Reference no: EM133108114

It is 1623, in the European nation of Fakopia. Fakopia is a small principality: it's landlocked, and has limited natural resources.  What farmland is available is fertile, but the majority of land is not conducive to agriculture.  Despite this, the population of the nation is growing - faster than the general rate of European demographic growth - famines are becoming ever more common.  Economically, the nation follows the same patterns as other European nations in the Early Modern Era (see week 4's lecture for details) - there are a small number of incredibly wealthy landowners, and the rest of the population are impoverished peasants.

Fakopia has also been mired in religious controversy.  The king, in 1537, used the Protestant Reformation to consolidate his own power at the expense of the pope.  Rather than follow one of the mainstream protestant faiths, the king modified Catholicism to suit his own political needs (much like the situation in England under Henry VIII - see chapter 13 of the texts for details).   This created controversy as many of Fakopia's residents still felt loyalty to Catholicism while others, who believed in the teachings of Jean Calvin, were frustrated at the limitations of Fakopia's reforms - these controversies are still ongoing in 1623.  While Fakopia has not been directly pulled into the ongoing 30 Years' War, it is suffering because of it.  Troops moving about are impacting the ability to import much needed supplies and other regional leaders are exerting considerable pressure on the political leadership in Fakopia to pick a side in the conflict.

In the midst of these issues, there is also an opportunity for Fakopia to get involved in overseas exploration - many are excited about this, seeing it as an opportunity to solve Fakopia's demographic and economic woes.   Others are concerned, seeing overseas expansion as dangerous and not something in the best interest of Fakopia's citizenry.  Your assignment is to review this week's primary sources and then compile two "posters"

• One should be written from the perspective of wanting to encourage people to immigrate to the overseas territories.  In this poster, you should attempt to find information in the primary sources that could "sell" the idea of migration.  
• The other poster will be written from the perspective of those who see overseas settlement as bad for the nation - what elements in the primary sources serve as a caution against exploration? 

Basic Instructions:

• Your two posters should be uploaded to your blog page accessible either via the week 4 learning module or via the blogs folder in blackboard.  Feel free to add any images etc. that you think are helpful; be as creative as you can.  However, in keeping with early modern 'posters' your completed documents should each be no more than one page in length (including any images or other ancillary materials - see the detailed instructions for examples).  Don't attach a file - directly insert your posters into the blogs - failing to do this will result in a loss of 25% of your score.
• Everyone in class will be able to see your work, so keep it appropriate and on-task
• To be eligible for credit, each class member must contribute something to the blogs by Thursday of week 4 at 11.59pm EST (even if it's not complete) and the posters must be complete by Sunday of week 4 at 11.59pm EST.  Please see the detailed instructions for the rationale for this dual due date.  
• Failure to submit the project on time (sunday week 4) will result in a zero score - no exceptions.
• There are detailed instructions provided in this learning module, that take you through the process of creating a blog, and that show you examples of what a completed poster should look like.
• Once you've created your blog, you MUST comment on one other person's work to say whether they've persuaded you or not and why.
• If there are any problems with your assignment, or with anything else related to this task, please let me know as soon as possible.
• A detailed rationale for this assignment is provided in the detailed instructions.