From beans to chocolate read theory answers

Primary Source Analysis Assignment #2 (worth 10%) This assignment will ask you to think like a historian. You will be asked to analyse evidence from the past (primary sources) in order to form conclusions. To do this assignment well you will need to be creative and think critically. Choose ONE (1) of the analyses projects below (either A or B). Consider carefully the primary source images or document excerpts presented and write a response to each question. You may use the textbook readings to help provide further context. Requirements 1. Compose your Analysis as a Microsoft Word file, 12 pt. Times New Roman font. 2. Include your name and student number at the top of the page. 3. Submit your Analysis into the Analysis #2 Dropbox by the posted deadline. You should also refer to the corresponding Rubric in the Orientation Module for information on how this assignment will be evaluated. CHOICE A: Early European Contact with Chocolate Source 1: Italian traveler Girolamo Benzoni describes chocolate, mid-1500s They drink it [chocolate], though it seems more suited for pigs than for men. I was upwards of a year in that country without ever being induced to taste this beverage; and when I passed through a tribe, if an Indian wished occasionally to give me some, he was very much surprised to see me refuse it, and went away laughing. But subsequently, wine failing, and unwilling to drink nothing but water, I did as others did. The flavour is somewhat bitter, but it satisfies and refreshes the body without intoxicating: the Indians esteem it above everything… Excerpted from: Girolamo Benzoni, History of the New World, trans. W. H. Smyth (London: Hakluyt, 1857), 150. Source Background Girolamo Benzoni (born at Milan about 1519) was an Italian conquistador and merchant who wrote a popular account of his travels. Benzoni is one of the first Europeans to describe the cold, bitter-tasting chocolate drink, which at the time was made with flavorings that included chilies, vanilla, honey, and flowers and whipped up into a foamy concoction. Source 2: Except from A Natural and Moral History by Spanish Jesuit José de Acosta (1590 CE) The main benefit of this cacao is a beverage which they make called Chocolate, which is a crazy thing valued in their country. It disgusts those who are not used to it, for it has a foam at the top, or a scum-like bubbling….It is a valued drink which the Indians offer to the lords who come or pass though their land. And the Spanish men – and even more the Spanish women – are addicted to the black chocolate. Excerpted from: Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe. The True History of Chocolate (London: Thames & Hudson, 2013), 114. Source Background José de Acosta was a Spanish Jesuit priest who arrived in the Americas in 1570. He spent several years traveling throughout Mesoamerica and South America. An avid naturalist, Acosta’s Natural and Moral History was one of the most detailed, early description of the Americas from a European source. Source 3: Ruling establishing market prices by Spanish Judge Gómez de Santillán, Tlaxcala, New Spain (Mexico), 1545 CE • • • • • • • • • One good turkey hen is worth 100 full cacao beans, or 120 shrunken cacao beans. A hare or forest rabbit is worth 100 cacao beans each. A small rabbit is worth 30. A chicken egg is worth 2 cacao beans. An avocado newly picked is worth 3 cacao beans; when an avocado is fully ripe it will be the equivalent to one cacao bean. One large tomato will be equivalent to a cacao bean. A newly picked prickly pear cactus fruit is equivalent to one cacao bean, when fully ripe two cactus fruit (for a cacao bean). Chopped firewood is equivalent to 1 cacao bean. A tamale is exchanged for a cacao bean. Arthur J. O. Anderson, Frances Berdan and James Lockhart, trans. and eds., Beyond the Codices: The Nahua View of Colonial Mexico (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976), 211. Source background After the invasion of Mexico, the Spanish conquistadors quickly recognized the importance of cacao as a currency in the native economy. As Spanish established its rule over Mesoamerica during the 16th century, the Spanish adopted cacao as a currency in dealings with the natives. Analysis Questions Write at least 1 full paragraph (5-6 sentences) per question. 1. What was the attitude of the Mesoamericans towards chocolate? Explain your answer by citing text from the passages. 2. Benzoni and Acosta’s reactions to chocolate were fairly typical for Europeans who visited the New World.