Primary Source Analysis: Contact And Conflict

Yang Yue 301230807
November 6, 2015
Primary Source Analysis
Contact and Conflict
European explorers have great impact on Canadian history. Their Journals are important historical documents for historians to study the Canadian history. Because these journals appeared in many kinds of forms and provided very detailed information about early Canada before confederation. These documents portray very vividly the life in Canada and shows that the process to confederation is full of contacts and conflicts between Europeans and Aboriginals.
It also tells us how Europeans complete the transformation of free lands to a colonies. Is it a coincidence or a meticulous plan? All these documents provide evidences waiting for historians to interpreted to construct
Champlain’s works on descriptions of these conflicts is very valuable for historian to study the process of Canada to confederation and European colonization. It gives historians evidences to support their hypothesis. For example, in the picture of “Champlain's Musket Blast,” French were allies with
Hurons to fight against Iroquois. Champlain wrote that the Iroquois were frightened by the gunfire and lost the war at the cost of lots of lives. But though the textbook, we know that later when Iroquois got their own gunfires, they took wide-ranging revenge. The conflict between
Hurons and Iroquois were deepened when the gunfire trade appeared. Beyond that, the portrayal of Champlain and two other French soldiers as the representation of Europeans is worth to notice. Champlain is in the centre of the painting and arrows are all pointed to him but he looks like very brave to fight his enemies. It makes this moment very dramatic and tense. Champlain existed as a heroic figure in this war and eventually won the war. In contrast of Champlain’s heroic figure, Native people were holding humble and rough weapons while using very
He related the principal political, commercial, and agricultural events which he participated as missionaries. It is an important work which provide us lots of unique and outstandingly valuable documents. However, these documents are clearly written in religious purpose and mostly promote christianization.The document introduced the missionary work in the Holy Land, India, Tartary, Slavonia, Bulgaria, China, and America. Sagard wants to prove that the success of the Catholic missionaries in other countries is an argument in favour of their return to Canada. Despite what Sagard’s intention is, his detailed description of Aboriginal life contains lots of historical values.
The primary source is more valuable for historians to research and itself is an antique already. These primary source documents usually marked with signs of the times it created. In
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the above analysis, most primary source have its own purpose. These documents will not change the history or affect lots of people, but it records what ones seen and heard. And what they were heard and seen are evidences for us to build our world