‘Big Picture’ Stuff – SHORT ANSWER:

Historical Context – the circumstances, attitudes & values of a time period have a huge influence on the actions & interactions of groups of people – European ethnocentrism (social factors) & desire for wealth & fame (economic factors) determined how they viewed/interacted with FN and the assumptions they made about them, Imperialism was ‘normal’

You must understand historical events in the context of the time period to see why things happened the way they did

It is important to include balanced perspectives on historical events in order to understand the truth of what happened

God created each person unique and values us all equally – there is no one more important/superior to another in His eyes, we are to treat each other with that type of respect and value as we are all created in His image

The desire to spread the knowledge of God was biblical, but the methods used were insensitive and based on ethnocentrism and ignorance of other cultures

Should we judge the early explorers? God calls us to examine our own lives and recognize the sin in our lives before pointing out the sin in others’ lives, but He also calls us to stand up for the oppressed in society and think of others’ needs ahead of our own. We need to learn from the past so we don’t repeat mistakes in the future, and we should ‘call people out’ when they are treating others unjustly, recognizing that we often do the same.

	Created by Natalie Perdue over 4 years ago

This is about chapter 2 in social studies.