American Colonies By Alan Taylor: History Of North America

Name: Course: Tutor: Date: American Colonies by Alan Taylor In his book, American Colonies, Taylor mentions various events that took place in the history of North America. In the first chapter, he begins by mentioning the Pre-Columbian era in 14th up to the16th century. During this time, there were a number of developments in the field of culture and various aspects of the society. There was a rise in the number of agricultural activities that were spread to America from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China. European influence on the North America during this era was prevalent in various aspects of the Americans. A number of explorers during this time discovered America as a region with a lot of potential, hence turning it into the European colony. The major events during this era included the efforts of the Jesuits to catholicize the natives, the success of the Spanish Cabeza De Vaca and slavery in North America. Taylor writes about the attempt by the Jesuits to catholicize Native Americans in the years 1566 to 1572CITATION Ala02 \p p.370 \l 1033 (Alan p.370). It was meant to ensure that the Native Americans become conversant with the European way of life. This lead to several difficulties and their efforts were not successful. Thus, new reformation by the Jesuits was emphasized in which there was an isolation of the young Native Americans into seminaries; a belief that most them would be easily converted. In contrast to the beliefs of the Jesuits, the Natives Americans became stubborn. Moreover, the Jesuits experienced difficulty in translating the missionary word of Christianity to the young Native Americans. Furthermore, young American Natives refused could not be transformed and instead ran away from the Jesuits. In addition, the Jesuits forms of teaching applied were foreign and were not contextualized for the benefit of the young Natives. Taylor explored the success and achievements of the great Spa...