Conquest of America

Gr 7 Up-This four-part production provides on-site reenactments and historical analysis of colonialism on the North American continent. The series is divided regionally (Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest) and details the voyages of Henry Hudson, Pedro Menendez, Francisco Coronado, Vilus Bering, and Jean Ribault. With the help of ship logs, personal diaries, oral histories, and other primary source materials, the events surrounding European expansion into the New World are dramatized and sensationalized. While the novelization of these exploits does entice the audience with period detailing and imagery demonstrating the harsh realities of exploring and colonizing present-day America, the expert analysis does little to contextualize the troubling language and treatment connected to both women and indigenous people throughout the series. Many of the episodes reinforce the racist and imperialist attitude toward American Indian culture without framing this perspective with information about the conventions of the time being depicted. Although Native scholars and historians take part in the general commentary, they do not speak to the portrayal of their culture in the film. As an educational resource, it would seem important to explicate words like "savage" to avoid violent stereotyping and to question the very concepts of "conquest" and "discovery." Gender norms in relation to both women and men during the age of exploration are similarly lacking a historical context. This resource may have value for a history curriculum, provided that educators link the retellings to a point in history and counter the reenactments' depictions with a more balanced worldview.-Vincent M. Livoti Kresge Center for Teaching Resources, Ludcke Library, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.