Answer the following question in a 300-500 word essay (about 1 to 2 pages), using the quotes or paraphrased points from Charles Mann, “1491” (included in the same folder where you found this lecture):
- Why did Native Americans in North America have a ‘history’ (i.e. their societies changed over time) before Europeans arrived in 1492? Provide 3 examples to prove how Native American society changed over time.
To answer:
- Include a shortened version of your answer to the question in your first paragraph (this is a ‘thesis’)
- Summarize and choose selective quotes or paraphrased examples that help prove your answer from the Charles Mann, “1491” excerpt posted below. You may also use friday’s lecture to answer the question.
- Have at least two examples, and give each example a full paragraph each, so you can explain how they prove your argument fully.
- Conclude by re-stating your argument and how you proved it with examples
- If you cite the Mann reading, put (Mann, [page number]) at the end of the quote/paraphrased point. If you cite the lecture, write (lecture) at the end.
Some tips about the Charles Mann, “1491” reading:
- ‘Holmberg’s Mistake’ – the idea that Native peoples always lived in an unchanged, relatively primitive, harmony with nature
- Husbandry – the purposeful care, breeding, and raising of animals
- ‘game’ – wild animals used for meat
- Author’s thesis is in the third paragraph:
- “Native Americans’ interactions with their environments were as diverse as Native Americans themselves, but they were always the product of a specific historical process….Indians worked on a very large scale, transforming huge swathes of the landscape for their own ends. Sifting through the evidence, it is apparent that many though not all Indians were superbly active land managers—they did not live lightly on the land. And they do have lessons to teach us, but they are not what are commonly supposed.” (Mann, 202)