Download The Americas: Pre-Columbian Empires to Colonies I. The Empires of

The Americas: Pre-Columbian Empires to Colonies
I.
The Empires of the Americas
a. The First Americans
i. Scientists believe that during the Ice Age, 25,000 years ago,
Asian hunters crossed a land bridge linking Asia and Alaska
(where the Bering Strait is now).
ii. From Alaska, these people spread south and eventually settled
across North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean
Islands. Separated by geography, they developed their own
languages and cultures.
iii. Native Americans had their own Neolithic Revolution and learned
to grow maize (corn) and other crops (beans, squash…). Complex
civilizations developed in Mesoamerica – called pre-Columbian
because they were before Columbus arrived.
iv. Civs did NOT emerge just in river valleys. Mesoamericans living in
the rain forest learned how to grow corn, which allowed the
development of permanent civs and large cities.
b. The Maya (1500 BC – 1546 AD)
i. Earliest Mesoamerican civs included the Olmecs and Toltecs.
They provided a foundation for later civs.
ii. Maya developed in Guatemala 3000 years ago. Each city had its
own chief, considered half-man/half-god. Most Maya were
peasant farmers.
iii. Craftsmen made luxuries for nobles. Hereditary nobility
performed sacred ceremonies and assisted rulers. Astronomers
measured movement of sun, moon, and Venus to predict future.
iv. Frequent wars. Human sacrifice practiced. Ball game played (hit a
rubber ball through rings); may have had religious significance;
losing team sometimes sacrificed to gods.
v. Around 9th century: crisis. Unknown if a food shortage, epidemic,
or war brought end to Classical period. Maya migrated northward
to Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and built new city-states, including
Chichen Itza. Constant warfare from 13th-16th centuries, plus
pressures from other peoples, led to final decline.
c. The Aztecs (1200-1521)
i. Valley of Mexico is an excellent location for crops. Aztecs
(Mexica), an alliance of local peoples, settled there.
ii. Around 1300, settled on island in Lake Texcoco and built
Tenochtitlan. Learned to grow corn from neighbors and built
“floating gardens” (chinampas) in marshy areas. Made
observations of sky and aligned temples with movements of sun
and moon. Engaged in frequent wars to conquer other peoples;
conflicts continued until arrival of Europeans.
iii. Aztecs developed a complex social organization. At top, allpowerful emperor. Next, nobles. Most people were commoners,
working as farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, or warriors. @
bottom, slaves.
iv. Worshipped many gods. Most important was Sun God. With
observations of sky, made accurate stone calendars. Believed Sun
God needed human blood to continue daily movements across sky,
so practiced human sacrifice. Captured warriors and volunteers
were sacrificed to keep the universe in motion.
d. The Inca Empire (1200-1535)
i. Advanced cultures developed along the Pacific Coast and in the
Andes Mountains of South America. Andean peoples terraced
mountains, grew potatoes and other root crops, and kept llamas
and alpacas for wool, meat, and to carry goods.
ii. Inca built on these earlier achievements. Around 1400, began
extending their rule across the Andes, eventually ruling an empire
including present-day Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, & Chile. They built
over 10,000 miles of stone roads to unify the empire. Food was
preserved and kept in storehouses along roads. Messengers ran
the roads – no wheeled vehicles. No writing; used the quipu –
bundles of knotted, colored ropes – for counting, record-keeping,
and messages.
iii. Built vast stone buildings in mountains. No cement, but stones
fitted perfectly. Machu Picchu an example.
e. Art
i. Maya, Aztec, and Inca artists made stone sculptures to decorate
temples and palaces.
ii. Ceramic bowls carved with human & animal forms were used for
ceremonies, possibly to ward off demonic spirits in afterlife.
f. Gender Roles in Mesoamerica
i. Gender roles established @ birth; boys received a machete
(knife) from fathers; girls received a stone metate (for grinding
maize) from mothers. Boys taught crafts, girls cooking.
ii. Women held various roles; harvesting grain, preparing food,
caring for animals, raising children. Processing corn (maize)
important; it was boiled and ground into dough. Some women held
outside jobs in the market, as artisans, or as priestesses.
II.
The Columbian Exchange
a. Motivations for exploration
i. Writings of Marco Polo increased interest in trade with Asia.
Goods were carried overland to Constantinople and then shipped
across the Mediterranean by Italians. Trade declined after the
Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, so people
looked for an all-water route.
ii. Renaissance spirit of inquiry encouraged exploration.
Technological innovations adopted to improve navigation, including
Chinese compass and Arabian triangular lateen sail.
b. The Age of Discovery
i. Spain and Portugal are coastal countries at the western end of
Europe. Both wanted a share of trade with Asia and had the
resources necessary to finance exploration. Prince Henry the
Navigator of Portugal financed development of a new, lighter ship
(the caravel) and sponsored expeditions along the coast of Africa.
ii. Spain’s leaders, Ferdinand and Isabella, had just finished the
Reconquista (reconquest) of Spain’s Muslim areas, reunifying the
country as Christian in 1492. They expelled the Jewish community
at the same time. They hoped to spread Christianity and glorify
their country through overseas exploration.
c. The Voyages of Columbus
i. Christopher Columbus (1461-1506), from Genoa in Italy, believed
he could reach Asia by sailing west. After years of asking, he
persuaded the rulers of Spain (Ferdinand & Isabella) to provide 3
ships. Columbus thought the world was smaller than it really is,
and his men almost mutinied after 2 months on the voyage. They
landed in the Americas instead of the East Indies (so now the
Caribbean islands are called the West Indies); this “discovery”
provided new sources of wealth and raw materials that forever
altered Europe’s economy.
ii. The Columbian Exchange: an exchange of products and ideas
between the Old World and New World. European diets were
improved with American tomatoes, corn, potatoes, peppers,
squash, pineapples, and chocolate, and animals including turkeys.
Tobacco and syphilis were also brought to Europe (those were
bad). From Europe to Americas: wheat, sugar, cattle, horses, pigs,
sheep, chickens, grains such as wheat – and diseases like smallpox.
d. Later Explorers
i. Vasco da Gama (1460-1524): Portuguese explorer: 1497, found an
all-water route from Europe to India by sailing around Africa.
Europeans could now get Asian goods w/out using overland routes.
ii. Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521): Portuguese but worked for
Spain. Led the first expedition to circumnavigate (circle) the
world. Sailed around South America and across Pacific; showed
how huge the Pacific is. Magellan died on the voyage.
iii. Other Explorers
1. England claimed lands in North America based on John
Cabot’s voyages.
2. France sent Jacques Cartier, Samuel Champlain, and
Robert de la Salle to explore the St. Lawrence River, Great
Lakes, and Mississippi River.
3. Holland: The Dutch sent Henry Hudson to find a shortcut
from Europe to the Far East – he explored Hudson Bay in
Canada and the Hudson River in a failed attempt to find the
“Northwest Passage.”
III. The Conquest of the Americas
a. Conquistadors (conquerors) and priests arrived soon after the first
explorers. They conquered native peoples, seized gold & silver,
obtained natural resources, and converted natives to Christianity.
b. Conquest of Mexico
i. Spanish quickly conquered Caribbean islands. Small numbers of
Spanish soldiers used horses & firearms and acted with local
allies to overcome large numbers of Native Americans.
ii. 1519: Hernando Cortes sailed from Cuba to Mexico in search of
gold & silver. Met Aztec emperor Montezuma. Aztecs at first
thought the Spanish were gods & gave them gifts. Later, Cortes
left Tenochtitlan and made alliances with the Aztecs’ enemies.
iii. 1521: Cortes attacked Tenochtitlan with a few hundred Spaniards
and thousands of Native American warriors. Factors in his
success: Aztecs fought with clubs, spears, and bows; Spanish had
guns, steel swords, shields, dogs, horses, and cannon. Spanish had
a large force of warrior from native allies who hated the Aztec.
Finally, Aztec worn down by a devastating smallpox outbreak.
Cortes victorious.
c. Conquest of Peru
i. 1530: Francisco Pizarro left Panama to conquer the Inca of Peru.
Arrived right after a civil war and a smallpox epidemic weakened
the Inca. Despite being a larger force, the Inca could not resist
the European technological advantage. Pizarro tricked the Inca
emperor with an offer of friendship, then ambushed and
murdered him. Conquered the capital of Cuzco by 1533.
ii. Spanish treated conquered Indians harshly, forcing them to
convert to Christianity and work as slaves.
d. Colonial Latin America
i. Spanish conquest of Caribbean, Mexico, & Peru brought changes.
Spanish did not find cities of gold, but forced their dominance,
religion, & culture on conquered tribes. Region became Latin
America – a fusion of European & Native American cultures.
ii. Colonial Government: Spain ruled an empire much bigger than its
home country. Special royal governors (viceroys) ruled in the
king’s name. Officials born in Spain held the most important
positions in government and the military. American gold & silver
made Spain Europe’s strongest 16th century power.
iii. Colonial Society
1. Conquered lands were often divided among soldiers, who
used Native Americans (Amerindians) as slaves to till land
and work mines – forced labor system called encomienda
system.
2. Church leaders shared in political power. Priests tried to
convert Amerindians and prevent enslavement. Jesuits built
schools & hospitals and taught agricultural skills, but were
expelled from Latin America in 1767.
3. New colonial order:
a. Top: Peninsulares, noble officials & landowners born in
Spain. Head & heart of colonial society.
b. Second: Creoles: Spanish background/ethnicity but
born in New World.
c. Third: Mestizos: Mixed Spanish/Native American.
d. Bottom: Native Americans, who did hardest work.
4. Native American populations declined because they had no
immunity to European diseases like measles, smallpox, &
typhus. Because of decline in population from disease and
overwork, Spanish landowners turned to importing African
slaves as a labor force.
IV.
Other European Colonial Empires
a. New France
i. Canada and along Great Lakes/Mississippi River. Less populous
than Spanish or English colonies. A handful of towns and trading
outposts, plus missionaries.
ii. By end of 17th century, controlled almost ¾ of North America.
French explorers trapped/traded fur animals, especially beaver
(for hats).
b. New Netherland
i. Based on Hudson’s exploration, the Dutch claimed the region
around New York. Set up a fur-trading colony called New
Netherland. Control given to merchants of the Dutch West India
Company.
ii. 1624, thirty families settled at Fort Orange (now Albany). More
settlers arrived in 1625 and established a fort on Manhattan
Island named New Amsterdam – good harbor made it a leading
trade center.
c. English Colonies
i. 1st permanent English colony: Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. First
settlers men looking for gold – became a profitable tobacco
center.
ii. 2nd colony: Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. Puritans
landed at Massachusetts Bay in 1630. Came for religious freedom
(and as long as you worshiped just like them you could come too).
iii. Eventually, 13 English colonies along Atlantic coast of America,
from Georgia to Massachusetts.
V.
The Atlantic Slave Trade
a. Finding enough workers to survive harsh conditions was a problem,
especially in the Caribbean. Solution: the rise of the African slave
trade. Expanded the institution of slavery to a scale unparalleled in
human history.
b. Enslaved people were usually captured by Africans in raids on
neighboring tribes/villages. They were brought to the west coast of
Africa, imprisoned in fortified castles, and traded to European and
American traders in exchange for guns and other goods.
c. An estimated 15 million African men and women (mostly men, at first)
were taken from 1500-1800. More than 11 million went to Spanish
colonies. Many died on the “Middle Passage” (voyage across Atlantic)
due to horrible conditions on board ships. Once they arrived, many
worked long hours in sugar fields of Caribbean and Brazil, or tobacco or
cotton plantations in North America.
VI.
Chapter Study Cards