Colonization
Mars vs. 13 Colonies
Colonization isn't always successful
- “And in this dream--he seized her wrist--didn’t the ship land over in Green Valley, didn’t it? Answer me! Why, yes- And it landed this afternoon, didn’t it? he kept at her. Yes, yes, I think so, yes , but only in a dream.” Pg.9
- “No, besides, it’s a terribly long walk to Pao’s. All the way through Green Valley and the past the big canal and down, isn’t it? Pg.10
- “There was a warmth as of a great fire passing in the air. A whirling, rushing sound. A gleam in the sky, of metal.” Pg.12
- “It came from a long way off. One shot. The swift humming distant bees. One shot. And then a second shot, precise and cold, and far away.” Pg.12
In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh founded a colony on Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina. After a year of constant struggles, everyone left, but eventually just below 200 settlers went back with John White. White left for England to get supplies, and when he returned, everyone had vanished. The colonists' mysterious evacuation was England's second failed attempt at colonizing Roanoke.
- The following year, Raleigh sent another group to found a colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. The English colonists at Roanoke found life hard. They fought with Native Americans and had trouble finding and growing food. They did not have the wilderness survival skills needed to combat the new environment they faced. After only a year, the remaining colonists returned to England.
- John White and 150 settlers resettled Roanoke in 1587.
- After a few months, White went back to England to get more supplies. War with Spain prevented White from returning for three years. When he came back, White found the colony deserted. Pg.57
There Were Many Reasons To Colonize
- "They came because they were afraid or unafraid, because they were happy or unhappy, because they felt like Pilgrims or did not feel like pilgrims. There was a reason for each man. They were leaving bad wives or bad jobs or bad towns; they were coming to find something or leave something or get something, to dig up something or bury something or leave something alone." Pg.73
In The New World (North America) countries like England and Spain attempted to build colonies and claim lands for various reasons; establish a presence, God, gold, glory, to add land to growing territory and more.
- "Columbus's discovery also created conflict between European countries. Both Spain and Portugal wanted to add the lands to their growing empires." Pg.43
- "Columbus asked King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to pay for an expedition across the Atlantic. He promised them great riches, new territory and Catholic converts." Pg.42
- "Europeans wanted to find a Northwest Passage, a water route through North America that would allow ships to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific." Pg.54
Newcomers Rename The Lands They Claim
- "They came to the strange blue lands and put their names upon the lands."
- "Here was Hinkston Creek and Lustig Corners and Black River and Driscoll forest and Peregrine Mountain and Wilder Town, all the names of the people and the things that the people did. " Pg.102
When explorers and settlers founded/conquered lands they renamed them.
- "Columbus called the island San Salvador, which means 'Holy Savior.' Columbus also visited another island which he called Hispaniola." Pg.43
- "The two sides fought a series of battles. Finally, the governor of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant conquered New Sweden in 1655. He allowed the Swedes to continue their colony, but he called it the "Swedish Nation."Pg.57
- "In 1608 Champlain founded a small colony named Quebec on the Saint Lawrence River." Pg.55
Settlers Brought Disease
- " 'Yes. I made tests. Chicken Pox. It did things to the Martians it never did to Earth Men. Their metabolism reacted differently, I suppose. Burnt them black and dried them out to brittle flakes. But it's Chicken Pox, nevertheless. So York and Captain Williams and Captain Black must have made it through to Mars, all three expeditions. God knows what happened to them. But at least we know what they unintentionally did to the Martians.' " Pg.51
Europeans brought diseases unknown to the Americas and the Native Americans.
- "European diseases had a devastating effect on the Native American population. Measles, smallpox, and typhus were common in Europe. As a result, most adult Europeans were immune, or had a natural resistance, to them. Native Americans, however, had never been exposed to such diseases and had no immunity to them. As a result, many Native Americans became terribly sick after their first encounters with Europeans. Millions of them died in the years after Columbus reached the New World." Pg.58
Some People Went For Freedom
- "They began to plan people's lives and libraries ; they began to instruct and push about the very people who had come to Mars to get away form being instructed and ruled and pushed about. " Pg.103
The Pilgrims left England for religious freedom and to escape persecution.
- "The Pilgrims were one Separatist group that left England in the 1600's to escape persecution." Pg.78