2. Encounters and Foundations to1800

3. Beginnings  What do you remember about Early America?  Make a concept map.  Anything goes!!

4. Early Explorers 1490s-1700  Arrival of European settlers into North and South America  There were others here first, various and diverse American Indians.  A relationship of interdependence between Europeans and settlers existed:  Europeans needed to learn survival skills.  Indians needed firearms, textiles, and steel tools.

5. Battling New Diseases  Arrival of European settlers had a deadly impact on American Indians.  Their descendents were not exposed to the same diseases. Europeans brought diseases here and wiped out Indian population.  “For want of bedding and linen and other helps..they fall into a lamentable condition as they lie on their hard mats, the pox breaking and mattering and breaking into one another…their skin cleaving by reason thereof to the mats they lie on…” -Of Plymouth Plantation

6. Appropriation of Land… “The so-called settlement of America was a resettlement, a reoccupation of a land made waste by the diseases and demoralization introduced by the newcomers.” -The Invasion of America (1975)

7. Stories about America were false  Despite the hardships explorers found, in their journals and letters home they focused on America’s: 1. abundant resources 2. peaceful and hospitable inhabitants 3. unlimited potential for wealth  Why? They lied hoping to recruit more people to make the settlement possible.

8. Important Dates  Mayflower Pilgrims at Plymouth, MA 1620.  Revolutionary War, 1775-1783.  Declaration of Independence: 1776

9. Puritans  Describe the following painting in detail.  What values do you think this society had based on this representation?

10. Puritans  Describe the following painting of a Deacon, or religious leader, in detail.  What values do you think this society had based on this representation?

11. Puritans  English Christians who wished to return to a simpler form of worship.  Bible was the law and meant to be taken literally. Looked for connections between bible and their own lives.  Experienced persecution in England: jailed, whipped, noses slit, and ears chopped off.  Sought America to enjoy religious freedom.

12. Puritan Beliefs  Believed most of humanity was damned for eternity.  However, God in His mercy, sent Jesus to save particular people known as the “elect”, or the chosen ones.  Lead pious lives and valued self-reliance, hard work, temperance, and simplicity.

13. Puritan Tenets  Providence: God’s supreme will.  Predestination: at the time of your birth, God knows if you are going to heaven. No amount of good works can save you.  Theocracy: system of government in which religious leaders rule in the name of God. Laws based upon rules in the bible.

14. Puritan World View  Believed people should enter freely into agreements in government.  However, only the saintly, or elect, people were fit to hold office.  Led simple lives without much entertainment. Valued simplicity and plain style in writing and communication.

15. 18 th Century: the Rationalists  In Europe, the Age of Reason, or the Enlightenment was occurring, led by prominent philosophers and scientists.  Rationalism: human beings can arrive at truth by using reason, rather than relying on the past, religious faith, or intuition.  Deism: belief in the existence of a supreme being, a creator, who does not intervene in the universe.  Sir Isaac Newton likened God to a clockmaker who having created the perfect mechanism of the universe left his creation to run on its own, like a clock.

16. The Rationalists  The world operates according to God’s rules, and through the use of reason, people can discover those rules.  People are basically good and perfectible.  People worship God best by helping others.  Human history is marked by progress toward a more perfect existence.

17. Compare  How did the Puritans differ from the Rationalists?  What beliefs and values did they have in common?

18. What do you think?  What does Perfection look like in 2010?  For a man? For a woman?  Who, to you, is closest to perfect?  Is it possible to attain perfection? Are human beings capable of perfection?  Why do you feel this way?