Sunday, September 9, 2007

Ch. 1 (revised)

My older post, which I posted yesterday at around 3 is gone, I'm not sure why, maybe it didn't publish. So here it is, partially revised:

With European conquests in the Americas, especially the Spanish explorers, natives (and the non-native Africans, later on) were exploited and forced to work for the invaders. The Spaniards became overwhelmed with greed, therefore attempting to accumulate as much wealth as possible, not hesitating to kill for gold they believed was rightfully theirs. For instance, as mentioned in both the Taylor and Bailey books, Cortés managed to plunder the Aztec metropolis of Tenochtitlan, taking all the gold, but also taking most of the lives of the 300,000 natives that lived there. The natives, once taken over, were forced to farm and trade with the Spaniards against their will, with a new religion and cultural lifestyle forced upon them. Another instance of the exploit was with farming and gathering crops, especially sugarcane around the Caribbean, which was mainly worked by Africans that had been captured or traded, and brought over by Europeans to work.

1 comment:

Ms. Chipman said...

Erin,

You have interesting and detailed info, but where is the cause and effect relationship? That is your argument (essentially thesis) for this paragraph. It should be up-front and center and should drive all of your writing.