Atahualpa and the Bible

  The questions, what really happened when Atahualpa was presented with the Bible by the Spanish and why do sources tell different versions of the story? In class we read through different sources to see what actually happened when Atahualpa saw the bible and many sources did not have the same info while some did have the same info.
         The answer to the question, what really happened when Atahualpa was presented with the Bible by the Spanish, is scattered throughout the things we read. One of the things we read said something completely different than the other two things that we read. It states "Atahualpa held the book to his ear and listened to it. When the book didn’t speak, he threw it on the ground". This came from a textbook passage which not everything from it is correct. The other documents said that he tried to open it then threw it down, they did not say that he put it up to his ear to try to listen to it. The sources tell different versions or the story because of different information they get. The textbook probably changed what it was actually supposed to say while the other documents told what actually happened.
         I have learned many important things about the importance of knowing the perspective and bias of each source in history. It all depends on who wrote them and when they were written. Like in the textbook passage,. That was made way way way after the thing with Atahualpa and the Bible ever happened. But with the other sources, they were made before the textbook passage and can be found more believable.

New World VS Old World

    The Columbian exchange was a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the New and Old Worlds. Exchanges of plants, animals, diseases and technology transformed European and Native American ways of life. Beginning after Columbus' discovery in 1492 the exchange lasted throughout the years of expansion and discovery.
    The Old World benefited the most during this time. For them, it was like heaven. Getting all that they wanted just by trading. They got cash crops including sugar and tobacco. They also traded with other places and giving them horses and other domesticated animals. Although the only problem was what they left behind for the New World when they traded.
     The New World suffered a lot during the Columbian exchange because of the Old World. The Old World passed on many diseases to the New World that were very deadly. Many people died from the smallpox and they had no way of getting rid of it. The measles also played a part I'm it too. This lead to over 90% of the population dying which lead to the name "The Great Dying".
      Between getting terrible diseases and getting cash crops like tobacco and sugar, the Old World benefited the most while the New World suffered from the deadly diseases the Old World passed on to them. Because of the Old World, nearly all of the population in the New World died from the diseases.

The Real Christopher Columbus

The real Christopher Columbus was not the same person everyone expected. People believe that he was a nice and kind person but after what I am going to explain, your mind will change. Columbus happened to not be the one to discover america. While trying to find it he traveled in many journeys and never reached north america. He ended up finding the island where Haiti is and the caribbean islands and he didn't get close to north america. While one those islands he found people, and in his mind he thought that he could get gold and other things from them. Columbus decided to take the natives back with him as slaves including females who were used as sex slaves at that time. Also to make them produce more gold he would put something around their necks if they got their amount of gold due at that time and if they didn't, he would cut off their hands and make them wear it.
I do not think people in the United States  should celebrate Columbus day in his name anymore. It mainly does not make sense because he was not the one to discover america and yet people think that he did. Also many people do not know what he had done in his life including selling females for sex slaves and many other things. Also after one of his journeys he came back in chains and went to jail for what he was  doing.

The Medici and Machiavelli

  The essential question that we had to answer for this lesson was how did wealth in Florence lead to new art and ideas during the Renaissance? During this lesson we went through a bunch of activities including looking at a map and answering questions to analyzing an article and answering questions on that. We learned a lot about patronage and many more things.
   A prince would rather be loved by his subjects instead of being feared. If a prince was feared people would do anything for him but then turn on him at any moment. If a prince were to be loved, the people would also do everything for him but not betray him or anything. Men/people respond better to someone they fear because they know that if they don't respond or obey that person there will be consequences. Being feared is not the same as being hated. Being feared is basically a person fearing someone for the way they act or behave towards other people while being hated is a persons choice on whether they wan to dislike someone or not.
   I disagree with Machiavelli's ideas about leadership. Leaders should be able to rule anyway they want and it doesn't matter if they are loved or feared. they have put that upon themselves and it is their job to fix it whether they do it by force or try to change themselves. I don't think that leaders today should use his philosophy. Leaders today have enough common sense to do what is right and wrong.



http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/prince-excerp.asp


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FFDJK8jmms&feature=youtu.be

The Black Death

   During this lesson we learned about the Black Death and where it began and how it spread around to other places. We looked at different excerpts from that time and we analyzed them to see if they could be true or not. We had to see what the best sources would be good to figure out the truth about the Black Death.
   The Florentine Chronicle is a source made by Marchionne di Coppo di Stefano Bonaiuti. He wrote it in the late 1370s and early 1380s. Marchionne was born in Florence in 1336 into a wealthy ruling-class family, probably of bankers and lived there most of his life. He was a historian, statesman, politician, businessman and diplomat from Florence, Italy. This document has reasons why it could be believable and why it could not be believable. First off it says that he was born in 1336 in Florence and that is the time when the Black Death was around, this makes it believable. On the other hand it also says that he wrote it 25 years after it happened and at the time he was only two years old when it was going on, this makes it non believable.
   The Decameron is a source made by Boccaccio who was an Italian author, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and important Renaissance humanist. He was born in Florence or in a village near Certaldo where his family was from. This document also has reasons on why it is believable and why it is not. During the time he was alive and witnessed the Black Death, this makes it believable is some way. But on the other hand he was not in Florence at the time of the Black Death and it is fictional. This makes it non believable.
  Out of these two sources I would say that the Florentine Chronicle is more believable. Although Marchionne was 2 years he still was alive and around at the time when it happened. Family members that survived could have told him stories about what happened during the time. Plus he could have seen things and remembered them from when he was younger. It could be very possible.
  

Welcome to History

    Bonjour! My name is Makayla Griffin and I am a freshman in high school. This is the very start of my blog so it might not be that great. This year I will be posting about different things and topics that we learn about in History class. I hope that you can find my work somewhat interesting and educational.
    Over the years that I have been in school I have had many teachers. Most of them I like while some of them I didn't like them as much. I have noticed many qualities in different teachers that make them stand out more than other teachers. Many teacher keep in touch to help students learn things easier. A quality or trait like this is what makes teachers great. One teacher from my past had many qualities that made her a great teacher. She was kind and helped me when I needed help the most on school work. She helped me understand things easier then what it actually seemed like. This year I suggest to keep doing what we have been so far.
   I do agree with John Green that with our education we can grow up to make the world a better place to be and fill it with our ideas and inventions that can help make changes in this world.  This year I have many goals and hope that I wish to succeed with. I plan to keep up with school work and homework where as last year I struggled with that a bit. I also plan to stick with the singing group that I am in as well as the other clubs that I am doing. I hope to make many stable friendships with new people as well. In order to reach these goals I will have to keep up with work and make new friends.