Document Summaries

The Black Robe
The clip from the Black Robe was an account of the 17th-century encounter between the Huron and Iroquois the French and the French Jesuit missionaries the native people called "Blackrobes". It showed how the Jesuits immersed themselves in the Native cultures to learn their way of life and language to further spread the Word of God. It also shed light on the French interaction focusing more on trade with the Native peoples and how those trades occurred.

Surviving Columbus
This film is about the history of the Acoma / Hopi / Pueblo Indians in New Mexico. It describes when the Spanish came north from Mexico and invaded their territory, how the soldiers forced the Indians to work and grow food for them, and how the missionaries worked to convert them to Catholicism, yet they practiced a mixed form combining their religion and still do to this day. It talked about the Americans pushing them to abandon their “beastly and uncivilized” beliefs in favor of American culture and how Hopi fought in WWII and weren’t allowed to vote when they got back.

The Other – Micmac Chief’s Observations of the French
This was a response of a Micmac chief to European arguments of cultural superiority. He points out the waste of houses compared to wigwams, questions the need of them, and mocks the inability transport the houses and lodge wherever they please. He claims they are happier without all the material possessions and rules. He questions France being a better country when they are all leaving it and speaks to all the work that goes into obtaining these materials when they can relax and enjoy life.

Terrible Transformations 1450-1750
The brutal roots of the American slave years are told in this film. Through first-hand accounts and witness testimony. It describes the how some slaves were owned by several African tribes and ventured hundreds of miles across Africa to then be sold to the European slave traders. Some describe the Middle Passage, from Africa to America, in which half of the human cargo perished. We heard accounts of the fear of and inability to understand the light haired European slave traders. The terrible treatment and conditions the Africans endured, whippings, laying in their own and others filth for days up to months without fresh air, people being thrown overboard, and slaves attempting to jump overboard themselves believing it was preferable. How indentured servants became slaves for life and how African slave’s children would inherit their status of slaves. I found Olauda Equiano’s statements particularly moving.

British America – Beginnings – The Starving Time
This excerpt by Captain John Smith, leader of the colonists in Virginia, speaks about the time after Smith returned to England and the struggles the colonists endured from hunger and hostilities with the Natives. He tells of 30 colonists being slain by the Patawomeke tribe, who revolted as soon as they learned Captain Smith was gone. He described how the Natives contributed nothing food-wise, but met them with violence and how the livestock were consumed by the officers or were stolen by the Natives. It describes how the people survived on roots, nuts and berries. The hunger got so bad that one man ate his wife.

McCusker & Menard’s The Economy of British America
This describes the different impacts the plantation and farm colonies have on the local development and economy. The plantation colony employs large numbers of low skilled workers, produces more revenue, but has little impact on the size of the domestic market. The plantation owners benefit from the revenue resulting in a highly uneven distribution of income. The plantation creates the raw goods and sells them overseas, and purchases or supplies any services/products needed itself. This does not create a need for business or services in the area and the economy does not develop. In the farm colony the distribution of income is much more