Download Chapter 1 gives us an understanding of the three main cultures that

Time Period 1 (1491-1607)
NOTES: Chapter 1- Three Old Worlds Create a New
Chapter 1 gives us an understanding of the three main cultures that interacted with each other as a result of the European voyages
of exploration and discovery of the late 15th and 16th centuries. The examination of the political, social, economic, and religious
beliefs of Native Americans, West Africans, and Europeans helps us understand the interaction among the peoples of these cultures
and the impact each had on the other. The chapter also focuses on the impact of geography and environment on peoples and the
societies they build.
The first two sections of the chapter (“American Societies” and “North America in 1492”) deal primarily with the
emergence and development of a variety of Native American cultures. In “American Societies” we first learn about AmericanIndian origins, but we are quickly introduced to the theme that geography and environment have an impact on people and the
societies they build. The geography and natural environment of Mesoamerica, for example made settled agriculture possible in
that area. In turn, the practice of settled agriculture created a human-made environment conducive to the emergence of more
complex civilizations. The wealth of and the political, social, and economic complexities of the Aztec civilization encountered by
the Spanish when they invaded Mexico in 1519 were, in large measure, due to the development of agriculture in Mesoamerica
thousands of years earlier.
The theme that the political, social, economic, and religious ideas of a culture directly relate to how the people of that
culture obtain food necessary for survival continues in section two, “North America in 1492.” The diversity of Indian cultures in
North America developed when the Native Americans north of Mexico “adapted their once-similar ways of life to very different
climates and terrains…” This, therefore, explains the emergence of small hunter-gatherer bands in areas not well suited to
agriculture and the emergence of larger semi-nomadic bands that combined agriculture with hunting-and-gathering in areas with
a more favorable environment. A culture’s means of subsistence also served to explain the similarities in social organization
between the agricultural Pueblo society of the southwest and the agricultural societies of the East. Furthermore, the way in which
each tribe obtained food affected the political structure, the gender roles, and the religious beliefs of various trines.
Section three, “African Societies,” begins with the sentence: “Fifteenth-century Africa, like fifteenth-century America,
housed a variety of cultures adapted to different terrains and climates.” This statement carries the theme used in the discussion
of pre-Columbian Native-American societies into the section on 15th-century African societies. After a brief mention of the Berbers
of North Africa, the Muslim city-states of the East coast, and the interior kingdoms of West Africa, our attention focuses on the
societies along the Guinea coast, the area from which most slaves destined for sale in the Americas came. Here we learn of the
religious beliefs and practices, the sexual division of labor, and the social systems of West African societies in the coastal area
between the Senegal and Niger Rivers.
In section four our attention turns to the European societies of the 15 th and 16th centuries. An explanation of the
similarities and differences between European society on the one hand and American and African societies on the other hand is
followed by a discussion of the devastating social, political, and economic impact of the Black Death and the Hundred Years’ War
on European society. That discussion returns us to the recurring theme concerning the impact of environment on peoples and their
societies.
The chapter’s focus then shifts to the political and technological changes in 15 th –century Europe that paved the way for
th
the 15 and 16th century voyages of exploration. But to achieve their primary goal of each access to Asian and African goods and
their secondary goal of spreading Christianity throughout the world, the early explores had to overcome certain obstacles posed
by nature. As they learned to master their environment, problems posed by the prevailing winds in the “Mediterranean Atlantic”
(the Northeast Trades) led to the tactic of sailing “around the wind” and, subsequently, to discovery of the Westerlies. This
knowledge eventually allowed the Spanish and Portuguese to exploit for profit the islands off the coast of Africa (the Azores, the
Madeiras, the Canaries, and Sao Tome). In the discussion about the use of these islands and the lessons European explorers learned
there, a new concept is introduced: the desire of Europeans to extract profits from the Americas led them to exploit the plants,
animals, and peoples in the societies they encountered. This new concept is further developed in the discussion of Christopher
Columbus’ voyages and the first encounter between Europeans and Americans.
The exploitation concept continues into sections seven (“Spanish Exploration and Conquest”), eight (“The Columbian
Exchange”), and nine (“Europeans in North America”). After a discussion of the elements that were part of the Spanish model of
colonization and an explanation of the consequences of the interaction between the Spanish and the Mesoamerican peoples, we
turn to a discussion of the transfer of diseases, plants, and animals among the three worlds that met in the Americas and the
impact of these transfers on the societies in question. Our attention then shifts to attempts by the Portuguese, French, and English
to exploit the natural resources of the Americas. Because they were primarily interested in profits from the natural wealth of the
sea and land rather than in territorial conquest, European traders and fishermen descended upon the east coast of North America
and the waters off that coast. After a discussion of the impact of the fur trade on the Europeans and Indians, the chapter turns to
the reasons for England’s first attempt to plant a permanent settlement on the North American coast. The chapter concludes with
an explanation of why this colonization attempt by England, under the supervision of Sir Walter Raleigh, failed.
I.
Introduction
The desire for treasure and trade led the European kingdom of the 15th century to an interest in establishing colonies and trading
posts that might strengthen the emerging nation states. This expansionist sentiment introduced Europeans to African and
American societies that had evolved over centuries, and the cultural interaction that followed initial contacts between these
civilizations profoundly influenced western history.
II.
American Societies
a. Ancient America
The ancestors of Paleo-Indians possibly arrived in the Americans in three successive waves beginning some 30,000 years ago.
Because of climate change accompanied by rising sea levels, the descendants of these earliest migrants were separated some
12,500 years ago from Asia, Africa, and Europe. Paleo-Indians survived by hunting large game and gathering wild plants and
gradually spread throughout North and South America. As the prehistoric animals disappeared however, people grew more
dependent on agriculture, a change that allowed for the emergence of more sophisticated civilizations.
By 9,000 years ago, the inhabitants of Central and South America began cultivating various crops, and wherever agriculture
dominated the economy, complex civilizations flourished.
b.
Mesoamerican Civilizations
Early civilizations emerged in what is now Mexico as early as 4,000 years ago. A number of powerful and complex societies
developed, including the Olmecs, the Mayas, and Teotihuacan.
c.
Pueblos and Mississippians
Besides the empires of Mesoamerica, great civilizations arose further north, including the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Pueblo
peoples of the modern states of Arizona and New Mexico, and the Mississippian culture of the Midwestern and Southeastern
United States.
d.
Aztecs
The Aztecs moved into the Valley of Mexico in the 12th century where they ultimately established an empire built on a warrior
tradition that included human sacrifice and conquered people’s tribute.
III.
North America in 1492
a. Gendered Division of Labor in North America
Native Americans living north of Mexico adapted their cultures to the climate and terrain in which they lived. Hunting societies
assigned the task of hunting to men, while women prepared the food, made clothing, and raised children. In the agricultural
tribes of the West, men farmed, but in the East, women performed that task.
b.
Social Organization
The social organizations of the agricultural peoples of the southwest and east were similar, with extended families being
defined matrilinieally. The nomadic Indians of the Prairies and Great Plains, by contrast, were usually related patrilineally.
c.
War and Politics
The Indians of North America engaged in wars with each other long before the coming of Europeans. Native American political
structures, including the role of women, varied widely from the tribe to tribe. Civil and war leaders divided political power in
all North American Indian cultures.
d.
Religion
Although all Native Americans in North America were polytheistic, their most important beliefs and deities were tied to a
group’s means of subsistence.
IV.
African Societies
a. West Africa (Upper and Lower Guinea)
Upper Guinea had a culture that reflected contact with the Islamic Mediterranean region, while the peoples of Lower Guinea
practiced traditional African religions.
b.
Complementary Gender Roles
In West Africa men and women shared agricultural duties, with the men also hunting or herding while the women performed
household tasks and managed local commerce. In Lower Guinea, society developed based on the “dual-sex principle.”
Throughout Guinea religious beliefs stressed complementary male and female roles.
c.
Slavery in Guinea
Slavery existed in West Africa primarily as a means of accumulating wealth. The degree to which slaves were exploited varied
considerably.
V.
European Societies
a. Work, Politics, and Religion
Males did most of the farming or herding; women concentrated on the household and children. Men dominated European
society, relegating females to positions of inferiority. Christianity was the dominant religion in Europe.
b.
Effects of Plague and Warfare
Bubonic plague first struck Europe in 1346, then struck again the 1360s and 1370s, killing a third of the continent’s population.
The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453), which disrupted overland trade routes, led merchants in the eastern Mediterranean
to establish maritime links with Antwerp. This led to the use of the triangular sail and the perfection of the astrolabe and the
quadrant.
c.
Political and Technological Change
European leaders took advantage of the chaos resulting from the Black Plague and the Hundred Years’ War to engender
nationalism as a means of consolidating power. Along with this political innovation, technological change ushered in movable
type and the printing press, which made information more accessible. The publication of Marco Polo’s Travels in 1477, led
many Europeans to believe they could trade directly with China by sea rather than relying on overland routes.
d.
Motives for Exploration
Developments in Europe made possible an era of exploration designed both to gain access to markets and to spread
Christianity.
VI.
Early European Explorations
a. Sailing in the Mediterranean Atlantic
European sailors learned much of navigation, winds, and currents by sailing in the Mediterranean Atlantic, a region bounded
by the Canaries, the Azores, and the Madeiras. The most important concept was sailing “around the wind” or picking up
westerly breezes that allowed ships to return safely to port.
b.
Islands of the Mediterranean Atlantic
In the 15th century, Europeans, particularly Portuguese and Spanish, settled the Azores, Madeiras, and Canary Islands and
began plantation economies.
c.
Portuguese Trading Posts in Africa
The Portuguese established trading posts in West Africa, which were mutually beneficial to the Portuguese and to the African
kingdoms.
d.
Lessons of Early Colonization
On Sao Tome in the 1480s, the Portuguese established sugar plantations dependent on slave labor from the African interior.
Europeans learned that they could transplant crops and livestock successfully to new lands, that the inhabitants of these new
regions could be conquered, and that slave-based plantations could be profitable.
VII.
The Voyages of Columbus, Cabot, and their Successors
a. Columbus’ Voyage
Christopher Columbus sailed west in an effort to reach Asia. Instead of reaching Asia, he encountered the Bahamas a month
after starting.
b.
Columbus’ Observations
Columbus made obvious his intentions by asking the natives about gold, pearls, and spices. He also marveled at the new
plants and animals he encountered and described how they could be exploited. Columbus also reported that the human
inhabitants he encountered would be useful as converts and as laborers.
Even though Columbus died believing he had found Asia, mapmakers named the new region America in honor of Florentine
explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, who was the first to publish the idea that a new continent had been discovered.
c.
Norse and Other Northern Voyages
Leif Ericsson had established a short-lived settlement in modern Newfoundland in the year 1001.
Because of the winds they confronted, northern mariners who sailed to the region that was to become the United States and
Canada followed a route different from those who sailed to the south.
d.
John Cabot’s Exploration
John Cabot deserves credit for the first formal exploration of North America’s northern coast. Other mariners added to
Europe’s knowledge of the Western Hemisphere.
VIII.
Spanish Exploration and Conquest
a. Cortes and Other Explorers
Having first arrived in the West Indies in 1506, Cortes embarked for the mainland in 1519. Malinche, one of 20 slaves given
to Cortes by the Mayas, became his mistress and translator.
b.
Capture of Tenochtitlan
The Aztecs were weakened by a smallpox epidemic. Largely as a result, the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan fell to the Spaniards
in 1521.
c.
Spanish Colonization
Spanish conquerors established a colonial system that stressed strict royal control, the predominance of male settlers, and
exploitation of Americans and Africans.
d.
Gold, Silver, and Spain’s Decline
The Spaniards extracted great wealth from their colonies, to the detriment of both the American and the Spanish cultures.
The influx of such wealth into Spain led to rapid inflation, to the overpricing of Spanish goods in international markets, and
to lavish spending by Spanish monarchs. Ultimately, the Spanish economy crumbled and Spain lost international importance.
IX.
The Columbian Exchange
a. Smallpox and Other Diseases
Hundreds of thousands of Native Americans died from European diseases, particularly smallpox, to which they had no
immunity. Syphilis apparently traveled from America to Europe, with the first recoded case occurring in 1493.
b.
Sugar, Horses, and Tobacco
By the 1520s, sugar was being transported from the Greater Antilles to Spain. By the 1570s, the Portuguese cultivated sugar
in Brazil for sale in the European market, and after 1640, sugar was produced in the English and French colonies in the
Caribbean.
The introduction of horses into the Americas by the Spanish in 1493 ultimately led to changes in the subsistence cultures of
North American natives.
Europeans believed that tobacco had beneficial medicinal effects.
X.
Europeans in North America
a. Trade Among Indians and Europeans
Rich fishing banks of the coast of North America attracted many Europeans to the New World. The English also developed a
lucrative fur trade with the Indians. The Indians, in turn, desired European goods. This mutually beneficially trade
arrangement not only affected Indian cultures but had serious ecological consequences as well.
b.
Contest of Spain and England
Geopolitical conflict with Spain led England to desire colonies in North America.
c.
Roanoke
Early efforts by the English to settle the region they called Virginia had disastrous results. The English will later establish their
first permanent settlement at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.
d.
Harriot’s Briefe and Trade Report
Harriot, a noted scientist, publicized the benefits of Virginia, including its natural resources like copper, iron, furs, grapes and
people.