Analysis Of The Book ' 1491 ' By Charles C. Mann

Charles C. Mann is a very credible source in my opinion. Mann uses many historical references in his book 1493 that give me a reason to believe that he is a credible source. Mann often presents his research from other sources and then expresses his opinion on their research. Mann also goes to historians and reads other historical books dealing with Cristoper Columbus and the colonization of the Americas.As previously stated Mann is a credible source if you are intrested in find out more information on the colonization o the Americas.

It has been thought for many years that the Americas were a vastly unpopulated land until Columbus came. However new evidence disputes this previously thought notion. Archeologist, who have been studying the remains of Native American culture, have found evidence suggesting that the Indians were in the Americas for much longer and in greater numbers than what was believed. This new evidence shows us the impact the Europeans had on the New World and gives us insight into what the Americas were like before the Europeans and what they may have been had the Europeans never settled here.

The cultural and societal intricacies of the Pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas have been remarkably misinterpreted for centuries. In his novel 1491, Charles C Mann challenges the common misconception that these people roamed the Americas without leaving so much as an anthropogenic footprint prior to the re-colonization by Europeans. He clearly debunks this myth by providing evidence from several different fields, that the indigenous people interacted directly with the environments they lived in. Mann conclusively argues that these people were misunderstood due to the complexity of their societies, by showing that native peoples of the Americas sculpted the environments they inhabited.

For many years they have been arguments and different perspectives on what happened to the once fruitless and powerful civilization in the Americas. In Mann and Miller’s novels, both discuss varying answers such as the lack of natural resources, war, sickness, and other such factors that could have been the reason for cities such as those that could withstand the test of time in horrific conditions and locations can suddenly just collapse.

Many historical events were created when the Europeans first came to the Americas. The Europeans brought many diseases, animals, new technologies, and their political structures in the Americas, or the New World. In the book Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond states many arguments about these events. This paper will take you through different topics about the Europeans and their culture and agriculture in the Americas. In this paper I will be talking about diseases that came from Europe to Americas, then I will talk about animals that were diffused to America. After that I will talk about Europeans developing a political structure in the Americas. Finally, to end of the paper, I will talk about maritime technology. In this paper I will

In this book, the writer tries to achieve the titanic venture of deconstructing the myth that encompasses the starting points of America and subsist into the present as a philosophy. This philosophy has verifiably upheld the dispossession of Native Americans from their genealogical grounds, and propagated to the present day the uncalled for relationship between the relatives of the individuals who came and of the individuals who were

As we all know, America was very different before the Europeans came. Exactly how different, most probably don’t know. They know that the Native Americans were more developed than the Euros originally thought, but exactly how developed were they? Actually, they were more civilized than the Spanish, French, and other Old World countries that systematically wiped out many species of animal only found in America. There were tribes that had achieved peace amongst themselves, others that had created wondrous structures or landmarks, and all had complex religions. Some were nomadic, and others were set on where they were, with agriculture,

At the nineteenth century as new immigrants from around the world came to North America to settle in these new states called the United States as they filled in much of this land in the new territory the old natives of this area were forced to travel westward and try their best to keep their land. Most people claimed that the Indians were “vanishing” as they could not adapt to these new Europeans lifestyles while others argued that it would not happen. In the end, we see that the Indians survived through a huge act of extinction toward their society, while the reader looks back at evidence of Indian life, it is obviously seen that the predictors of the Indians demise were smart as they used evidence to support their claims while others on the opposing side did have good views. However the evidence that has been prompted through time proved that the prediction of annihilation of Native Americans was an obvious choice during this time and was not a shortsighted bias.

“Nearly one billion people today call the Americas home, inhabiting territories that stretch from the wide expanses of Canada and the United States, down through Mexico and Central America, and south through the varied landscapes of South America to Chile—from sparsely populated regions to some of the most crowded cities on the planet.” How the Americas became populated is a highly debated topic even to today. Many anthropologists debate on who were the first people, what path was taken, and even where they first settled. These debates have created many theories and allow for new evidence to be discovered and explained. Through the discoveries of tools from sites around the world, I will introduce the main theory of how the Americas were populated and how new found evidence has overturned what was previously believed.

No written history means much of Native American history is unknown, causing misconceptions and stereotypes about Native Americans to exist. Royal also discusses the name of this group that people label today as “Native Americans.” He questions, “ ‘America’ was a name formed in the wake of another Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. It is difficult to see how being named after an Italian is less Eurocentric than being named after an East Native American” (Royal 46). The discussion about their name shows Europe’s influence on the Americas; it also shows that Native Americans yearn for their own identity without Europe’s input.

2) North American native peoples: The native peoples of North America were living in small, scattered, and impermanent settlements on the eve of the europeans’

In the Spanish, French, and European colonization of North and South America, it either benefited or ravaged tribal societies and their peoples. Through the 16th-19th centuries, the Native Americans populations declined in the following ways: epidemic diseases brought from Europe; violence and warfare. During the prospect of exploration, Thomas Jefferson viewed American Indians as people with the possibly of “Enlightenment” and from a political standpoint either they were enemies of war or allies in peace. While the United States had set a precedent to explore new lands in its short history, native peoples’ who had inherited lands through generations of migration, tribe exploration, and hunting and gathering were now in jeopardy forcefully or ceding their lands through new American policies. As stated by Thomas Jefferson, “The Indian tribes residing within the limits of the United States, have, for a considerable time, been growing more and more uneasy at the constant diminution of the territory they occupy, although effected by their own voluntary sales” [Present in the Past, 79].

Presented with the following statement: “The Europeans were the first civilized people to arrive in North America” one can only apprehend how false this statement can appear amid being contrasted to Mesoamerican progresses like the Olmecs. Granted, this could never be a factual rationale, on the account of, the amended concepts of the ancient peoples of North America.

To begin, much of the information read throughout these chapters was new information presented to me. Reading these articles answered some questions that I had about history and triggered more questions that are unanswered. Questioning how Columbus got “lucky” in the discovery of America or where race originated from, are some of the things I wondered as I read. Thinking about how different life could have been if even the slightest bit of history was changed is interesting. What if Africa discovered America? In the text, “Before 1492”, it states that other continents may have treated the Native Americans the same way if they came to America.

After reading this chapter and especially where the author mentions Columbus, I learnt about the insight into civilization in America where Columbus was at its center as it is recorded in history that he was the discoverer of America. The knowledge that I gained after reading this chapter further helped me to understand how civilization occurred in various parts of the world and particularly the settlement and technological advancement