Documenting United States History

24 ChApTEr 1 | firSt ContaCtS | period one 14 91–1607 putting it all together^25

After you have finished your list, think of at least eight to ten pieces of infor­

mation that are not included in the documents above. Then go back to the prompt,

and begin to organize some of this information loosely into the categories of

your question (economics, religion, politics).

Because this prompt asks you to analyze how economics, religion, and politics

shaped contact, it makes sense to group items in your list according to these cate­

gories. Label these “E,” “R,” and “P” for economics, religion, and politics. You can

even categorize these items under the headings that you created as part of your

brainstorming activity.

Next, generate a thesis statement based on the information that you have

brainstormed. What you have created is a working thesis (which may change)

based on secondary sources (namely, the information that you remember from

your text or from class). This brainstormed information will also function as

some of the outside information that the prompt requires you to incorporate

into your response.

s teP 3 Categorize and connect historical information

and documents

Review the documents in this chapter, and create a chart that allows you to con­

nect your brainstorming of outside information to the documents. Your review

of the documents allows you to understand the ways in which they fit into the

prompt itself. For example, a document might apply to multiple categories of the

prompt, or a document might be viewed differently by another source.

Below, some of the documents of this chapter have been aligned to outside

information that is not found in this chapter but might be found in your textbook

or your class notes.

outside information

or knowledge

Documents

Categories:

Economic, religious,

political

Columbus arrived in the Western

Hemisphere (1492).

Doc. 1.4, Christopher

Columbus

Political

The Aztec emperor Moctezuma was as-

sassinated (1520); Pizzaro conquered the

Incan empire (similar to defeat of Aztecs).

Doc. 1.5,

Hernán Cortés

Political and economic

The Spanish tried to convert native

peoples to Christianity (16th century).

Doc. 1.6, Pope Paul

III

Economic and religious

Disease played a large role (enormous

native population losses and loss of labor).

Doc. 1.7, Bartolomé

de las Casas

Economic, religious, and

political

The French began to colonize North

America (16th century).

Doc. 1.11, Jacques

Cartier

Economic

The English began to colonize North

America (16th century).

Doc. 1.12,

John Smith

Political

02_STA_2012_ch1_001-026.indd 24 26/03/15 10:35 AM

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