Sweet, ch. 4

How did Native Americans feel about sexual unions or marriage with blacks?

Sweet, ch. 3

What impact did the Great Awakening have on slaves and their religious conversion?

Sweet, chapter 2

Answer one of the following questions:

• How did slavery in the northern colonies differ from slavery in the Chesapeake and other southern colonies?
• How did New Englanders ethically come to terms with the practice of slavery?
• By what means did slaves try to secure their freedom in the North?
• What was the public image of African and African-American slaves in the New England mind?
  

Reverend Morgan Godwyn

Answer one of the following questions:

• What were Reverend Godwyn's chief arguments against the practice of slavery?
• What is Godwyn's view of the planter class?
• How does Godwyn's experience in both Barbados and Virginia shape his argument?

The first Africans in Virginia

What are the problems of evidence that face historians looking at the first generation of Africans in Virginia? How does Vaughan handle this problem?

The origins debate

In Vaughan's chapter, whose thesis about the origins of slavery and racism do you find most compelling and why?

Readings for 5/28

Re: Vaughan, ch. 8. Choose one of the questions below and answer in a paragraph.

1. What were the three main arguments about the Pequot War that Vaughan tried to refute in this essay?
2. What is Vaughan's interpretation of the causes of the Pequot War?
3. How does the time in which an author was writing affect his/her interpretation of the Pequot War? What is another example of a historical topic whose treatment might be influenced by the era in which it was being discussed?
   

Readings for 5/27

The questions below refer to Sweet, ch. 1 and Vaughan, ch. 10. Please choose one of the questions and answer in at least a paragraph.

1. According to John Wood Sweet, how did the Narragansetts' relationship with the English affect their political arrangements? What was the main drawback to having the English involved in Narragansett politics?
2. Other than in the political realm, where else does one see the "anglicization" of the Naragansetts? How did this affect the formation of racial identity?
3. What was the experience of Native American converts to Christianity in colonial New England?
4. What was the experience of English settlers who chose to live within Indian communities?
   

Open thread for Vaughan, chs. 1, 2 & 5

Since this week got off to a slow start for me, you need only make one comment for this past week. I will leave this as an open thread, which means I won't ask specific questions for you to answer. Instead, you can get your participation points this week simply by remarking about something you found interesting in the reading for the week. Did anything surprise you? Challenge ideas you had about Native Americans and the period of conquest? A brief comment (a few sentences, no more than a paragraph) will suffice for this week.

I hope everyone enjoys their Memorial Day weekend!