Menzies' Argument

Overall, I think Menzies' argument that Zheng He's felt made it to North America is plausible. The reason I agree with his theory, is primarily because of the variety of evidence he has gathered to make his case. He had first mentioned the largeness of the ships in Zheng He's fleet. Larger ships would allow more durability for long voyages and Menzies had pointed out that if smaller European ships could reach the Americas, so could the Chinese. Next, he had mentioned Niccolò de' Conti, a merchant explorer from Venice, who had supposedly came into contact with Zheng He's fleet, and then managed to use their information to construct maps with Fra Mauro. Menzies also mentions how the Chinese fleet had developed a pizzigano chart of two islands that lied close to North America. The island descriptions listed in the pizzigano chart matched the modern descriptions. In addition to this, underwater slipways were made for ships that supposedly docked these islands. Then finally, Menzies mentioned how geneticist, Gabriel Novicks had identified that Native American DNA is more closely related to Chinese DNA than African or European DNA. In fact, Giovanni Verrazzano, the first European explorer to set foot in what is today known as New York, had seen people that resembled the Chinese. The Newport Tower at Rhode Island was also a piece of Menzies' evidence. He believed the the Chinese had left behind astronomical construction in places they had visited. The Newport Tower being one of these constructions, was supposedly used to examine longitude, according to professor Bill Penhallow. An alternate take on the construction is that it served the purpose of a lighthouse. Some of the evidence Menzies used could be questioned but for the most part I am convinced of his argument.

Mo`ikeha's Migration from Tahiti to Hawai`i Document Analysis

Based on this document there is a lot to the two-way voyaging relationship between Tahiti to Hawaii. Based on the passage, it can be seen that the political system is a chiefdom. As for the social steucture, it can be presumed that it is slightly paterichal but women seem to have a perminante role as well. This is ex amplified by Ho `oipoikamalanai and Hinauu who both decided to marry Mo `ikeha. So here we can see that women have freedom of choosing who they marry a privilaged that isn't really seen in other parts of the world at the time. The finally, it would seem that danceing and the existence of a Polythestic god hilights the cultural significance of the two-way voyaging between Tahiti and Hawaii. 

European prespective on Muslims Refliction

Based on the documents I have read in class, I feel that the chances of Europeans viewing Muslims in a positive perspective is very slim. The reason being, Muslims were seen as devil worshipers, based on the document. Mohammed was believed to be acquainted with the devil and all those who followed him were looked upon as devil worshipers. Although this may be the case I also recall reading about one caliph being thought of as truly good. So followers of this caliph may be accepted by the Europeans but the majority might still resent Muslims. Most of the collection of documents I had read attempted to show the evil characteristics of Muslims and how they are cruel and such, but if religion was excused from the conversation then there may be a chance. Therefore, there is potential chance of Europeans having a positive/complimentary view on Muslims, although this potential could be very small.