Pilgrims Landing

I think that this picture accurately depicts the Pilgrim's landing in Cape Cod for many reasons, one is that it shows them setting up their settlement on a small brook.  This is significant because when colonists first came to America, they had to find a source of water so they had something to cook with, and they needed something to drink.  I also like how this picture depicts the washing of clothes.  Some may overlook this detail, but after a long journey from England, I am sure that the cloths needed washing.  Finally there is a small army in the background and that is interesting because when the colonists came over, they had probably heard stories about savages that had been exaggerated.  I think because of these stories, the colonists formed a small army to defend themselves against attacks that they thought were going to happen.  This is also slightly ironic because the Pilgrims eventually made friends with the Native Americans.

Native American Mound Cultures

This week when we saw the video on the mound cities and I was immediately awestruck.  When I saw the mounds at Cahokia the engineering that had to be present was phenomenal. Also the amount of dirt that the Native Americans had to move to make some of the big mounds took many years to complete.  This showed that the Native Americans were not only engineering geniuses, but they also accelerated greatly at teamwork.  It is amazes me that most of these mounds are still around, and someday I hope to visit them.