Download Outline Ch. 1 - Reading Community Schools

Semester 1
Week 1/Chapter 1: The Meeting of Cultures
I.
America Before Columbus
*People began migrating to the Americas as early as 14,000-12,000 B.C., crossing
the Bering Strait
*As settlement spread, people adapted to their environments, and very distinct
and diverse cultures emerged.
A. Civilization of the South (South and Central America & Mexico)
1. Peru – the Incas
a. created complex political systems
b. large network of paved roads merging many tribes under a single ruler
c. economy based on agriculture
d. Machu Pichu/Cuzco
2. Central America/Yucatan Peninsula – the Mayas
a. written language,
b. numerical system,
c. accurate calendar
d. advanced agricultural system
e. Mayan
3. Central/Southern Mexico – the Aztecs (late 13th Century)
a. elaborate administrative, educational and medical systems
b. harsh religion
c. economy based on agriculture
d. Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) pop. over 100,000 in 15000
B. Civilization of the North (of Mexico) See Map p. 4
1. Eskimos
a. fished and hunted seals
b. spanned thousands of miles
2. Hunters of the northern forests
a. lived nomadic lives
b. hunted Moose and Caribou
3. Tribes of Pacific Northwest
a. fished Salmon
b. created permanent settlements
4. Tribes of the Far West
a. based on hunting, fishing and gathering
b. developed irrigation systems
c. built stone and adobe terraces (pueblos – Chaco Canyon)
5. Tribes of the Great Plains
a. engaged in farming
b. some hunted buffalo (once horses were introduced)
6. Woodland Indians
a. farming, hunting, gathering and fishing
b. developed large trading networks
c. Cahokia (St. Louis) pop 40,000 in 1200
d. Societies on the northeast were more mobile then the rest
e. Many tribes were linked by linguistic roots (Algonquin)
f. Iroquois Confederation
1. included Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk
2. upstate NewYork
3. politically organized
g. Muskogean
1. included Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, Seminoles
2. southernmost region of eastern seaboard
C. Tribal Culture
1. Characterized by economic, social and political diversity but some
common trends can be seen
2. Most nations were experiencing an agricultural revolution prior to
Europeans arrival
3. Most regions were experiencing significant population growth
4. All were developing elaborate social customs and rituals
5. Religion was important
6. Tasks were divided by gender
7. Women tended to control social and economic organization and played
powerful roles within the families
II.
Europe Looks Westward
*Europeans were unaware of Civilization in the Americas prior to the 15th
Century and had little incentive to travel to the “New World”
*Gradually conditions in Europe began to change and caused people to seek
exploration.
A. Commerce and Nationalism
1. Growth in population and in prosperity (reawakening of commerce) led to
an increase in trade
2. As advances in navigation and shipbuilding developed, long-distance sea
travel became feasible
3. While economic activity developed, more united and powerful
governments developed.
4. Strong new monarchies formed
5. With the formation of new monarchies came an increase in centralized
nation-states with national courts, armies and a national tax system
6. As monarchs consolidated their power and wealth, they became eager to
increase their economies by seeking new markets.
7. Portugal led the search of an all water route to Asia
a. Prince Henry the Navigator
b. aimed at exploring the western coast of Africa for gold and the
establishment of a Christian empire
c. 1486 - Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa
d. 1497-98 – da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and sailed to
India
e. 1500 – Cabral was blown off course and landed on the Brazilian coast
B. Christopher Columbus
1. Became intrigued with the idea of reaching Asia by traveling West
* this idea was based on two misconceptions
1. that the earth was much smaller than it actually is
2. that the Asian continent extends farther east
2. Columbus did not get support for his travels from Portugal so he turned to
Spain (Ferdinand and Isabella = Europe’s strongest monarchy)
3. 1492 Isabella agreed to fund Columbus’ voyage
4. August 1492 Columbus set sail with 90 men on 3 ships (Nina, Pinta, Santa
Maria)
5. 10 weeks later he lands on San Salvador (Bahamas)
6. After his third voyage in 1498, he conceded that he had found not China
but a new continent.
7. Columbus was named “Admiral of the Ocean Sea” / “New World” is
named after Amerigo Vespucci
8. Motivation for Columbus’ exploration
a. religious – “God made me the messenger of the new heaven and the
new earth and he showed me to spot where to find it.”
b. interest in geography and trade
9. Other early Spanish exploration
a. Balboa – 1513 – crossed Isthmus of Panama
b. Magellan – 1519-1522 – Circumnavigated the globe
C. The Conquistadores
*By the mid 16th century, Spain laid claim to all of the “New World” except
for Brazil (Portugal) and sent the conquistadores (conquerors) to solidify that
claim, all through brutality and greed.
1. Hernando Cortes – 1518
a. led a 600 man military expedition into Mexico
b. met strong resistance from the Aztecs & Montezuma
c. the first assault failed but exposed the Aztecs to small pox and
Tenochtitlan was taken on the second attack
2. Francisco Pizarro – 1532-1538 – conquered Peru (Incas-Atahualpa)
3. Hernando de Soto – 1539-1541
a. led several expeditions through Florida
b. became the first white man to cross the Mississippi
4. Francisco Coronado – 1540-1542
a. explored New Mexico
b. opened southwest to Spanish settlement
D. The Spanish Empire
*People wishing to explore the New World had to apply for a license
(encomienda) which gave them right to exact labor and tribute from the
natives of the areas they explored.
E. Spanish America
*History of Spanish Empire spanned three periods
1. Age of Discovery and Exploration (Columbus to the first 2 decades of the
16th century)
2. Age of Conquistadores (Spanish military forces unleashed their domination
over native lands
3. Ordinances of Discovery (began in 1570s when laws banned the most
brutal military conquests)
a. during this phase (after the conquistadores) the emphasis changed from
getting rich to expanding Spanish presence through colonization.
b. Spaniards began colonizing for a variety of reasons
1. in hopes of creating a profitable agricultural economy
2. to spread faith of the Catholic Church (Pope’s Innocent VIII treaty
with Ferdinand and Isablella-1846)
3. Missions became the most common settlements and were protected
by presidios (military bases)
F. Northern Outposts
1. 1565 – St. Augustine, Fla. becomes the first permanent European
settlement in present day United States
2. 1598 – Don Juan de Onate and 500 men claimed much of the Pueblo lands
in southwest United States.
a. 1609 – Spanish colonists found Santa Fe
b. Onate’s settlements based on encomienda strain relations with Pueblos
c. 1606 - Onate removed as governor and Spanish/Pueblo relations
improve
1. many Pueblos convert to Christianity
2. Pueblos enter into trading relationships with Spaniards
d. 1680 – 2,000 Spanish colonists lived among 30,000 Pueblos
1. Spanish priests and colonial governments tried to suppress
religious rituals practiced by some of the Pueblos
2. Pueblos led by religious leader named pope revolt
a. hundreds of Spaniards are killed
b. Santa Fe was captured
c. and Spaniards are driven out, not to return until 1696
d. Spaniards intensified their efforts to assimilate the
Pueblos (baptizing Indian children and enforcing
observance of catholic rituals)
e. Allowed Pueblos to own land
f. stopped commandeering Indian labor
g. replaced the encomienda system
h. tolerated the practice of Pueblo religious practices
e. 1750 – Spanish population had grown to 4000
- Pueblo population had declined to 13,000
G. The Empire at High Tide (end of 16th century)
1. Included islands of Caribbean, coastal areas and interior of South America,
Mexico and southern North America
2. This empire was different from the on the English would form in the 17th
century
a. Spanish colonists had little influence in establishing political
institutions independent of the crown
b. Economically, Spain was much more successful than England in
extracting great surface wealth –gold & silver and the Spanish crown had
very strict policies on trade and commerce, thus they spend less energy
on agriculture and commerce
c. The English, Dutch and French colonies concentrated on building
permanent settlements so their population increased relative to the
Native American population
d. The number of European settlers in Spanish America remained
relatively small compared to the Native population, Spain imposed a
small ruling class over its inhabitants
H. Biological and Cultural Exchanges
* Increasing level of exchange between the Spaniards and the Natives
a. importation of European disease (influenza, measles, chicken pox,
smallpox*, mumps, typhoid) millions died/a demographic catastrophe
b. Thousands of Indian temples, artifacts, documents, records were
deliberately destroyed/People were systematically exterminated
c. Europeans introduced new crops (sugar/bananas) domestic
livestock (cattle, pigs, sheep, horses*)
d. European settlers learned new agricultural techniques and discovered
new crops (corn, squash, pumpkins, beans, sweet potatoes)
e. Many natives began to learn Spanish and practice a Christianity merged
with their own religious beliefs
f. A racial hierarchy emerged in Spanish America with Spanish at the top
and natives at the bottom (mestizo – mixed races)
g. The need for native labor increased cultural exchanges and helped
identify Spanish America to this day
I. Africa and America
* Over half of the arrivals in the New World between 1500-1800 were
Africans taken against their will from a large region of West Africa below the
Sahara Desert known as Guinea
1. Humans began settling west Africa at least 10,000 years ago
2. By the 15th century, they had developed extensive civilizations with
complex political systems
3. Trade with the Mediterranean world flourished as did the Mali city of
Timbuktu, trading goods such as ivory, gold and slaves
4. African social systems developed with priests and nobles at the top and
slaves captured in wars or because of criminal behavior were at the bottom.
5. The African slave trade began in the 8th century A.D., with traders from the
Mediterranean who wanted servants for affluent families and who wanted to
fill a labor shortage.
6. The Portuguese began in the slave trade in the 15th century
7. A rising demand for sugar cane in Europe greatly increased the slave trade
8. By the 17th century, the Dutch had won control of most of the slave trade
9. By the 18th century, the English dominated the slave trade
III. The Arrival of the English
* In 1497, John Cabot sailed to the northeastern coast of North America and
began England’s contact with the “New World”. It wasn’t until the 16th century,
after a transformation in England, that they began colonizing North America.
A. The Commercial Incentive
1. What attracted the English to the New World
a. its newness (viewed as a place where human settlement could get a
fresh start) Thomas More’s Utopia – 1516 described a perfect society
b. social and economic problems in England brought on by constant wars,
religious strife
c. Transformation of the Countryside
1. growing demand for wool led to crop lands being converted to
sheep pastures (Enclosure Movement)
2. thousand of tenants were evicted from land and forced to beg
for food while less food was being produced and the population
was skyrocketing
2. Chartered Companies
a. companies formed by English merchants on the basis of a grant
permitting them to trade in a particular region of the world
b. 1555 Muscovy Company
c. 1581 Levant Company
d. 1585 Barbary Company
e. 1588 Guinea Company
f. 1600 East India Company
3. Mercantilism
a. guided economic policies of all European nation-states in 16th and 17th
centuries
b. enhanced the position of new merchant capitalists
c. increased competition among nations
d. increased the desire of acquiring colonies (for raw materials)
4. Richard Hakluyt’s Argument for Colonies
a. an Oxford clergyman
b. argued colonies would create new markets & help alleviate poverty
(when people leave for colonies, population declines = fewer mouths to
feed) jobs in England would also increase and England could acquire
products (raw materials such as lumber)
B. The Religious Incentive
1. Protestant Reformation 1517 – Martin Luther openly challenged practices
and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
a. challenged their belief that salvation could be achieved through good
works or loyalty (payments) to the church
b. denied that God communicated through the Pope God
c. argued salvation comes from faith alone
2. Doctrine of Predestination
a. John Calvin went further than Luther in denouncing the Catholic
Church
b. argued in Predestination which claimed that God “elected” some
people to be saved and others to be condemned and that this destiny
could not be changed
c. believed the way people led their lives might reveal to them their
chances of salvation
3. English Reformation
a. 1529 King Henry VIII was angered by the pope’s refusal to grant him a
divorce from his Spanish wife
b. broke ties with the Catholic Church and established himself the head of
Christianity in England
c. Henry’s Catholic daughter restored England’s allegiance with Rome
and denounced and persecuted Protestants “Bloody Mary”
d. 1558 Mary died and her half-sister Elizabeth followed Henry’s lead
and broke ties with the Catholic Church and created the Church of
England
1. Under the Church of England, many citizens still stayed loyal to
the Catholic Church
2. Many believed that the new church abandoned Rome but not
Rome’s practices
4. Puritan Separatisits
a. radical Puritans who wanted to worship as they pleased
b. this violated English law which outlawed unauthorized religious
meetings and levied taxes at mandatory religious services
c. Separatisits, like the Quakers, also permitted women to preach
5. Puritan Discontent
a. most Puritans resisted separation
b. they wanted to simplify Anglican forms of worship
c. they wanted to reduce the power of bishops and to reform the local
clergy
d. when James I came to power, he claimed “divine right” and
antagonized Puritans by impose arbitrary taxation
e. non-conformists began to look for places outside of England
C. The English in Ireland
1. 1560’s & 1570’s , England began to colonize Ireland
2. Subjugation in Ireland
a. labeled the Catholic majority in Ireland as wild, vicious and ignorant
savages
b. these Irish must be suppressed, isolated and destroyed
c. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Richard Grenville
led a campaign of terror, torture and beheading which they would later use
in the Americas against native populations
3. The Plantation Model
a. transplantation of English society in foreign lands
b. instead of trying to simply rule a subdued native population, the
English tried to build a society completely separate form the natives
in Ireland, something they would do elsewhere
D. The French and Dutch in America
1. France formed its first permanent settlement in North America in 1608 –
Quebec
a. the colony did not grow much but the French developed a good
relationship with Native Americans
b. French Jesuit missionaries forged deep ties within Indian societies
c. they were coureurs de bois – adventurous fur trappers and traders
d. these ties helped the French developed agricultural settlements along
the St. Lawrence River and to establish military centers in Quebec and
Montreal
2. The Dutch began settling North America when Holland won its
independence from Spain in the early 17th century
a. 1609 – Henry Hudson sailed up the Hudson River in NY State which
led to a Dutch claim on territory in North America
b. 1624 Dutch East India Company established a series of trading posts
on the Hudson, Delaware and Connecticut Rivers
c. this led to the colony of New Netherland (New Amsterdam)
E. The First English Settlements
1. Jamestown, Virginia – 1607 (first permanent settlement)
2. Sir Francis Drake and the Sea Dogs defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588
ending Spain’s domination of the Seas
3. Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh
a. pioneers of English colonization
b. 1578 Gilbert was given a charter to explore North America
c. 1583 Gilbert explored New Foundland and was lost at sea
F. Roanoke
1. 1584 Raleigh was granted a charter and explored North Carolina naming it
Virginia
2. 1585 Raleigh sent Sir Richard Grenville to settlement to establish the
colony of Roanoke
3. The following spring, Sir Francis Drake arrives and takes some of the
colonists home
4. 1587 Raleigh sends another expedition led by John White, Whites
daughter gave birth to Virginia Dare the first American-born child of English
parents.
5. White left and returned 3 years later and found the settlement completely
deserted
G. New Colonial Charters
*1606 King James issues a charter granting the New World to a group from
London (the south) and a group from Plymouth (the north)