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Journal 1 HIST 1301
United States History I (HIST 1301)
Central Texas College
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Entry 1
“Indians” settled the New World between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago. North and South American societies built roads, trade networks, and irrigation systems. North American Indians lacked literacy, wheeled vehicles, metal tools, and scientific knowledge necessary for long distance navigation. The idea of owning private property was foreign to Indians. Indians believed land was a common resource, not an economic commodity. Wealth mattered little in Indian societies and generosity was far more important. Europeans felt that Indians lacked genuine religion. Europeans claimed that Indians did not “use” the land and thus had no claim to it. Europeans viewed Indian men as weak and Indian women as mistreated.
Entry 2
King James considered tobacco “harmful to the brain and dangerous to the lungs” and issued a warning against the use of it. Europeans really enjoyed smoking and believed the tobacco plant had medical benefits. Tobacco became Virginia’s gold. It blossomed to an emerging class of tobacco planters. By 1624, more than 200,000 pounds were being grown. Tobacco inspired a get rich quick attitude. The expansion of tobacco cultivation also led to an increased demand for field labor, which was met by young male servants. Of the 120,000 English immigrants who entered the Chesapeake region during the seventeenth century, three quarters of them came as servants. Virginia’s society became to resemble that of England’s; with the wealthy land owners at the top, groups of small farmers who were mostly previous servants that managed to acquire land in the middle, and poor laborers and servants at the bottom.
Entry 3
The belief in magic, astrology, and witchcraft was widespread in the seventeenth century. They interpreted expressions God’s will, such as events like lightening striking one house and not another, epidemics. Witches were people accused of making deals with the devil to obtain supernatural powers to harm others or interfere with natural processes. In such a time of strict religion, rebellion like this was bound to occur. In the colonies, witchcraft was punishable by execution. It was estimated that between the years of 1400 and 1800, more than 50,000 people were executed in Europe for practicing witchcraft. Until 1692, the prosecution of witches was sporadic. A series of trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts that year. The crisis began when several young girls began suffering from nightmares, which was attributed to witchcraft by others. Since the only way to avoid prosecution was to confess and name others, accusations of witchcraft began to spread. Local authorities took legal action against 150 people and 14 women and 5 men were executed by hanging.
Entry 4
Germans formed the largest group of newcomers to America from the European continent. Most of them came from the valley of the Rhine River. In the eighteenth century, Germany was divided into numerous small states, with each state ruled by a prince who determined the official religion of that state. Those that were found worshipping the wrong religion in that state were persecuted. Many Germans decided to migrate because of this. Wherever the Germans moved,
they tended to travel with their entire family. Millions of Germans decided to leave their homes in the eighteenth century. Although most of them migrated east to Austria-Hungary or Russia, many decided to make the passage to America. English and Dutch merchants created a system that allowed indentured German families to work off their debt in America. The German’s arrival in the colonies greatly enhanced the ethnic and religious diversity. This is why America is often referred to as a melting pot of culture.
Entry 5
It took a long time before slavery was abolished. During the time around the late 1700s slavery was very much popular and the business of it was thriving. In America, it existed in every colony and it was the basis of the economy and social structure. It wasn’t just southern planters and merchants, but nearly every founding father of the colonies owned slaves at some point in their life. Thomas Jefferson actually owned more than one hundred slaves when he wrote the Declaration of Independence and the part on mankind about their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit to happiness. Many argue that slavery actually made freedom possible for the whites. Owning slaves offered opportunity to grow financially. On the contrary, slaves appreciated freedom being defined as a human right because it gave them hope and they used that as a weapon to escape their bondage.
Entry 6
Most men still considered women to be submissive and unfit for citizenship. Discussion of women’s rights were nonexistent and when women were brought up it was for their roles, duties, and obligations as women. Women’s rights were unpolitical, their rights derived from their roles as wives and mothers. Women may not have had political rights, but they played an even greater role as mothers in training the next generation of Americans. Republican motherhood ruled out direct female involvement in politics. Women required a sufficient education to be able to instruct their children in the current American principles of liberty and government. Republican motherhood also reinforced the idea of marriage as a companionship held together by intimacy and affection, rather than male dominance. John Adams’ wife Abigail Adams wrote in a letter to her husband saying that men should lose, “the harsh title of Master for the more tender and endearing one of Friend.” Family structure changed after the revolution.
Entry 7
Slaves have been around since the beginning of human history. Slaves were a part of ancient Greek and Rome societies, as well as Germans, Vikings, and Anglo-Saxons. Christians were also held as slaves in human history. Pirates from the waters of North Africa used to seize Christians from ships and use them as slaves. In America, slavery was based on a plantation. American slaves were a crucial part of the agriculturally based economy. The unbalance between the number of slaves and the single owner raised hopes of resistance in the American slave community. One owner could potentially own hundreds of slaves. They were kept under control by fear. Those slaves that did escape their bondage, were still considered unworthy of being equal in society because of their skin color.
Journal 1 HIST 1301
Course: United States History I (HIST 1301)
University: Central Texas College
