Download Chapter 1: The New World The First Americans Plummeting sea

Chapter 1: The New World
 The First Americans
o Plummeting sea levels and melting of glaciers led to the formation of the
land bridge “ Bering Strait” between Asia and South America
o Followed Megafuna (enormous mammals) to North America, as ice
melted away
 Reached tip of South America
o Climate change and hunting led to disappearance of main food source
o Adapted and began hunting smaller mammals, fish, and began collecting
nuts and berries
o Agriculture begins
 Northwest Natives fished in Salmon filled rivers
 Varied geography led to uprising of different cultures
o Mesoamericans (Mexico/Central America) develop first population (1200
BCE.)
 Corn= main food source
 “Three sisters”= corn, beans, and squash, was easily grown and
met all nutritional needs
o Native American Farming
 Shifting Cultivation= farmers cut the forest, burned undergrowth,
then planted seeds in remains. Good in areas with difficult soil
 Central & Eastern United States= intensive farming, farmed using
hand tools
o Across Midwest & Southwest settlers built networks of settlements,
taking full advantage of land
 Slavery existed but could be escaped through marriage or by
becoming a member of the community
o Largest & most advanced civilization was located in Cahokia
 Key trading center
 2,000 acres wide
 Collapsed in 1300
o American Southwest had large civilization that strived off of their
advanced irrigation system and trading
o Pacific Northwest= large food surplus & large lush forests
o Developed culture of “potlatches” where host would demonstrate his
wealth by feeding and entertaining guests
 Handmade art work like totem poles and masks arose from these
gatherings
o Native American lived in communities tied by kinship networks
 Ancestry was matrilineal
 Women were very influential, they got to choose their husbands
and divorce was a very common and easy process
 European Expansion
o Scandinavians discovered “new world” before Columbus
o Renaissance led to European expansion
o Marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella led the wealthy royal couple as main
source of funding for the exploration of the new world
o Portugal (Prince Henry the Navigator)
 Technological advances= astrolabe & caraval helped improve
exploration
o Sugar= luxury among wealthy in Europe
 Portuguese grew sugar cane along Mediterranean
 Demand in sugar cane led to a demand for workers=
slavery was born
 Purchased mainly from Nigeria, creating first major
plantation
o Christopher Columbus (Italian born sailor) was funded by Spanish King &
Queen in his search for Asia
 Made 4 voyages to New World
 Spaniards dehumanized natives of New World (Arawak’s)
 Arrival of Europeans led to high rate of Native American deaths
since they had lived away from diseases their bodies were weak
and not immune to the newly immigrated illnesses
 Spanish Exploration & Conquest
o Goal was to “serve God, and the King and also to get rich”
o Created the “encomienda legal system” which ultimately exploited the
N.A.
o Aztec Architecture led to greedy Spaniards who wanted to conquer Aztec
land
 1959, Hernan Cortes organized invasion of Mexico
 Gained control easily through persuasion
 Incas also easily conquered due to civil unrest and diseases
(smallpox)
o Settled into New World creating own hierarchy
 Penisualares= Iberian-born Spaniards (espanoles); highest
 Criollos= New World Born Spaniards; second
 Mestizos= mix of Spanish & Indian
 Interracial marriage was allowed
 Slaves & Indians bottom of hierarchy
Chapter 2: Colliding Cultures
 Spanish America
o Diseases wiped out civilizations
o 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in Florida
o Frequent fighting between explorers & natives
o 1560’s Spanish expelled French Protestants (Huegenos)
o Santa Fe= First European settlement in Southwest (1610)
o Many didn’t settle in New Mexico because of the climate & hostile
environment
 Spain’s Rival Emerge
o Other European countries used “humanization justification” as excuse o
come to the New World
o Used religion as an excuse too, they were basically trying to justify their
greedy and money hungry motives
 The French
 Colonization developed from trading
 Had trading expedition that spread down Atlantic Coast
 Quebec= New France
 French were friendlier w/ N.A.’s more cooperative because
of the importance of trade
 Married Indian women & sent Jesuit missionaries to live w/
N.A.’s
 The Dutch
 Dutch women could own property
 Slavery was key to their capitalism
 Henry Hudson=found Hudson river
 Believe Native people possessed same natural rights as
Europeans
Even bought land off of N.A.’s instead of just
pushing them away and conquering land
 Goal was to profit not conquer
 Trade=central economic activity
 Developed lumber camps, farms, & settlements
 Patroon System= encouraged colonization by granting
large estates to wealthy landlords to rent out
 Slaves essentially created most of New Amsterdam
Less exploited than we believe
Could sue for wages
 The Portuguese
 Leaders in Atlantic Navigation
 Focused on Brazil because of the gold & silver mines
 This is where they developed the sugar & slave trade
 Brought Christianity to Brazil
 English Colonization
o Wanted to come to the new world to do God’s work
o “Privateering”= Queen Elizabeth sent “seadoggs” Hawkins & Drake to
plunder Spanish ships & towns in America
 Raided & stole
o England violently seized land leaving inhabitants somewhere out to die
 Jamestown
o 1607 sailed to 40 miles up river
 In the ships: Susan Constant, Godspeed, Discovery
o Came across Powhatan Confederacy
 Experts in crop growing
o Since most English settlers would “rather starve then work” many died of
starvation & diseases
o Famine struck Jamestown & it was slowly crumbling
o Discovery of Tobacco saved Jamestown from its fall
o 1619= established a representative body, “ House of Burgesses”
o Bought 20 slaves & marks beginning of “southern slavery”
o New found growth led to conflict with Powhatan
o Colonists began driving Indians off their land
o Feeling of superiority led to enslavement of Africans
 New England
o Puritan was dominate religion
o Believed that humans were “predestined”
o After coronation of King Charles I, Puritans were persecuted
o Most European immigrants were middle class families
o Puritans survived diseases by befriending remaining N.A.s who survived
the smallpox outbreak of 1610.