1.2.8practice - North America Before The Columbian Exchange

1.2.
8Practice:North America Before the Columbian Exchange
In this assignment, you will use what you have learned about early European exploration in the
Americas to write a five-paragraph essay. This assignment is worth 40 points. See the scoring
rubric below for more details on how you will be graded on your essay.
Carefully read and think about the following quote:
How to balance the many achievements of European

civilization in the New World after 1492 against the
terrible destruction of native peoples that accompanied it
is, in the end, less a historical question, perhaps, than a
moral one.1
—Alan Brinkley, American History1
You will now write a five-paragraph essay answering whether you think the impact European
contact had on the indigenous populations of North America should be addressed as a
historical question or a moral question. Feel free to use resources outside of the materials in
this course to support your thesis.
Your five-paragraph essay should include:

1.2.8Practice:North America Before the Columbian Exchange
● An introduction paragraph with a clear thesis statement that responds directly to
whether you think this issue is a moral or historical one. Your thesis statement should be
supported by at least three claims.
● Three body paragraphs that support your thesis statement by presenting evidence for
your claims.
● A conclusion paragraph that summarizes the main ideas of your essay and restates your
thesis statement.
The question of the balance of the European achievements in the New Worlds and the
destruction of Native American societies by the European civilization should be considered a
moral question. A historical question would say this is a fact, but a moral would say whether this
was right or not and question should we change. The question of the impact should be
considered a moral question because it develops a need to ask whether these sacrifices were
necessary, whether or not the cons outweigh the pros, and the phrase “terrible destruction”
greatly accompanies the idea of morals and right and wrong.
The question generates the need to look into whether or not these sacrifices were
necessary for these achievements. The need to look into this basically proves that we need to
know whether it was right or wrong to carry out the destruction of Native American societies,
which is the definition of moral. The Oxford English Dictionary explains the term ‘moral’ to mean:
“concerned with the goodness or badness of human character or behavior or with the
distinction between right and wrong.” If the achievements made by the Europeans did not need
sacrifices of others, we can look to the meaning of moral and whether it was a sign of the
badness of human behavior and be able to start understanding how humans were in the past.
Now, if sacrifices were necessary, we can look at whether the value of the sacrifices
outweighs the values of the achievements. This also goes back to the definition of morals. We
can see if people of the past needed sacrifices to this extent, the destruction of societies,
culture, and people. For example, we believe that the pros should always outweigh the cons, but
this may not be the case in the past, and in order to analyze this we need to view the impact as a
moral question to see more accurately into the past.
We link the words “destruction” and “terrible” as a moral question. This is because we
have images or feelings towards these words which make us believe that it was wrong. But, in
the past, the Europeans may have viewed this as it was natural and they were right. Right and
wrong aren’t one-dimensional. The word “destruction” is not always a bad thing, but we always
view it as wrong or negative. But, if we view the impact of Europeans as a moral question and
saw both the good and bad, we can get a view of what they were thinking, giving us a better view
of the past and perspective on things and we can learn from these mistakes and improve the
present and influence the future.
The question of whether the impact of Europeans is a historical question or a moral
question cannot be easily answered with just one or the other but looking at this at a moral
question perspective can help us improve upon ourselves and gain a better understanding on
the terms of right and wrong in the past and how we think of it. The question should be moral
because it develops a need to ask whether these sacrifices were necessary, whether or not the
cons outweigh the pros, and the phrase “terrible destruction” greatly accompanies the idea of
morals and right and wrong.

Here is the rubric on which your assignment will be graded.
Requirements Points Points

Possible Awarded
Write a five-paragraph essay identifying whether you think the 12

impact of European contact had on indigenous populations is
more of a historical or a moral question.
Include a clear thesis statement supporting your argument. 4
Support your thesis with at least three claims, which are 12
supported with evidence.
Write in a manner that is clear, complete, and persuasive. 12
Total 40
Comments:

1. Alan Brinkley, American History (Columbia University, McGraw-Hill, 2012, 14th ed.), 10-11.

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1.2.

8Practice:North America Before the Columbian Exchange

Carefully read and think about the following quote:

How to balance the many achievements of European

—Alan Brinkley, ​American History​1

contact had on the indigenous populations of North America should be addressed as a

this course to support your thesis.

Your five-paragraph essay should include:

destruction of Native American societies by the European civilization should be considered a

greatly accompanies the idea of morals and right and wrong.

moral question to see more accurately into the past.

present and influence the future.

The question of whether the impact of Europeans is a historical question or a moral

morals and right and wrong.

Here is the rubric on which your assignment will be graded.

Requirements Points Points

Write a five-paragraph essay identifying whether you think the 12

Include a clear thesis statement supporting your argument. 4

Write in a manner that is clear, complete, and persuasive. 12

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—Alan Brinkley, American History1