In your opinion, do people in the Americas should celebrate the arrival of Christopher Columbus to this continent? If so, explain how and why; if not, explain why not.
No, Christopher Columbus day is celebrated annually in America in memory of Christopher Columbus and his contribution to the Americans. However, it seems most people, myself included are opposed to the celebration of this day. Yvonne Zipp writes and says “this historically problematic holiday-Columbus never actually set foot on the continental U.S,-has made an increasing number wince, given the enslavement and genocide of Native American people that followed in the wake of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria.” The Columbus day was installed in 1992, 500 years after the landing of Columbus in the Caribbean (Proulx, 2017) . The day was set up as a memorial for the legacy of the indigenous people in Lieu of Columbus. However, it seems the intention has been misinterpreted since Columbus himself was a ruthless leader who history is dark that no one would want to associate with. Why would I take any pride in honoring the life of a person who subjected natives to much misery? I think we should better focus our energy and resources to more important things than remembering dark times which marked the greatest undoing to the beautiful history of this great country.
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The Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca civilizations are arguably among the most spectacular events in human history. According to Jared Diamond’s documentary, “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” what factors explain the rapid Spanish conquest of the Americas? What advantages did the Spanish enjoy? What role did technology and disease play? Do you agree with Diamond’s thesis and conclusion?
Several factors facilitated the Spanish conquest. First, there were superior weapons which included large guns. More so, there was gun powder also being used in war. Spaniards were also given an advantage because they owned other weapons such as the edged swords, crossbows, and pikes (Gardner) . The second factor is alliances and experience. Spaniards had great alliances with many people, especially their enemies who learnt that they may be conquered. The presence of horses also made a great difference. Horses and other animals were mostly found in in Europe and Asia. In South America, you could only find the Llama which could not be used at the time of war thus giving Spaniards and advantage ( Minster , 2019) . Diseases and technology were important in the Spanish conquest. Microscopic organisms invaded the natives and infected them with diseases like smallpox and measles which wiped larger populations. Spanish invaders thus got some exposure. Technology was applied in the formation of deadly and sophisticated weapons for war something which gave the Spanish people an advantage over their enemies who only possessed less sophisticated weapons ( Minster , 2019) .
As seen in the ASL presentation, Jews and Conversos were part of the conquest and colonization in Mexico, and key participants in the transatlantic and transpacific trade networks, as well as development of domestic trade. Provide a summary of the ASL presentation regarding the Jewish presence in Latin America. Give also your opinion about the presentation.
Jews in Latin America accompanied the Portuguese and Spanish in the expeditions of countries.in 1492; most Spanish were forced to convert into Catholicism failure to which they faced expulsion. By the 15 th and 16 th centuries, several controverso families had already migrated to the Netherlands, France and Italy. Still, other migrated to England or France (Stavans, 2019) . In the late 16 th century, the Portuguese colony of Brazil had fully functional Jewish communities. Organized communities of Jews in the Portuguese and Spanish territories were evident. Through the end of the 17 th century, large Jewish communities in the Western Hemisphere were located in Suriname and Brazil (Wade, 2018) . Communities did very well and flourished, especially the Caribbean, south and South America more specifically, under the control of the Dutch and the English who tolerated them (Stavans, 2019) . The continued massive migration of Jews from the Eastern Europe ensured that this population continued to grow very fast. Many Ashkenazi Jews migrated to South America as refugees immediately after World War II (Wade, 2018) . Less than 300000 Jew live in Latin America in the 21 st century (Stavans, 2019) . Most of them are found in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. In my opinion, the existence of Jews in Latin America has been very significant in history. They have been forced to move from their countries of residence because of many factors one major one being war, especially World War II. Today, however, the numbers have declined as has been observed.
Bibliography
Minster , C. (2019, February 24). Important Events in the Conquest of the Aztec Empire. Retrieved March 9, 2019, from ThoughtCo.: https://www.thoughtco.com/conquest-of-aztec-empire-important-events-2136534
Gardner, A. T. (n.d.). What were the most important Fctors in Explaining the Spanish Victory Over the Aztecs & Incas? Retrieved March 9, 2019, from Seattle Pi: https://education.seattlepi.com/were-important-factors-explaining-spanish-victory-over-aztecs-incas-6698.html
Proulx, N. (2017, October 5). Should the United States Celebrate Columbus Day? Retrieved March 9, 2019, from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/learning/should-the-united-states-celebrates-columbus-day.html
Stavans, l. (2019). Latin American Jewish History. Retrieved March 9, 2019, from Oxford Bibliographies: http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199840731/obo-9780199840731-0009.xml
Wade, L. (2018). Latin America’s lost histories revealed in modern DNA. Retrieved March 9, 2019, from Science: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/04/latin-america-s-lost-histories-revealed-modern-dna
