Roger Williams
Mr. Williams is one of the reasons our founding fathers wanted to separate the church and government. Without him bringing up these topics, we probably wouldn't have the First Amendment protecting our personal religions and beliefs. On a worse scale, we probably would not even be given a choice to have or to not practice a religion.
I crave your leave and patience to present you with some few considerations occasioned by the late transactions between your colony and ours. The last year you were pleased to tell me that you longed to see my face once more before you died. I embraced your love, though I feared my old lame bones and yours had arrested traveling in this world.
Okay, I know that people went above for describing their affection for a close friend back in the days. But, I cannot help myself from thinking that Roger was romantically enamored with John out of context. I fear that in today's world, you would automatically be labeled or suspected of being queer after writing things like "I embraced your love." Despite already having a wife, children, and being under some form of Christianity.
mulberry trees
Mulberry trees can be found in Texas, the eastern US, China, and around Western/Southwest Asia when they are in their native locations. Then, mulberries can come in colors like red, white, and black. They are edible, but when they're unripe, they can cause gastrointestinal issues and hallucinations. In places like Pennsylvania, people may compare them to blackberries. I do also know that they may be used for medicinal purposes, depending on where you are.
it has in these four latter years
"Four years" has been repeated multiple times throughout this primary source. Could there be a significance of those two words, or could they just be a coincidence? If I had to say, I may as well infer that they are being used to accentuate the current state of the colony. Just because every time those two words are referred to, negative conditions are described by the writer of this letter.
New Netherland
New Netherland consisted of New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania on a map. Then, it was broken apart by the English seizing the colony. Once the English seized it, King Charles II gave it to his brother, James. James is also the Duke of York, and after he rose to become king of England. To answer any questions, yes, New York was named after James. I hope this was helpful to some people, because I have a feeling it may be easier to connect to once you know New Netherland's background.
Some of the Spanish explained native success in 1680 as the work of the Devil, who had stirred up the Pueblo to take arms against God’s chosen people.
I often find Christianity being used to justify all the horrendous deeds of history on a repetitive whim. Instead of taking accountability, people love placing the blame on unproven factors, concepts, and figures. Sometimes it's very hard for me to believe Christianity is a religion full of "love" for one another when people are consistently using it as a weapon. It's also one of many reasons why I left Christianity in the first place... I don't resonate with it as a result. How can someone be actively proud of their religion when it has been used to dehumanize, terrorize, and enact violence on others? It's what I do not understand. I believe it has been stated before in previous annotations I may have placed, but it's truly starting to sink in more whenever I continue to see scenarios like this, and it's disheartening.
Europeans typically built their cities on top of previous native settlements: other examples are Mexico City, Cusco, and Plymouth. The Timucua population had been devastated by diseases introduced by the Spanish, shrinking from around 200,000 before contact to fifty thousand by 1590. By 1700, only one thousand Timucua remained.
No compensation was provided by the Europeans at all, and after they just acted like they weren't the cause of a mass cultural extinction. It makes me feel sick to my stomach because it's infuriating. Some of these indigenous people truly cared for these European colonizers. But, behind their backs, the Europeans backstabbed them. Didn't matter if it was indirectly/directly, or unintentionally/intentionally. After the course of events, they did nothing to comfort or de-escalate the issue. With this case, they just stole their homes, relabeled and forced cultural assimilation, and erased their history. Rather than making any last efforts to preserve the indigenous tribes' culture.
Side note or TLDR (too long, didn't read): The Europeans were like, "Free real estate!" after the deaths of the indigenous with a disease the Europeans originally carried. Not once did a majority feel remorse. Which is why I am absolutely upset about this topic every time I am reminded of it.
Only sixty out of 500 settlers survived the winter and some resorted to stealing bodies from graves for food.
Yes, cannibalism existed during these times. Unfortunately, a lot of middle and high schools do not go over this. I did at Glencoe-Silver Lake Junior High at least and got some reenactments shown to me through the 7th grade Social Studies/History teacher (Ms. Carlson). But, it gets very grim. When some bodies were found, they could even find a few having cracked open skulls, which is assumed to be connected to their brains being eaten. A victim in Jamestown was a 14 year old, and her nickname was Jane. I'm not sure of her nickname either... Because researchers had a hard time of identifying her due to the extreme damages with her bones. It's very scary on what hunger, survival, and greed can do to a human. I'm so glad that many of us now are out of that level of poverty.
many conquistadors took native women as wives and mistresses
Due to the racism, classism, oppression, and discrimination against indigenous people in the past, I wonder if these women were forced to elope with these conquistadors. By forced, I am meaning through violence, being seen as objects, having economic issues and a poor class status, and/or being sold off to them. I believe this even happened to Pocahontas (held hostage, forced to change her name, and had to marry an English colonizer), so it wouldn't be too far-fetched if that were the case for other women of the similar backgrounds. It's just depressing to learn and hear from others or textbooks about these types of experiences. No one should be dehumanized and treated so wrongly for things they cannot control.
The Spanish imagined themselves to be at the top of a social pyramid, with people of mixed race beneath them and native peoples and Africans at the bottom
In other words, just like many other Europeans, they are basically white/pale-skinned supremacists. Pale-skinned complexions meant that you never had to go outside and work, unlike the peasants with darker skin (not necessarily with African heritage) working under you. Funny compared to nowadays, where we have teens and young adults going outside, applying tanning lotion, or going under tanning beds to get more tan. Which really tells you that social and beauty standards fluctuate, and often tend to be subjective. Whether they are healthy, or not.
King Philip II of Spain had been married to the previous English Queen, Mary I, which had made him King of England during her lifetime.
If he was King of English during this time, how was he back then? Did the English have similar reactions to the people of Spain? But, assuming that Queen Elizabeth I rejected his proposal, he probably has committed controversial actions.
And far distant one from another and are kept by great tyranny, and quos metuunt oderunt [whom they fear, they hate]. And the people kept in subjection desire nothing more than freedom. And like as a little passage given to water, it makes his own way; so give but a small means to such kept in tyranny, they will make their own way to liberty which way may easily be made. And entering into the consideration of the way how this Philip may be abased, I mean first to begin with the West Indies, as there to lay a chief foundation for his overthrow. And like as the foundation of the strongest hold undermined and removed, the mightiest and strongest walls fall flat to the earth; so this prince, spoiled or intercepted for a while of his treasure, occasion by lack of the same is given that all his territories in Europe out of Spain slide from him and the Moors enter into Spain itself and the people revolt in every foreign territory of his and cut the throats of the proud hateful Spaniards, their governors.
The oppressed humans, just like any other animal, are bound to become aggressive and fight for absent necessities. In this case, they lacked the freedom of religion, suffered from heavy taxation, the government ignoring their rights to self-governance and fueros, and even had dissenters hunted down. There would be no surprise if some citizens' families also faced poverty and homelessness. Eventually, it will most likely always end in violence unless there is intervention before it gets to the point where hunger consumes all senses. Similar happened during the French, American, and Haitian Revolutions. An occurring theme unfortunately with corrupt governments that have no regard for their people.
it be true that one negro which fled from his cruel Spanish master
Inferencing from the timeline being 1584 and the word "master" being used, people of African descent were looked down upon even in European countries like Spain. Whether it would be as simple as calling them by derogatory names, reducing them down to property, etc. This small sentence really shows that the United States was not the only country normalizing such cruelty. It's more disheartening to know that this was written by a priest, someone who should be showing upmost concern and care for those around him. All branches of Christianity are supposed to promote love and kindness to thy neighbor, right? But, one could also argue that this could of been how he was raised in this type of past culture and did not know any better.
converted natives might revert to their traditional religious practices, collected and burned every codex he could find. Today only a few survive.
Nearly forgotten civilizations and cultures like this really make me wonder how many others were there. There could be a chance that we have all missed out on some beautiful, rich diversity without us being aware of it. I do not know about how some of you feel, but it's disappointing to me on how we lack information about some of the extremely old places. On the bright side, it makes me treasure cultures related to Indigenous American and Pacific Islander tribes, Celtic descendants, etc. I hope that we as people learn from the devastation of civilization erasure, and avoid repeating history.
Weapons made of obsidian, jewelry crafted from jade
Obsidian often is known for protecting you against negative energies and psychic attacks in some religions, besides it being a sharp volcanic glass that can easily pierce victims of its wrath. It's also good for grounding you, or in other words, just keeping you in check with reality. As for jade, it can have several benefits in some cultures depending on the color. For example, green jade (usually seen in bangle form in countries like Vietnam and Myanmar/Burma) can represent wealth and luck. Just wanted to share because I am a massive fan of geology and crystal identification.
suggested that migrations from Africa
Could it be because of remains from people with nomadic lifestyles being found? I know that before humans settled down into civilization, they often tended to be hunter-gatherers and stayed near wherever food existed. Which made it very difficult to pinpoint where humans originated before we had all these tools to detect DNA differences and markers. I am interested about the biological side of how you can tell the differences between certain genetic markers on chromosomes, honestly. How were scientists able to find the genetic markers on a Y chromosome anyways? What does it look like from a model and actual picture? Those are the real questions here, and I wished that the paragraph intro shared more about this topic. Though, I do understand that this is a history class and not a science one.