Gray GBS3299 Blogs

  The documentary   Gold, Silver & Slaves  is about the slave trade and the exportation of the slaves. Great Britain leads the world in the human exportation of human cargo. It was the African kings who would sell their own people to the Europeans. They sold over 12 million people to the Europeans. Bristol England was the main port that the ships of the slave trade would travel from. Many people in Bristol do not want the city to be remembered by their past. They sweep it all under the carpet like it did not even happen. The city officials wanted to burry that history and not let the past haunt the city. It is crazy to think that people would try and forget what happened. Especially in the city that was the main hub for all the ships and slave traders in Europe. “The city authorities have long resisted efforts, especially by the black communities to mark its slave-trading past” (Timeline-World History Documentaries, Gold, Silver & Slaves). The city is said to have...

Oroonoko  by Aphra Behn is a story about how a young prince and his wife are slaves in Surinam. Oroonoko and is wife Imoinda are originally from a place called Coramantien which is present-day Ghana. Oroonoko is a prince in Coramantien with his grandfather as the king. The king wants Imoinda as his wife which she cannot refuse the royal veil from the king. Oroonoko who is heartbroken decides to break into the otan where Imoinda is kept to break her out. The king ends up catching them both and Oroonoko flees. Imoinda is then sold into slavery but the king told Oroonoko is told that she has been put to death. A captain from Britain arrives in Coramantien to buy slaves. Oroonoko is tricked by the captain and takes Oroonoko and his guest captive. Due to Oroonoko's high social status and his education he is never sent to work and is told that he will be freed once lord-governor Willoughby arrives in Surinam. Imoinda and Oroonoko then meet once again and fall in love. Imoinda becomes pre...

  The Valladolid debate is about slavery in the new Spanish colonies. The two sides discussed whether the natives of the land should be slaves and should stay as slaves. The other side of the argument said that these people are Spanish subjects. They believed that they should be treated as equals to the Spaniards since they are part of the Spanish colony. The natives did not put up much of a fight when the Spanish conquered the land. The Spanish had guns, horses, and more men to overpower the natives. The Spanish also brought diseases which the natives could not fight off. The Spanish also used the encomienda system in the new territories that they conquered. “The encomienda system is a way of granting groups of indigenous people to specific Spaniards. Encomiendar means to entrust and it’s a reciprocal system where the Spaniard's give Christianity, civilization, and protection to a group of indigenous people in exchange for tribute from the people. This can be in the form of labor ...

Sir Walter Raleigh was a knight, captain of her majesty’s guard, and held in high regard to the British Empire. The discovery of Guiana started on the sixths of February in 1595. The crew directed their ships in the direction of Trinidad. Once landed in Trinidad, they realized how important the land was for growing crops and holding animals. “the soil is very excellent, and will bear sugar, ginger, or any other commodity that the Indies yield. It hath store of deer, wild pork’s, fruit, fish, and fowl” (The Discovery of Guiana, Sir Walter Raleigh). Eventually, Sir Walter Raleigh started off to the empire of Guiana which is directly east from Peru towards the sea. It has been said that it has more gold than any other parts of Peru. “it hath more abundance of gold than any part of Peru, and as many or more great cities than ever Peru had when it flourished most” (The Discovery of Guiana, Sir Walter Raleigh). The empire of Guiana has the same laws, emperor, and religion as the rest of Peru...

     In the documentary Christopher Columbus, researchers believe that Columbus's had landed on the island of San Salvador. The island matches the description from Columbus’ logs, and there have been remnants found on the island from Spain. “It looks like I have found what appears to be a coin” (Clark’s History Reels. “Christopher Columbus”). Almost all of the natives of the island died from European disease and exploitation. Columbus was convinced that he had landed somewhere on the coast of China. He was originally looking to land on Japan, but he thought he was landing on the islands surrounding Japan. “Along with finding a new route to the Orient, spreading Christianity was one of Columbus’ primary intentions” (Clark’s History Reels. “Christopher Columbus”). Columbus left crosses along the coast, he did this for Spain and to Christen the land. Any natives who did not conform to Christianity were burned at the stake. They told the natives that only Christians can find ...

 The article Post- Colonial Theory discusses the end of the European colonial empire. "The dismantling of the structures of colonial control, beginning in earnest in the late 1950s and reaching its high point in the 1960s, constituted a remarkable historical moment." ( Childs 1) This is the point in history where countries started to gain independence and their freedom from the colonizing world powers. A colonizing power at one time may have only been a colony. The United States was at one time a colony but is now a world power, along with Latin America. "We use the term 'post-colonial', however, to cover all the culture affected by the imperial process from the moment of colonization to the present day". (Childs 3) Postcolonialism is more than just the large European colonial empires such as the British, French, Dutch, Spanish,  it is also more present-day post-colonial movements such as India and Cuba. So where does did post-colonialism take place? In the ...

The documentary " Tongues of Heaven"  is about how the indigenous people of Asia languages are starting to disappear. The old languages are being substituted for more popular languages like Chinese. With these languages starting to disappear so are the native people’s cultures and traditions. Only a select few young people want to learn the old indigenous languages so they can be passed on to the next generation. Without these few young people learning their native language the entire indigenous language will disappear. It is difficult for people from these small villages to teach their language and culture to new people because there are not many people in these villages. Most people in the villages are relatives of each other, so it is difficult to have more children. Many of the younger people in the villages do not want to stay and they rather move to a larger city. “I really like it here. Whether I leave to go study or do other things” ("Tongues of Heaven.", di...