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Summary of a Basque Nun’s Memoir of her Life as a Conquistador
Lieutenant Nun: Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World is a firsthand account of the cultural aspects of the 17th-century Spanish colonial empire from the perspective of a female conquistador. In this era, a man’s life and honor depended on how well he could handle a sword and how quick he was to use it. As a woman, Erauso has to quickly adapt to this world when she assumes a man’s life.
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Was Henry VIII a Renaissance Monarch?
England made significant literary, political, and cultural strides during Henry VIII's reign. This came largely thanks to the influence of the Renaissance, which Henry and those in his administration adapted to English culture and religiosity.
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Alfred Crosby’s Columbian Exchange: Indian Depopulation and Food Sustainability
The Columbian Exchange was a two-way biological and agricultural exchange. The Europeans and Africans brought Old World airborne diseases to the New World for which the Indians did not have any immunity, which they exchanged for syphilis. The Europeans’ livestock provided much-needed labor and food source in the Americas. In return, the Americas supplied the Eastern Hemisphere with an abundance of agricultural products which would relieve hunger, increase nutrition, and enable a rapid growth spurt in the world’s population.
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Indian Tribes of the American Southwest
The pre-Columbian history of the southwestern United States has been easier to trace than pre-columbian history of other regions. In this article, I’ll cover the four main ethnicities of Indians who inhabited the Southwest in the period immediately before European discovery. They included the Anasazi (Pueblos), the Hohokams, the Yumans, and the Athapascans—which include the Navajo and Apache.
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Why Do We Associate Turkey With Thanksgiving?
When we think of the modern American Thanksgiving, we often think of football. But nothing defines the holiday’s tradition like family gatherings around stuffed turkey. But what ties this meat so strongly to Thanksgiving?
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Native American Population Estimates When Columbus Arrived In 1492
Pre-Columbian population estimates range from eight million to Henry Dobyns’s high count of 142 million, with the average estimate of Native American demographers over the past century remaining steady at about 40 million.[2] The high estimates can easily be discounted as exaggerations, considering that the Aztec Empire—one of the most densely populated regions in the Americas—had only about six million on the eve of European contact.
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The Cause Behind the Glorious Revolution: The Overthrew of James II
Hollland's William of Orange and English opposition leaders dethroned England’s King James II in 1689, in what became known as the Glorious Revolution and the beginning of modern constitutional monarchy. But why did the English join foreigners to overthrow their monarch?
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Why did Monarchy and Parliament Become Estranged in the 1620s?
The English Monarchy and Parliament became estranged in the 1620s because of disputes about the role of king and parliament, Christian doctrine, financing a war with Spain, and a general lack of trust. This eventually led to Charles I’s autocratic rule in the 1630s, civil war, and the king’s beheading two decades later.
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How Successful was James I?
He maintained Protestant rule and retained the loyalty of most of his subjects by pursuing an ecumenical policy among the various factions. This ecumenical spirit produced his greatest legacy, the King James Bible, which continues to carry his fame today.
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Reformation without the People: How the English Became Protestant
The Protestant Reformation did not come to England because of a religious revival or a sudden change of heart by the English people. King Henry VIII created the Church of England for personal reasons, and he never truly became Protestant in belief and practice. The schism with Rome did, however, allow for the political and ecclesiastic infiltration of Protestants that set in motion a thorough reformation under Edward VI and Elizabeth I.
