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Section 3: pp. 77-78, "Settling New Spain." **Juan Carlos I**, born in 1938, king of __[|Spain]__ since 1975. Juan Carlos helped return his country to __[|democracy]__ after the long dictatorship of General __[|Francisco Franco]__. The grandson of King __[|Alfonso XIII]__, Juan Carlos was born in exile in __[|Rome]__ and educated in __[|Switzerland]__ and __[|Madrid]__. **Madrid**, capital and largest city of __[|Spain]__. It is also the capital of the autonomous region and province of Madrid. The city of Madrid is located near the center of the Iberian Peninsula and in the middle of the Meseta, Spain’s vast interior tableland. Madrid is Spain’s administrative, financial, and transportation center. The city is noted for its historical landmarks, museums, active street life, broad boulevards, and outdoor cafés.  Madrid lies in a region that Spaniards call the heart of Spain. The city’s average elevation is about 640 m (about 2,100 ft) above sea level, and it has an area of 607 sq km (234 sq mi). Although most of the city is fairly flat, the Meseta slopes upward toward the west, and mountains rise nearby. Two mountain ranges—the Sierra de Guadarrama and the Sierra de Gredos—divide the Meseta into northern and southern regions. The Sierra de Guadarrama rise steeply to the north of Madrid, while the Sierra de Gredos rise farther away, to the west. The nearby Guadarrama mountains are popular for daytrips from the city and for hiking and climbing.  
 * Spanish conqueror:**  a Spanish conqueror or adventurer, especially one of those who conquered Mexico, Peru, and Central America in the 16th century.  Charles V abdicated the throne of [|Spain] in 1556 and [|Philip II] replaced his father as king of Spain. What [|Philip II] inherited was to have a marked impact on the decades as king of Spain.

Included below is an example of researching, cut and pasting important information, paraphrasing the information, citing the website, and posting on your wiki for your group presentation.

**__Websites that could be used for your research:__**   @http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/spanish-conquistadors.htm

@http://www.pbs.org/opb/conquistadors/mexico/adventure2/a1.htm

@http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/theconquest/a/09armsconquest.htm

@http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/topics/spanish_conquest.html

@http://kids.britannica.com/

@http://encarta.msn.com/

@http://everything2.com/title/Peninsulares

@http://www.answers.com/ 

@http://www.about.com/ 

Mr. Martin-section 5: pp. 78-80, "Harsh Life for Native Americans." A key point that I found interesting is found on page 79 and how the priest Bartolome de Las Casas tried to intercede on behalf of the Native Americans for better conditions. I used the website: ****http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/theconquest/a/09armsconquest.htm****

 In the search box at the top of the page, I typed in "Bartolome de Las Casas," and was given different options of researching this individual and I chose the first option.


 * <span style="font-weight: normal; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; msobidifontweight: bold; msobidithemefont: minor-bidi;">I found something very interesting in that it showed that Las Casas did more than petition the government for better conditions for the Native Americans, he actually tried to do something about. It also showed me that throughout history, there were always people who were involved with social justice even with the chance of placing themselves in great harm.

(From the website) First Experiments: Las Casas convinced Spanish authorities to allow him to try and save the few remaining Caribbean natives by taking them out of slavery and placing them in free towns, but the death of King Ferdinand in 1516 and the resulting chaos over his successor caused these reforms to be delayed. Las Casas also asked for and received a section of the Venezuelan mainland for an experiment: he believed that he could pacify the natives with religion, not weapons. Unfortunately, the region that was selected had been heavily raided by slavers, and the natives’ hostility to the Europeans was too intense to overcome.

The Verapaz Experiment: <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> In 1537, Las Casas wanted to try again to show that natives could be controlled peacefully and that violence and conquest were unnecessary. He was able to convince the crown to let him send missionaries to a region in north-central Guatemala where the natives had proved particularly fierce. His experiment worked, and the natives were brought under Spanish control peacefully. The experiment was called Verapaz, or “true peace,” and the region still bears the name. Unfortunately, once the region was brought under control, greedy colonists took the lands and enslaved the natives, undoing almost all of Las Casas’ work. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> This is an example of my paraphrasing the above section from the website, citing my source, and how it would look on your expert group wiki: <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> **

Mr. Martin-section 5: pp. 78-80, "Harsh Life for Native Americans." A key point that I found interesting is found on page 79 and how the priest Bartolome de Las Casas tried to intercede on behalf of the Native Americans for better conditions. I found something that I found very interesting section very interesting because it showed that Bartolome did more than petition the government for better conditions for the Native Americans, he actually tried to do something about. It also showed me that throughout history, there were always people who were involved with social justice even with the chance of placing themselves in great harm.

Las Casas found that even with his interventions on behalf of the Native Americans, he needed to show the government that more needed to be done. He was allowed to take the remaining Caribbean natives to Venezuela to start a free town, but his first attempt failed due to slave traders and hostility from the local natives. His second attempt found him using missionaries in Guatemala to subdue the natives using peaceful means and was successful. That area of Guatemala is still called "true peace." Unfortunately, the greed of the colonists undid Las Casas work as they took native's land and enslaved many of the residents. (Retrieved on November 1, 2009 from [] )