KEY Mankind: The Story of All of Us Episode 9: “Pioneers” Salem Witch Trials 00:00 – 8:40 1. The witch trials occurred because people were afraid. Why were they afraid?  The Wabanaki lived in the wilderness nearby – they often fought with the native population. They were afraid of the “wild men.”  They were also afraid of the devil. 2. The witchcraft trials had been going on in Europe for more than a century. Over 45,000 people had been killed; 80% of those killed were .  women. 8:18‐8:40 – they hang Mercy Lewis – they show her dangling and kicking her feet Siberian Fur Trappers & Conflict w/Indigenous Peoples 8:40 – 14:45 3. Why were furs in such high demand?  They were going through a mini ice age – they needed the warmth.  They were a symbol of status/wealth. 4. Why did Semyen Dezhnev and the Evenki fight each other?  Dezhnev viewed it as empty wilderness. The Evenki were afraid of losing their land and becoming slaves. The Scientific Revolution 14:45 – 20:17 5. Why did so many ships wreck in this period?  The basic challenge is to know where you are so you don’t crash into things and wreck.  The charts they used for navigation were basic and inaccurate. 6. List at least three things that were discovered/finally understood in this period.  single celled organisms  secrets of the beating heart  gravity  earth orbits the sun  John Flamsteed’s Mural Arc (to measure the angle of stars in the night sky) 7. Jim Meigs said, “So often we think about the progress of science, we think about that ‘aha’ moment, that flash of insight. We don’t recognize so much of science is dogged hard work.” What does he mean by “dogged hard work?”  Keeping at it, pushing at an idea without giving up (like Edison and the light bulb). Captain James Cook 20:17 – 29:15 8. James Cook and the men of the Endeavor landed in a place that was new to the Europeans. What was it?  Australia 9. According to anthropologist Sabine Hyland, what did Cook fail to understand about the native people?  He missed that they were a very ancient culture with complicated traditions. 10. What was Joseph Bank’s job on the expedition?  He was the botanist – he cataloged what Cook found and popularized science for knowledge’s sake (not commercial interest). 11. When the Endeavor hit a reef, they had to lighten the load by throwing things overboard. What is the one thing they saved? Why do you think that was so important to them?  They saved the scientific samples.  The second half is an opinion question, but most students will latch onto how the samples were the point of the entire voyage or the importance of science to the people. Benjamin Franklin & the Electrical Experiment 29:16 – 35:20 12. What was Benjamin Franklin trying to prove when he flew his kite in the storm?  That lightning was electricity.  That lightning was part of nature, not a supernatural phenomenon. Ebenezer Mudgett & the Pine Tree Riot 35:21 – 44:10 13. Why did the king of England need the trees grown near Boston?  He used them for his ships (one warship used 6,000 trees).  They were used for the navy – for exploration, colonization, and conquest. 14. Ebenezer Mudgett was accused of stealing the king’s timber – to be punished by one blow for every tree stolen. What did Mudgett do to Sheriff Whiting & Deputy Quigley?  beat the officers instead – it’s called the Pine Tree Riot 15. According to Jim Meigs, the key change the Enlightenment brought was to do away with the idea that a powerful authority could tell you how the world worked. How was the scientific method different?  It is democratic. No one can tell you what reality is. Fear and superstition were replaced by reason.