I. Different
Worlds
First Americans
came from Asia – possibly as early as 65,000 years ago
Crossed
Berengia – glaciers extended from Asia to America
Migration
waves depended on climate changes and mammal wanderings.
Multiple migrations now thought to be likely.
15,000 / 10,000 /
4,000
A. Pre-Columbian Societies
Diverse conditions led to distinct local
cultures.
Early Americans likely nomads following
animals, fish, or wild plants.
Extinction of mammoths and mastodons forced
adaptation to hunting smaller animals.
1. Paleo-Indians -- 15,000 – 7,000
Hunter-gatherer societies could exist
without changing natural environment.
Diversification ensured protection from
natural calamities.
Gender-based division of labor
2. Archaic Indians -- 7,000 – 3,000
Early agricultural societies –
corn, beans, squash
3. Mesoamerican cultures
Mayans
Thriving about 2,000 years ago in
southern Mexico and Guatemala.
Established extensive trade networks.
Sophisticated linguistic and scientific
communities.
Toltecs
Invaded Mayan territory from north.
Reigned for around 200 years.
Incas
Arrived in Andes about 900 years ago.
Flourished for about 400 years.
Aztecs
Founded Tenochtitlan (present-day
Mexico City).
Demanded tribute from subordinate
peoples of Central America.
4. North American cultures
North American Agriculture
Anasazi civilization in SW United States
Adopted irrigated agriculture and built
elaborate road system.
Ohio and Mississippi valley settlements
Adena and Hopewell peoples, about 2,500
years ago
Mixed hunting, gathering, and farming
Built large earthen mounds as religious
sites and fortifications.
The Settled Cultures of the Northeast
Mixed agriculture and hunting
Algonquian-speaking peoples east of the
Appalachian mountains
Calendar framed around activities
involved in growing crops.
Communities were mobile to follow
migrating animals and find new fields.
5. The Caribbean Islanders
II. The Cultures
of West Africa
A. West Africans had a developed belief system.
Spiritual guides (like Native American
shamans) communicated w/ dead.
B.
West African political diversity and
commercial rivalry
Political fragmentation underscored
importance of belonging to a particular place.
Intense commercial rivalry provoked almost
constant warfare.
Arrival of Europeans intensified competition
among groups.
C.
Slavery and Africa
Slavery in Africa predated the arrival of
the Europeans.
Slaves often sold to distant places to
discourage return home
Trade with Europeans stimulated demand
for slaves to produce more goods.
By 1450, Europeans purchasing African
slaves from other Africans.
F. The ordeal of enslavement
Mortality rates for passage to Americas
ranged from 5 to 20 percent.
Once landed, slaves endured branding,
whipping, and separation from loved ones.
G. Sugar and slaves
Profits in Americas more than offset
losses of transporting slaves from Africa.
Slaves used to boost sugar production in
America.
Planters uninterested in welfare of their
laborers -- they could easily be replaced.
II. Contact
Clash of world views
First contacts characterized by fear and
bewilderment.
Different cultural perspectives effected trade
relations.
Native Americans disappointed in Europeans'
concern solely with profit.
A. Motivations for European Exploration
Desire to obtain spices and other products
from Asia and Africa.
Colonies were seen as extensions of a
nation's power.
New commercial practices had generated
the capital to support exploration.
Renaissance inspired intellectual curiosity
about the larger world.
European sense of superiority dictated
remaking others in Europe's image.
Voyages of
Discovery
B. Spanish and Portuguese conquests
Portuguese and Spanish had settled
Atlantic islands by mid-1400s.
Portuguese established trading posts
on the African coast.
Superior naval technology allowed Portugal
to dominate African exploration.
Henry the Navigator
Dias
da Gama
1. Columbus
Christopher Columbus sought new route to
Asia in 1492.
Opening trade more important than
establishing colonies.
Portuguese concern about Spain's success
led to 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas.
2nd voyage to New World in 1493.
Brought 1,500 Spanish settlers to
Hispaniola in Caribbean.
By 1515, Spanish settlements on
Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba.
Natives suffered from overwork and
European-introduced diseases.
2. Conquistadores
plundered wealthier Native American
societies.
Ponce de Leon
Balboa
Cortes
Pizarro
Coronado
3. Impact of colonization on the Spanish
political and economic systems
C.
The Columbian Exchange
North Americans died from diseases
brought from Europe.
Disease, technology, and expansionist
ideology shifted balance of power from
Native Americans to invading colonists.
III.
Competition for a Continent
European Settlements
A.
French Exploration
Verrazano
French established settlements in South
Carolina (1562) and Florida (1564).
Spanish destroyed those settlements in
1565 and 1566; built St. Augustine.
Samuel de Champlain established permanent
settlement at Quebec in 1608.
1. Jacques Cartier
2. Jean-Francois de le Roque
B. British Exploration
Motives and methods of colonization --
Elizabethan England
Virginia and Plymouth Plantation
1. John Cabot
2. English conquest of Ireland
3. Humphrey Gilbert
4. Frobisher
5. Roanoke Island -1st English settlement in
New World in 1585.
Colonists more interested in finding gold
than planting crops.
The Ideology
of Empire
Supporters of colonization utilized many arguments.
Trade, economic profit, access to commodities.
Enhancement of national power.
Opportunity to spread one's religion.
European sense of superiority reflected in
naming practices.
Rejected Native place names. European
names validated claims to New World.
Maps as a reflection of national power.
Maps became increasingly important as
Europeans struggled for control.
Geographical knowledge meant power in the
competition for empire.
European sense of cultural superiority
suffused the era of colonization.
Quest to remake all peoples and places in
Europe's image.