Write a brief (3 pages) paper on one of the following topics. Submit a hard copy of your paper in class and upload it to the Paper 1 link on SafeAssign, available on WebCampus.

The goal of this paper is to read closely a primary source and interpret it in order to make an argument about early American history. The documents for these paper topics (Casas, Williams, Bishop, and Mather) are loaded onto WebCampus under Documents.

Your essay will be graded based on:

1. your argument;

2. your use of evidence;

3. your writing.

1. Spaniards, like other Europeans, invariably contrasted their culture to the Indians’. Typically, they considered themselves civilized and the Indians barbaric. How does Bartolomé de las Casas, a Spanish missionary, compare and describe the behavior of the Indians and the Spaniards? What words or metaphors does Casas use to describe the Indians and the Spaniards? Why do these peoples differ, according to Casas?

2. English settlers had complicated ideas about the Indians. On the one hand, they looked down on them, feared them, and wanted to take their land. On the other hand, they sometimes admired aspects of the Indians’ culture. Roger Williams was an early Puritan settler in New England. How does he compare the Indians and the English? What does he admire about the natives? What aspects of their culture does he distrust or dislike? What makes these peoples different?

3. Bridget Bishop was tried, convicted, and executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. What sort of evidence was used against Bishop in her trial? What does Puritan minister Increase Mather have to say about the use of evidence in a court of law? Why do the witnesses, jurors, and trial judge apparently differ from Mather in their perspective as to what constitutes valid evidence of witchcraft?