The Roads that Led to America! A STORY OF FORCE, MOTION AND CHANGE Middle Ages & Crusades to the Renaissance to the Age of Exploration to The Settlement of the Americas BY: Spencer Brown
It Begins Before the Beginning The story of America started long before 1492. It can be traced back thousands of years, actually, but that would be a mighty long story, so we re just gonna start around 1,000 AD Once upon a time in a place called Europe, life was very, very different than in modern-day America. This period of time in Europe was called The Middle Ages. We ll make this the starting setting to our story. But how did we go from the Middle Ages in Europe to the beginning of settlement in America? Well, that s the story you re about to read
Here I am, sitting here watching my father get tortured for trying to help our family. Why is it that the king gets to be the highest all the time, then the lords, then the knights, and then of course, us the measly peasants that have to do all the work? Why if you were born with royal blood you get to be the king and the top of the hierarchy? Lords, Ladies, and Lowly Serfs I fell down in a heap onto the ground. I was watching my father get brutally punished for attempting to steal cushions for chairs at our hut on the side of the river. I couldn t help but let the tears fall down and onto the cold muddy ground. I know my father was just trying to keep the family safe and happy, but he doesn t need to go this far and get himself hung on a pillory for people to see him and throw rotten fruit at him. I do not understand this feudal system and I really don t think that this royal blood thing is actually real.
Lords, Ladies, and Lowly Serfs Why does the pope get to learn everything and talk directly to god? I bet the king is sitting in his royal chair, demanding his servants for more luxuries and eating delicious feasts. Why do they get what they have?!?!?
Lords, Ladies, and Lowly Serfs I sighed as I sat back in my royal chair. I snapped and nobody came to me! Finally a measly servant stumbled over and immediately started wailing. I m sorry my Lord! I m really sorry! I yelled at him for not going, but I didn t send him down into the rotting jail cell. Instead, I told him to get me a loaf of roasted ham. He ran off, still saying thank you for not sending him off. He finally came back with a big piece of roasted ham. Now, you would think that life as a king in a castle is okay, but most of the time, it s really disgusting and terrible. One reason is that it is always smoky. The windows are so narrow so attackers can t shoot through them, but we have fireplaces in the castle and the windows are so narrow that almost no smoke gets out of the castle!
Lords, Ladies, and Lowly Serfs When you want to go to the bathroom, you have to go out of a wall! The castle is great and all, but it is not enough. I have had enough of this. Well, that is what I thought, but I did not realize what was going to happen next...
Holy Wars Create Huge Change! I, an acclumsid peasant who nobody even really knows about, is fighting in one of the biggest and longest fights in history. As we were charging into the walls of Jerusalem, I was thinking these very things in my head. Attack! Pope Urban II had made the most important speech in our era and time. He had declared war against the Muslims to take back the holy land (Jerusalem) for the Christians. He told us that God said that they should. I respect God, but seriously, I think that this war must have been a mistake. It is a bloodbath out there.
Holy Wars Create Huge Change! Even my fellow war mates are and have been agreeing with me that this war is not possibly what God had planned to do. Even so, there is nothing that I can do to make this war stop, because it is only going to keep on raging on. Little did I know, by going on these major and adventurous Crusades, we would actually discover things much more new than the holy land of Jerusalem.....
A Burst of Learning and the Rebirth of Knowledge! I was sitting on a hard stone floor, watching my teacher show us words in English terms. Things have really changed since I was a noble knight serving in the war for Jerusalem and a knight in a castle. Now, I am sitting in a stone building learning English and Latin. Life is so good because of this burst of learning (later called the Renaissance). Now territories are indeed forming into cities of commerce, and we all want spices from India that can make food last longer. A man named Christopher Columbus believes that there is an easier trade route to India but we ll get into that later. Many people are sharing their cultural ideas and spreading learning all over the world. Galileo is making a theory that the moon circles around us and we circle around the sun. People also came back with silk, pearls and perfume.
A Burst of Learning and the Rebirth of Knowledge! Learning is not easy, but I am extremely grateful that I am able to learn all these strange and new symbols. This was not like the dretch I had to go through in the Muslim - Christian war. This learning only happened because of the Crusades though. We lost the wars, but I have no real interest in claiming the holy land, Jerusalem. What we have now is much better than that. We found so many new things while in the area around Jerusalem. We found Indian spices and things that could not even be thought of. I am so happy and I will do everything I can to make learning even better.
We Want a Route! We Want a Route! A hand grabbed me by the neck. I could smell the captain s smelly breath. I had been caught again dozing off. Get back to work! Vasco da Gama yelled. I knew he was not the mean man you would think he is, because he isn t. He is strict but very smart, and one of the best navigators you will ever hear of. I saluted and got back to mopping the poop deck. I marched down the side of the magnificent green area called a forest. I see strange animals within like flying brown bats that zip across vines. I have also seen strange unicorns with three horns that are gray. What happens outside of my home in France is very fascinating. I sat in my bunk, feeling nauseous and very homesick. I wondered if we would ever find this new trade route. I never really believed that we would ever find this place. I hope Christopher Columbus knows what he is talking about. Please God, can you help uf find something that is worth sailing for? He didn t realize that he was sailing for something definitely worth sailing for..
We got a Route! We got a Route! So how did Columbus discovery for Spain change the world? Probably because he found a whole new one, silly! So this business of America starting in 1492 is really just not the case it started WAAYY before then. As you ve just read, one thing led to another, which led to another and another and another, until next thing you know, BOOM! Columbus finds a whole new world. Yes, this is where the story really gets good! But we re just gonna leave that part for another time