Mayflower -- Question 15

Nathaniel Philbrick did not pick sides in his description of the Mayflower and the Pilgrims. Philbrick's goal wasn't to tell the story from the side of the Indians or the English, it was to give an accurate account of the happenings of the Mayflower, Pilgrims, and Indians. I don't think Philbrick's main point in writing his book was to throw moral lessons in our faces, but I do believe it is tremendously hard to walk away from this book without taking a moral lesson or two with you. One moral lesson I took away from the book was, that things change throughout the years, and that the morals and standards of one time can turn completely upside down for another generation. And we should all do our best to preserve the hard work people before us have accomplished so many things with. I also found that not to abuse your treaties, or "friendships", was the most prominent moral lesson in the book. The second generation Pilgrims kind of abused the Indiands and the treaties they made with the Indians. Over all, I thought it was an interesting book, I learned a lot about the Mayflower I never knew, or probably would have ever known.

Mayflower -- Question 12

Neither side of the war, the Indians or the English, could make a claim of moral superiority. Both sides were viciously killing innocent people for almost no reason at all. It's kind of like the death penalty, people feeling justified to kill somebody for killing somebody. It's totally wrong, hypocritical, and backwards. Both sides were at fault, doing the same things for the same reasons. If one side were to claim moral superiority over the other it would only be because of a bias oppinionator (yeah that's probably not a word). The whole concept war, to me, is kind of foggy and misunderstood. And, in any war, unless for extreme circumstances like ww2, neither side is ever in a justifiable position to claim moral superiority over the other.

Mayflower -- Question 11

To the Indians who took up arms against there fellow natives, I believe it was all based on view point. Maybe the Indians thought that King Phillip was being unreasonable and starting a war that never should have taken place. Or, maybe the Indians just felt closer to the English than that of the army of King Phillip. I see the Indians as just sensible, they made the decision they made based off of their own smarts. They have been living in the area with the other Indians much longer than the English have, they knew what was the right choice to make for their tribe. They could be considered opportunistic as well, maybe they thought the English would bring them to glory in the New World. If I were a native my choosing sides would most likely depend on who I was closest with. If I had strong ties to King Phillip and the Pokanokets, I would most likely take their side. But, if I had lived near the English and they had treated me fair, I would take up their side. Both sides were to blame for the war, and one single side cannot be blamed for the war.

Mayflower -- Question 10

Because the English saw all the Indians as "King Phillip's" Indians, it put the English in a bigger hole then they ever were in. At first, it was just King Phillip's Pokanoket Indians and a few other tribes with grudges against the English. But, the English became paranoid and came to the very wrong conclusion that all Indians were against them. When, in fact, many of the Indians would have originally sided with the English. This made the war longer and much more tragic than it ever should have been. The English would strike out against any Indian, friend or foe, and this made many of the friendly Indians resent the English. The English would even sometimes attack their own converts, the Praying Indians. Finally Benjamin Church came along and got the English thinking straight, he made them realize that not all Indians were out to get them. If the English had understood this concept from the start, the war could have been much shorter and less tragic.

Mayflower -- Question 9

King Phillip's war didn't really shine any light on either side of the war. But, if anybody should be considered a hero, it should be Benjamin Church. Church understood why the war had broke out, but, one that he understood that no other Englishman really seemed to grasp, was that not all Indians were at fault with the English. Once the war broke out the Englishmen succumbed to killing any Indian, even the Praying Indians. To the English, all Indians were bad Indians. But, Church was the only man who disagreed. Church knew that not all Indians had it out to get the English, he even suggested that using the Indians who were on their side would help them win the war. Church would not submit himself to the act of killing any Indian, women and children included. Church eventually won over the judgement of many of the war officers, and received permission to use the Sakonnet Indians to fight for him in the war. Church would be a hero, to me, because he didn't stereotype every Indian to be with Phillip, he had the dignity to give most Indians the benefit of the doubt.

Mayflower -- Question 8

Whenever I think of the "Hollywood Indian," I think of the Indians in the Disney cartoon movie, "Peter Pan." I think anyone would know what I am talking about, the Indians that wear big feather hats, paint their faces, smoke odd pipes, and say "how" for hello. Of course Hollywood stretches the truth with the Indians, or anything else. But, I haven't really seen a lot of Indian movies. So, from what I read in the Mayflower and all the other Indian accounts I have witnessed, they seem pretty similar. One thing I never really saw in a movie that surprised me when I read this book, was how willing the Indians could be to make peace. Normally, Indians are portrayed as violent and hostile. But, in this book, for the most part, the Indians were very cooperative. That is, until the English abused the peace treaty and began to take advantage of the Indians. One thing was very similar in the book was the war style of the Indians; how they were great hunters, and could move through the woods better than any Englishman.

Mayflower -- Qestion 6

The second generation Pilgrims received their title by not understanding everything the original Pilgrims did to make the settlement successful. The original Pilgrims worked very hard to establish peace with the Indians, and make their settlement site work. The second Generation Pilgrims weren't there when the hardships of the initial set-up were being taken on. So, they didn't have that same fire or desire to make peace with the Indians and make their establishment work, because it was already a successful settlement. The title of, "the degenerate plant of a strange vine," Was a very worthy title for the second generation Pilgrims. They were a self-fulfilling prophecy, the original Pilgrims came to the new land in search of religious peace and freedom. When they were gone, it was like the new land was just another England. Full, of rash judgements and hatred. So, it's kind of like something I read in English last year, "The Catastrophe of Success." When one becomes successful, they often lose sight of what they set out to do. For the Pilgrims, they wanted to get away from the violently religiously intolerant England, but they became, themselves, their own kind of violent intolerant establishment.

Mayflower -- Question 5

Squanto was a very proud Indian, who was witty and indifferent. Squanto wanted to be the main leader of the Indians on the Cape. Squanto had a strong relationship with William Bradford. Squanto was Bradford's interpreter, but Bradford began to form strong ties with Squanto and trusted him above any other Indian. When Squanto tried to break the alliance between the Pilgrims and the Pokanokets, and leave Massasoit, the Pokanoket sachem, the criminal. When the Pilgrims and the Pokanokets found out about Squanto's malfeasance, the Pokanokets demanded Sqanto's death. But, Bradford would not turn Squanto over to the Pokanokets. This made them mad, and was the beginning event of the falling pint for the Pilgrim - Pokanoket alliance. So, even though Squanto would not be the supreme leader of the Cape Indians, he sort of accomplished what he set out to do.

Mayflower -- Question 4

The Pilgrims fifty-year peace with the Indians collapsed because the people who first established the peace with the Indians soon died off, as did the Indians who first established peace with the Pilgrims. Then, all that was left were the sons and daughters of these first peacemakers. So, the sons and daughters did not have that strong relationship with the Indians the first Pilgrims did, and began to lose respect and understanding for them, using them to gain land and success. When new settlers arrived from England, they also, had no initial respect or understanding for the Indians. All they knew is that there had been a peace made with them, and they over stayed their welcome in the Indian's eyes. They pushed the Indians into a small corner after buying all their land, and they had no respect for them, sometime brutally lashing out at them, and even selling some as slaves. All this could have been prevented if the second generation Pilgrims had held the same religious views the initial Pilgrims did that made them have a respect and an understanding that they needed the Indians. I think the success of the settlement made the second generation Pilgrims feel that they no longer needed the Indians. So, instead of peace and agreements, it turned into the Pilgrims using the Indians for land.

Mayflower -- Question 3

America has replaced the truth of it's beginning with fictional ideas most likely because the majority of us are not fully aware of what happened back then. Views and beliefs change with the times of the country. Today, we are all so distant from what really happened on the first thanksgiving, all we know is what today's generation deems "acceptable." To today's society it makes no sense to them to celebrate surviving the first year on America, because we weren't there, and the majority of don't know or care enough about the struggles and the physical tolls the Pilgrims took on. We would rather get together with family and eat a big meal, but most of us don't even know the real reason why. So, to most of today's Americans it makes sense to take on a totally different meaning to thanksgiving than the meaning the Pilgrims took on, simply because they are so distant from what really happened, and the real means of celebration.

Song 3 -- Shaman's Call

This song is very pretty and very simple. Unlike the Indian drums, this song is relaxing and almost sad in a way. This song comes from an album called "Earth Spirit" so, I imagine this song has some sort of spiritual meaning behind it.

For this song the artist was trying to get across a point in the Indian's time when things were not too great. And just like the early Americans the Indians as well struggled. Maybe they were experiencing a famine, or some kind of disease. This song is not a pump it up song, it is most likely played with some sort of sadness, or in attempt to calm. This song also represents a time when the Indians were the main inhabitants of America, but not one of the happier times. This song plays into America's story because it represents kind of the sadness and grief of a time in the Indian's life, and through the years of America, we put the Indians through a lot of struggle

--Allison

Song 2 -- Apache Indian Drums

Indian drums are pretty cool. I enjoy the steady consistent beat, it's kind of similar to what people listen to today; a raging beat that kind of gets the body pumped up. When I hear this song it just reminds me of how a lot of athletes will listen to songs with beats, like the beat of the Indian drum, before playing a game, to pump them up.

The artist probably wanted to accomplish bringing out a part of the Indian culture, the music, and the dance. This is not a song any one would listen to for relaxation, it's a song played with a purpose. The artist was probably trying to show that a song like this was played in spiritual gatherings, or maybe before a battle, something up beat to get the Indians "pumped" for whatever lied a head for them. This song defiantly highlights the time in America when it was the Indian's lands, when the Indians were the main, if not sole, population in the Americas. This song represents a part of the American story because the Indians were the first ever Americans, and this song represents their culture. before any European explorer stepped foot on to America, the Indians were there.

-- Allison

Song One -- Anon: Virgen Madre De Dios

Honestly, when I first listened to this song, it didn't do much for me. Mainly because I had no idea what they were saying. I assumed from the start it was a religious song, it just has that religious tone. But, when I researched the artist I actually found them pretty cool. The artist is SAVAE, or, San Antonio Vocal arts ensemble. These people preform music from history, they kind of tell historical stories through re-creating the music of that specific era. So, yeah, it's pretty cool.

The recording artist was probably trying to accomplish the importance of religion in any society. The title obviously deals with the the Virgin Mother. Faith and religion, no matter in what form, is very important to basically anyone, and fuels the heart and desire and accomplishments of many people. And the first explores to America were mainly Christians, a Spanish Cristian song for Spanish Christians. This particular song probably highlights the very beginning of America, the initial discovery. This song very well blends in with American History. This song is of a different language than what the Americans speak today. And, as many people seem to forget, America did not begin with Americans. So the contrast in language I think is a reminder of what really got America started, it's discovery.

-- Allison

Mayflower -- Question 1

The Pilgrims from England, or Holland, left Europe for one main reason; religious freedom. Back in England it was either, worship the religion the king chooses, or face punishment. The Pilgrims followed a very strict form of Puritan religion, Separatists. In attempt to freely worship their own religion, the Pilgrims ran to Holland. It wasn't long, though, before their troubles caught up with them, and they were being sought after in Holland. They made a very important decision, to start a settlement in the New world, or, America. The Pilgrims had very strong religious ties and beliefs that kept them strong through the long voyage to the New World. Everything the Pilgrims did they did for God. In times of disease, hardship, and starvation, they prayed. In times of good fortune and joy, they prayed. The pilgrims strong spiritual attitude was believed to help them make it to the New World. The Pilgrims also had strong morals. These morals helped the pilgrims with dealing Native Americans. The Pilgrims' morals enabled them to cooperate with the Natives when first entering the island. The Pilgrims knew the natives were people, so as people they treated them as people. This original sign of respect allowed them to set up strong alliances and ties with the Natives. Even though the Pilgrims raided the Natives corn stock and graves, they re payed they felt bad about them and later re payed their debts to the Natives. The Pilgrims' strong morals and spiritual attitude also kept them together as a community, using each other to get through the starving, cold winters, and the hot summers. While their religious life kept them together as a community in the beginning of the settlement, it soon began to draw them a part, and create great tension between them. When more settlers arrived, most of them not of the same religion as the original Pilgrims, the differences in views began to make them argue with each other, choose sides, and begin to separate them. Their strong morals helped them establish ties with the Natives, but it also began to put them in debt. When their deal with the Adventurists went a skew, the Pilgrims were furious. The Adventurers showed up asking the Pilgrims to pay their dues, and house and entertain their men. The Pilgrims felt that they could not leave the men out at sea. So, with already scarce space and depleting rations, the Pilgrims housed some sixty men for the Adventurers. The Pilgrims faced more than I could hardly imagine going through in their quest to build a religiously tolerant settlement. The fact that they succeeded after all they went through makes their story a remarkable one. I tip my hat to the Pilgrims, I could have never accomplished what they did.

--Allison