even hanged for treason on the orders of King James I of England. When Bradford and his fellow separatist heard King James I was intending to “harry them for the land”, (Kelso, 2005) the entire congregation fled to the Netherlands.

The concept of American national identity has been one of the founding structures that unifies the group of people that that call and consider themselves to be American. Since the “founders” of this nation settled in New England their patriotism has been celebrated. The legendary story of how the Puritan Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock seeking religious freedom is often taught to young children as a way to help them learn one of the key narratives in the formation of the nation. The story is even more glorified when linked to the greatly loved holiday of Thanksgiving, where the peaceful Pilgrims eat a peaceful meal with the friendly Indians. However, it is never told of how the friendly Indians were betrayed, used, degraded, and in many cases, defeated by the peaceful Pilgrims. During the 19th century, a time of Indian removal and other forms of structural oppression, William Apess addressed how that portion of history was neglected to be told and therefore took matters into his own hands to give the proper historical moment to Native Americans. The hidden and untold story of violence of the Pilgrims continues to this day.