Google maps

Today we labeled and colored in maps of the original 13 colonies.  At the end of class I showed you satellite images of the US and specifically NY State and NY City.  This was the first time some of us had seen the zoom and street view features of google maps.  I’m posting a link to the google maps page here.  Play around with the different features.  Toward the top right of the map you can zoom in and out.  You can also remove the “labels” like cities, states, and all the borders on the top right of the map.  You can simply type in an address and it will give you an aerial view which you switch to “street view” and get a 360 degree view and “walk around” a neighborhood simply by clicking on the direction you want.  Check it out.  What is also interesting is to find maps of foreign cities and places and wandering around.

http://maps.google.com/

“Teen risky behavior rates” story

This is a pretty fascinating story about risky behaviors and teens (I realize this is not directly related to Humanities but still worth posting). Despite what most adults seem to think, teens today engage in risky behaviors at far lower rates than previous generations have. Check out the story.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/the-kids-are-more-than-all-right/

King Philip’s War

King Philip’s War marked the end of the peaceful relationship the New England settlers had with their Native American allies.  From the time of the first Pilgrims, there was a 50 year peaceful relationship the was shattered with this war that was not a small or minor war but a war for existence for both groups.  The war left New England’s economy in ruins and resulted in many towns and villages burned to the ground.  In terms of percentage of people killed, this was one of the bloodiest wars in the history of the US (including the Colonial Period).

Here is a link that spells out the history of the war pretty clearly

http://www.pilgrimhall.org/philipwar.htm

Here is a link that gets into a bit more detail but really interesting

http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/enquirer/king_philip.htm

The Pequot War

We spent time talking about the relationship the English colonists (mostly Puritans) had with the local Native Americans in New England.  For a variety of reasons they were far more peaceful with their neighbors than those settlers in Jamestown were.  The main alliance the Puritans had was with the Wampanoag confederacy (Massasoit and Samoset were members of that group).  The first war the colonists fought with the Native Americans of New England was with the Pequot tribe in what became known as the Pequot War (1636-1638).  The English colonists had Native American allies as well (remember that not all Native Americans were friends with each other and often used European allies again their Native American enemies).

Here are a few interesting links.

Here are a bunch of slides that show maps of the wars as well as archaeological research that has been done on the remnants of those wars.

Pequot War

Here is a site that has a lot of information including a youtube video about the Pequot War.  Don’t just check out the video, try to navigate the site to see what else is there.

http://www.pequotwar.com/

Salem Witch Trials

One of the most interesting and famous events in the Puritan era of Massachusetts history was the Salem Witch Trials.  Here is a pretty interesting website that takes you through the time period and details of the trials.  Check it out.

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/

Roots of the first Thanksgiving

This is a pretty interesting description of the Wampanoag culture along with the Pilgrims and some of the early history of Plymouth.  The focus of the article is on the food they ate.  Pretty interesting.

http://www.plimoth.org//learn/just-kids/homework-help/whats-dinner

Squanto Biography

I mentioned in class that Squanto, the Native American who helps out the Plymouth Colony, had a very interesting life story. I looked online for some information about him and there is a lot written about him but much of it is difficult to understand. I’m posting a few links here with descriptions next to the links.

This is a link to a basic biography of Squanto which has a few more details than our textbook.

http://www.biography.com/people/squanto-9491327

This is a link to his wikipedia page which is more detailed but understandable

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squanto

This link to from the Smithsonian website. This is a longer article but interesting and detailed but harder to understand.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/squanto.html