Bringing History to Life
|
|
Activity Four - Primary Sources |
How did Captain James Cook treat the native people he encountered? Was his approach to them typical of his times? How would you judge him from the point of view of modern values? Is that fair? Take a look with your partner at Captain Cook's Journal During the First Voyage Round the World and look for the word "natives" using FIND to collect several examples of what he did when he encountered natives on his first voyage. Paste these passages into your learning journal. Next to each passage write a sentence stating what it illustrates about his approach. --------------------------- To make a judgment about Cook's handling of the native people, students would have to read more than one encounter and would have to consider the wisdom of relying on his own accounts of these incidents, for primary sources can be distorted as badly as secondary. While primary sources can cast much light on an issue, there are many perspectives missing, since nfew seamen kept written records and most of the native people relied on oral traditions that have not survived to the present day. |
© 2010 J. McKenzie, all rights reserved. These activities may not be used for professional development without paying a site licensing fee. For information, consult http://fnopress.com/sitelicense.html