Name: Stella Sept. 2016

Making Thirteen Colonies Homework

Directions: Read chapter 2 in Making Thirteen Colonies. Answer the following questions below. Use complete sentences. The following assignment is due on Friday, September 16th.

Questions:

1. What are the (10)  characteristics of the “gentlemen” as described in this reading? (Please be detailed in your description). How do they differ from “younkers?”

On the ship half of the men on it refered to themselves as “gentlemen”. In England, the gentlemen were not expected to work. The relied on the family money. They had a lot of time to adventure. They only go to the New World hoping to get rich. A lot of them brought their best clothes on the trip. They brought there puffed knee pants, their silk stockings, feathered hats, and showy blouses. The gentlemen had servants who were the “younkers”. Some were carpenters and bricklayers and some were just young boys. They were expected to climb the ropes on the ship’s mast, help set the sails, and look out for land or danger. If a younker fell in the ocean of the mast and was lost they wouldn’t help him. I can infer that the gentlemen were much more important than the younkers were. If a gentlemen fell of the ship they might have looked for him but the gentlemen didn’t do much so it was probably very unlikely that one would fall off. I can also infer that the gentlemen’s families must be pretty rich if they can rely on their money and not make any themselves. The younkers must come from poor families because they have to work and still are poor. I think younkers and going to the New World to start a new life and get rich just like the gentlemen.

1. Take a closer look at the picture of page 19 and the caption that accompanies it. How are people in London imagining the New World based on what this picture shows? Be specific and be sure to reference the picture.

The people in England thought that the Native Americans were savages. They think that the they always fight and are dangerous. The English go to  the New World thinking that the natives are a threat to them. I also think that the English didn’t understand that this is what the Native American people needed to do to survive. They had to kill their own food instead of just buying it from a market or store. Some of the people in the picture are half naked. The English most likely frowned upon that because everyone in England wore clothes or the poor people wore rags to cover themselves up. The picture show untouched land and in England, where it was really crowded and dirty for peasants, this is an ideal for people who wanted to get away. There is also a lot of forest in the New World and at the time England was struggling because their timber was getting scarcer and scarcer as they used it all to build houses and the farmland was disappearing. London’s streets were filled with beggars. People also thought the New World was filled with gold so they went there to get rich This what the English imagined the New World would be like.

1. How well prepared would you say this group of men and boys was for the challenges of a new and unfamiliar land? Do you predict success or failure for this company’s colonizing attempts at this point? Why? Be sure to use textual evidence and analysis. (You need direct quotes in this one)

I think that some people were more prepared than others. Captain Newport probably had a very good idea of what would happen, like having to build new houses and hunt for food. On page 19 the text says “Ocean travel was risky- they all knew that. They also knew that their captain, Christopher Newport, was one of England’s finest sailors. As a privateer, he had sailed the New World’s seas.” The Captain knew how to start with nothing and survive. . He had discovered new lands and he also knew how to fight because he had most likely attacked the Spanish. I think that the younkers could imagine working but there was more than they thought. They were creating a new society, which was a lot of work. I think that the least prepared people were the gentlemen. They didn’t  know how to fight or defend themselves. They had never worked in their lives and they had no skills. On page 18 it says “In England, gentlemen were not expected or trained to work. They lived on family money.” They had been given everything they needed without working for it. That means that half of the people can’t do anything to help the community grow. I think that they are in a small way destined for failure. Some people aren’t interested in doing anything to help a community grow. They just want to get rich.