Colin Lebzelter ENG3299 Blog

Oroonoko Aphra Behn  The story of Oroonoko erupts with vivid imagery of the foreign colony of Surinam and immediately takes the reader to another world. The imagery gives the reader a real perspective on what the early colonial Caribbean was like, tie that in with a dramatic love story and you have the formula for a perfect story on early Caribbean trials and tribulations. The story follows African Prince Oroonoko who is a black hero for white men. Behn writes this story from an extremely euro-centric perspective to peak the interest of people in England and the surrounding areas."For the future therefore I must call  Oroonoko Cæsar ; since by that Name only he was known in our Western World", Oroonoko is given the name Caesar due to his personal resemblance of European royalty. Oroonoko is given the title of "Caesar" due to his blaring similarities to white leaders of great beauty. I believe Behn thought that England wasn't ready for a story of an African hero ...

BBC Radio: The Valladolid Debate  "In Reality it becomes a forced labor system", This quote encapsulates the problem that the encomienda system faced when it was implemented. Native American people that were taking part in the encomienda system were supposed to benefit from their work and reap benefits from the conquerors of their land but often found themselves subjugated and forced into brutal labor practices. Encomienda is just another colonial-era coverup for slavery by calling it something else. Indentured servitude is the most noteworthy instance of this and involved low-income individuals working for a period of time in hopes of receiving property at the end of the period. Much like encomienda, this turned out to be very similar to slavery and essentially was slavery with a different name. For the people in charge of these operations this was really beneficial to them because they could drive workers in a similar fashion to slavery and receive the same amount of labor ...

 Gold, Silver, and Slaves     The West African Slave trade doesn't have as simple of a history as many might think. African nations participated in trading slaves to the new world and England. Often it is believed that the British invaded Africa and enslaved it's constituents on their own when in fact, West African leaders played a large part in enslaving their own people. More than anything this speaks to the corruption within African nations and the large wealth disparity between royalty and the common people. A major port where slavery occurred was Bristol England where slavery is heavily ingrained in the history of the city. Bristol was able to manufacture high-quality metal goods at low rates which attracted a fair amount of slave labor. The people of Bristol are making efforts at coming to terms with their unfortunate past and dedicated a bridge in the honor of a slave named Pero. Pero ends up dying a slave largely from failing health due to a drinking problem. This...

  Christopher Columbus Documentary      Christopher Columbus starts off by taking anything he can get his hands-on from resources to animals. For Columbus to do this he knew he had to be resourceful in his ventures and quickly figured out how to use the locals to his advantage. When Columbus had his ship wrecked instead of writing it off as a total loss he was resourceful enough to turn it into a fort knowing he turn a bad situation into a good opportunity. "He caused a fort to be built here with the timbers of Santa Maria", Columbus used his newly constructed fort as both a show of force and way to bond with the native peoples. Columbus worked closely with the local people to build the fort and demonstrated the weapon capabilities of his canons. Showing that he could be a great friend or a great foe. Columbus was smart in that he knew exactly who he could take advantage of and who he shouldn't cross, he constantly sized people and situations up.      ...

Extract From Journal By Christopher Columbus     Columbus is very kind in his description of the native peoples of the West Indies, he is very taken aback by their completion and their mannerism. This doesn't keep Columbus from talking down to the native peoples and regarding them as less than him. He writes with a certain level of entitlement, almost as if he had a divine right. "I might call myself Don, and be High Admiral of the Sea, and perpetual Viceroy and Governor in all the islands and continents which I might discover and acquire"(Intro), Columbus outlines his own entitlement in aksing to be named governor and leader of all the lands he finds, Columbus also writes and acts like someone who is paranoid of the environment he is in. Any new land has an element of mystery to it, but he constantly lives in fear and distrust of the people around him. His intentions seem clear, he doesn't appear to be a true explorer and seems to be only driven by monetary rewards. ...

 An Introduction to Post-Colonial Theory Peter Childs and R.J. Patrick Williams      The world still lives largely in the wake of the colonial period that existed over all continents for 100s of years. "Beginning in earnest in the 1950s and reaching it's highest point in the 1960s". (1) Signs of the colonial era ending emerge in the 1950s, governments begin to move out of holding proxy states and imperialist theory begins to exit the first world. It is difficult to say that we are out of the post-colonial era even today and we see the after-effects of it in many nations today. The term post-colonial by itself takes an extended amount of explaining because large implications arise from it. You could even lobby that we have yet to exit the colonial era, as nations like China continue to annex land and entire countries.     "A much more plausible explanation is the search for low-cost labor forces"(5) This line underlines an ever-present problem that may not h...

Tongues of Heaven Anita Chang     Tongues of Heaven is built on the idea that language is essential to culture, and without it indigenous groups of people will loose a part of themselves. "among 6000 or so languages, 2 disappear every month", I think it is at first difficult to understand the gravity of this statement as here in the western world we take the concept of language for granted. Here in the US and in nations like mainland China we are unified by a single common language for the most part so I think the concept that indigenous languages are important is lost on much of the population.     Languages are lost in favor of a unified common language because it allows for communication on a much larger scale and streamlines efforts towards business and globalization. This points to the idea that languages are being lost because it's just not practical. Aunt Lai states that "The Rukai people must ask: what do I have that has the highest economic value t...