Download OBJECTIVES - Chapter 1 – Three Worlds Meet 1. Identify the origin

OBJECTIVES - Chapter 1 – Three Worlds Meet
1. Identify the origin of the first native peoples in the Americas.
2. Identify and explain the shared cultural patterns of early Native American people.
3. Identify and explain the reasons for the exploration of the Americas.
4. Identify the biggest trading powers among Western European nations.
5. Identify technological advancements that contributed to exploration.
6. Identify and explain the results of exploring the Americas.
7. Explain the role of slavery in West Africa
8. Identify the origins of the slave trade in the Americas.
9. What was the Columbian Exchange?
10. What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?
NOTES - Chapter 1 – Three Worlds Meet
1. It is believed the first people of the Americas migrated to the North American continent
from Asia via a land bridge, created by the last ice age, across the Bering Strait between modern
Russia and Alaska. This migration of people continued southward down the North American
continent until the land bridge disappeared at the end of the Ice Age approximately 12-10,000
years ago.
2. The North American native peoples shared cultural patterns that included trading networks,
land use, religious beliefs and social organization. Trading networks were critical in bringing
together the different people of early North America to obtain trade goods and to share
information. Native Americans had a different concept on the proper use of the land and did not
accept the notion of land being a commodity to be sold. This idea would lead to clashed with
the Europeans. Nearly all Native Americans thought of the natural world as filled with spirits
crucial to their systems of religious beliefs. Bonds of kinship, or strong ties among family
members dominated the social organization of Native Americans.
3. Exploration of the Americas by the European nations was driven primarily by the desire for
new trade routes that would lead to gold and wealth, the responsibility to spread their religious
beliefs to other people and lastly for the glory and personal fame associated with discovering
new worlds for their home nations.
4. By the late 1400’s the largest trading powers among the Western European nations were
Portugal, Spain, France and England. Holland and Denmark were to other European nations
that worked hard at discovering trade routes that would increase their wealth and power.
5. The increase in exploration by the European nations was made possible by technological
advancements began primarily by Portugal and included the compass and astrolabe which
allowed sailors to navigate across the oceans out of sight of land. Triangular sails allowed ships
to sail against the wind, the sternpost rudder allowed greater maneuverability. A new ship
design called the caravel improved travel across the oceans.
6. The exploration of the Americas led to the establishment of Europeans settlements, an
increase in trade and mercantilism. European nations began to compete for new colonies in the
Americas. Conflicts began between the European colonies and Native Americans. The
introduction new diseases would decimate Native American populations. The decrease in
native people led to the introduction of slavery to the Americas. This exploration also led to a
mixture of cultural sharing and a clash of cultures between the native peoples of North America,
the Europeans and Africans.
7. In West Africa, tasks within a society were divided by age and social status. Slaves made
up the lowest level in their society. People in West Africa were not born into slavery nor did
slavery necessarily mean a lifetime of servitude. Slaves could be adopted into the family or
marry into the family they served. This was a somewhat different form of slavery that would
develop in the Americas where slavery continued from one generation to the next.
8. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to make use of slave laborers from West Africa to
work on sugar plantations established on islands off the coast of Africa. As disease ravaged and
decimated the native people of North America, the continued need for laborers led to the
introduction of slaves from West Africa to fill the vacancies. Before the slave trade ended in the
1800’s, it is estimated that 12 million people were sent to North America.
9. The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of plants, animals and goods from the Americas
to Europe and Africa and brought back items from the Eastern Hemisphere (Europe and Africa)
to the Western Hemisphere (North America).
10. The Treaty of Tordesillas was an attempt to avoid war between Portugal and Spain by
dividing the Western Hemisphere. An imaginary vertical line was drawn in the Atlantic Ocean
and gave Spain all of the land west of the line and Portugal all land east of the line. The
agreement had no effect on the activities of the English, French or the Dutch.