98 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2023
    1. Virginia, Mariland, Delaware, Pensilvania, New-Jersey, New-York, Connecticut,

      even today, most people would not consider Virginia and Connecticut to be a part of this region

    1. w YorkCity's slaves and some lower-class whites

      interesting to read about these two groups working together when lower class white people are often seen as racist today

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  2. Sep 2023
    1. swearing, cursing, lying, prophane talking,drunkenness, drinking of healths, obscene words, incest, sodomy, rapes, whoredom, fornication, andother uncleanness (not to be repeated) all treasons, misprisions, murders, duels, felony, seditions,maims, forcible entries, and other violences, to the persons and estates of the inhabitants within thisprovince; all prizes, stage-plays, cards, dice, May-games, gamesters, masques, revels, bull-battin

      this is a lot of stuff to put in one law

    2. ill designed byits first founders, that, in good hands, would not do well enough; and story tells us, the best, in illones, can do nothing that is great or good; witness the Jewish and Roman state

      interesting in that he's not endorsing a specific kind of government

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    1. Between eleven and noon, Tho.Messenger comes in, and brings me the amazing news of my wife'shard time and my son's being still-born.

      I had no idea his wife had been pregnant

    2. I was very sorrowfull by rea-son of the unsettledness of my Samuel.Feb. 22 1696. Betty comes into me almost as so

      seems like teenagers freaking out over religious reasons is a common theme here

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    1. And if they be children, or fervantsthat (hall trefpaffe heerin, if their parents or mafters will not pay the penaltie before ex-preffed, they fhal be openly whipped

      so you're depending on someone else to pay so you don't get whipped

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    1. when ten of us shall be able to resist athousand of our enemies; when he shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say ofsucceeding plantations, “the Lord make it like that of New England.”

      He has VERY high expectations for this colony.

    2. Secondly, in the regenerate, in exercising his graces in them, as in the great ones, their love,mercy, gentleness, temperance etc., in the poor and inferior sort, their faith, patience, obedience,etc.

      Is he saying that rich and poor people are intrinsically different

    3. ath so disposed of the condition of’mankind, as in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power anddignity; others mean and in submission

      interesting... let's see where he goes with this. Is it going to be like, some people are rich and poor and that's life so we need to account for that, or you're rich or poor because you DESERVE to be? Like is this or isn't this the divine right of rich people?

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    1. it is enacted and declared by this Grand Assembly, and theauhority thereof,

      interesting how just five years earlier "Christian" was synonymous with "white".

    2. and that if any Christian shall commit fornication with a Negro man orwoman, he or she so offending shall pay double the fines imposed by the former act.

      there is a LOT to unpack here. Given the number of enslaved women who were sexually assaulted by their slaveholders, this law seems like a good thing, but is it also prohibiting consensual relationships? Is the moral panic over miscegenation already a thing?

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    1. 15 No man of what condition soever shall barter, trucke,or trade with the Indians, except he be thereunto ap-pointed by lawful authority, upon paine of death

      why not?

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    1. he much marvelled that you would send me a servant to the Company; he saith I had been better knocked on the head. And indeed so I find it now, to my great grief and misery; and [I] saith that if you love me you will redeem me suddenly

      Did this guy's parents sell him into indentured servitude? And now he is straight up asking them to buy him out of indentured servitude because things are so bad. It sounds like they might not be able to afford it though

    2. For as strong beer in England doth fatten and strengthen them, so water here doth wash and weaken these here [and] only keeps [their] life and soul together.

      I'm not sure WHAT this says about these people in England, that the water is poisonous, but it is keeping their "life and soul together", so it sounds like it's not super poisonous. Another question: Are these guys so used to drinking beer that they don't know how to deal with water?

    1. eighty-two years, merely three generations

      actually seems kind of a long time for a revolt to be brewing. If something had existed since 1941, I'm not sure I wouldn't take it for granted

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    1. One of these Pontiffs, who succeeded that St. Peter as Lord of the world, in the dignity and seatwhich I have before mentioned, made donation of these isles and Tierra-firme to the aforesaidKing and Queen and to their successors, our lords, with all that there are in these territories, as iscontained in certain writings which passed upon the subject as aforesaid, which you can see ifyou wish

      so this is about the line that got drawn down South America giving one part to the Spaniards and one part to the Portuguese

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    1. Spaniards have behaved in no other way during tla! past fortyyears, down to the present time, for they are still acting like ravening beasts, killing,terrorizing, afflicting, torturing, and destroying the native people

      why did the Spaniards do this?

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    1. 0 our lord, be doubly welcomed on your arrival in this land; you have cometo satisfy your curiosity about your altepetl of Mexico, you have come to sit onyour seat of authority, which I have kept a while for you, where I have been incharge for you, for your agents the [previous] rulers3 . have gone, who for avery short time came to be in charge for you, to govern the altepetl of Mexico. Itis after them that your poor vassal [myself] came. Will they come back to theplace of their absence? If only one of them could see and behold what has nowhappened in my time, what I now see after our lords are gone! For I am not justdreaming, not just sleepwalking, not just seeing it in my sleep. I am not justdreaming that I have seen you; have looked upon your face. For a time I havebeen concerned, looking toward the mysterious place from which you have come,among clouds and mist. It is so that the rulers on departing said that you wouldcome in order to acquaint yourself with your altepetl and sit upon your seat ofauthority. And now it has come true, you have come. Be doubly welcomed, enterthe land, go to enjoy your palace; rest your body. May our lords be arrived in theland

      Some context: there was a prophecy saying that divine beings would come to Mexico at around this time. I'm guessing Montezuma thought the Spaniards were these beings

    2. eir harquebuses. Theyexploded, sputtered, discharged, thundered, disgorged. Smoke spread, it grewdark with smoke, everyplace filled with smoke. The fetid smell made peopledizzy and faint

      going to say that these guns were so bad that the worst thing about them was the smoke, not the bullets

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    1. nated with a similar symbol in Mississippiancosmology, which represented the four directions of the earth in harmonywith one another and the upper world. Indeed, it apparently did soon rain.On a more political level, the Casquis surely also knew that honoring an-other people's god could help to seal their friendship

      interesting that they were open to worshipping other gods

    2. As de Soto probably learned from hisresearch, explorers from Columbus to Cabeza de Vaca had conveyed theperception of supernatural powers in order to instill awe and compliance inpotential allies and rivals.23

      Did they do this in Europe too? If not, why not?

    3. winged serpent, signifying the fusing ofthe lower world (the serpent) and the upper (the wings).

      probably unrelated to anything, but seems weirdly reminiscent of Christian iconography (serpent=devil, angels have wings)

    4. With his gifts and friendly words, the chief demonstrated hispeople's benevolence and generosity, while urging war against Pacaha

      It's really interesting how DuVal started this chapter from the point of view of Pacaha. It appears that the Spaniards would have sympathized with Casqui.

    5. captured two Indians to ask how far they were fromthe Utiangue chiefdom.

      capturing people to ask for directions seems a little extreme. I wonder what that says about de Soto's men's relationship with the people living in the region at the time

    6. his Mexico or Peru.

      Mexico and Peru were the seats of large empires (Aztec and Inca). I don't know if anything like that was happening in Florida at the time de Soto arrived.

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  3. Aug 2023
    1. e old ways, they initiated a future in which one peoplewould claim exclusive ownership of the mid-continent. After the War of 1812,these settlers came in numbers large enough to overwhelm the region's in-habitants.

      so... they forced their way in

    2. ies. The diseases thatstruck the continent in the isoos and continued to hit Indian populations inwaves for the next three centuries transformed the Americas. But Europeansdid not control disease, and it did not doom Indian occupation of the A

      I'm taking another course about disease in American history, so it's going to be interesting to learn more about that.

    3. nial administrators generally delineated the boundaries of theirempires by referring to the native peoples with whom they had forged al-liances

      This kind of checks out given how many states and regions share names with Native American groups and tribes.

    4. y a native groundshould in no way imply

      Interesting how the concept of "native ground" can be an oversimplification of the way life was for Native Americans (especially geopolitically) before the influx of Europeans (here described as taking place in the 1820s)

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  4. Apr 2021
    1. This exclusion of "all persons of Japanese ancestry, both alien and non-alien," from the Pacific Coast area ona plea of military necessity in the absence of martial law ought not to be approved. Such exclusion goes over "the very brink of constitutional power," and falls into the ugly abyss of racism.

      Mr. Justice Murphy is calling it like it is- in 1944. People knew this was messed up when it was happening.

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  5. Feb 2021
    1. hat it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, at any time during the continuance of this act, to orderall such aliensas he. shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable grounds

      This is giving the President a lot of power. In early America, many people were suspicious about the President having any power at all. I do recall that this act caused quite an uproar and was eventually declared unconstitutional. But what was the national mood towards immigrants at the time that the President felt like he could even DO this, and Congress passed it?

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    1. y." I would argue that immigration in the eighteenth century contributed significantly to this development and

      I'm sure that immigration was an important part of why this system existed, but when I think of overly complicated class systems like this, I can't help be a little suspicious that the people on top benefitted from the extreme complexity and saw it in their favor to have it this way.

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    1. The Declaration of the People, against Sr: Wm: Berkeley, and Present Governors of Virginia

      This is a declaration of a bunch of complaints people have against their ruler. Could it have possibly have influenced the Declaration of Independence? And if so, wouldn't that have been weird, given that wealthy Virginians, like Jefferson and Washington, were heavily involved in the American Revolution.

    1. a good and a faithfull servant

      Echo of biblical language of God speaking to man "Well done, my good and faithful servant". Possible "divine right of indenture owner" situation going on here?

    1. in the meantime suffer a whole Continent as fruitfull & convenient for the use of man to lie waste without any improvement?

      He seems to be ignoring the fact that people were already living on and using the American continents

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    1. IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith

      It appears obvious that religion is a main driver of this colony

    1. they pursued the immediate goal of family-household elfare

      Ultimately, short-term survival is what's most important when you're not in great economic shape

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    1. or imported slave

      I don't doubt that immigrants who chose freely to come to America had different experiences than those who came enslaved. However, the transition must have been very hard on those who were enslaved. Even though their position was clear, it probably, if anything, made the transition harder for them than for those who came freely.

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    1. how have those debates changed (or not) over time?

      I feel like over the course of American history, anyone other than white Anglo-Saxon Protestants have been deemed "dangerous" and "un-American". It's like these people can't tolerate anyone who's different from themselves.

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