Chapter 1 New World Beginnings

1. Chapter 1 New World Beginnings

2. I. Peopling the Americas A. Bering Land Bridge 1. As the Ice Age was ending and the sea level dropped, it exposed a land bridge connecting Eurasia with North America in the area of the present-day Bering Sea between Siberia and Alaska 2. By 1492, as many as 54 million people lived in the Americas 3. Main crop was maize (corn) 4. Didn’t have horses, oxen, or even the wheel, but still managed to build large cities

4. II. The Earliest Americans A. Corn began to transform nomadic hunting bands into settled agricultural villagers 1. The Pueblo (means village) people in the Rio Grande valley constructed intricate irrigation systems to water their cornfields B. Population and the Complexity of Society 1. Throughout the continent to the north and east of the land of the Pueblos, social life was less elaborately developed 2. No dense concentrations of population or complex nation-states comparable to the Aztec empire existed in North America outside of Mexico 3. This was one reason for the relative ease with which the European colonizers subdued the native Americans

6. II. The Earliest Americans C. Iroquois 1. Located in the northeastern woodlands 2. In the 16th century, inspired by the legendary leader Hiawatha, they sustained the closest thing to the great nation-states of Mexico and Peru 3. The Iroquois Confederacy developed the political and organizational skills to sustain a military alliance that menaced its neighbors, Native Americans, and Europeans alike, for well over a century

8. II. The Earliest Americans D. Native American Settlements 1. Most native Americans in North America were living in small, scattered, and impermanent settlements 2. By 1492, there were about 4 million Native Americans in North America

9. III. Indirect Discoverers of the New World A. Norse 1. Scandinavia seafarers landed in present-day Newfoundland about AD 1000 2. The area had many wild grapes, so they called it Vinland 3. Their venture failed because they weren’t supported by a nation-state

11. Disputed Map of Vinland (15th C.)

12. III. Indirect Discoverers of the New World B. Christian Crusaders 1. Foiled in their military assaults on the Muslims in the Holy Land from the 11th to 14th centuries, the crusaders acquired a taste for the exotic delights of Asia 2. Goods that had been virtually unknown in Europe now were craved: a. Silk b. Drugs c. Perfumes d. Draperies e. Spices - Sugar, a rare luxury in Europe before the crusades, was used to preserve and flavor food

14. III. Indirect Discoverers of the New World C. Wanting a New Route 1. The above goods had to be transported enormous distances from China and India in ships or on camel 2. By the time the goods reached Europe, they were so costly that purchasers and profits alike were limited 3. European consumers and distributors were naturally eager to find a less expensive route

15. IV. Europeans Enter Africa A. Portuguese and Africa 1. With the development of better ships, the Portuguese mariners could overcome obstacles of wind and current 2. As a result, the Portuguese began to creep down the West African coast in the middle of the 15th century (Dark Continent) B. Slavery 1. They set up trading posts along the African shore for the purchase of gold and slaves. Arabs and Africans had traded slaves centuries before the Europeans had arrived 2. Portugal was the origin of the modern plantation system, based on large-scale commercial agriculture and exploitation of slave labor

16. IV. Europeans Enter Africa C. Spain 1. In the late 15th century, Spain became more powerful from: a. The marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon & Isabella of Castile b. Expulsion of the “infidel” Muslim Moors after centuries of Christian-Islamic warfare c. As a result of their new strength, the Spaniards were eager to outdo their Portuguese rivals. Since Portugal controlled the waterways around Africa, Spain looked west

17. V. Columbus Comes Upon a New World A. The Stage Is Set 1. Europeans – Clamored for more and cheaper products from the lands beyond the Mediterranean 2. Africa – Was established as a source of cheap slave labor for plantation agriculture 3. Portuguese voyages – Demonstrated the feasibility of long-range ocean navigation 4. Spain – Was taking shape, with unity, wealth, and power to shoulder the formidable tasks of discovery, conquest, and colonization 5. Renaissance – In the 14th century, it nurtured an ambitious spirit of optimism and adventure 6. Printing presses – Facilitated the spread of scientific knowledge 7. Mariner’s compass – Possibly borrowed from the Arabs, eliminated some of the uncertainties of sea travel

18. V. Columbus Comes Upon a New World B. Result of Columbus’ Discovery 1. He returned with gold, encouraging further expeditions 2. An interdependent global economic system would emerge a. Europe – provided the markets, capital, and technology b. Africa – furnished the labor c. New World – Offered its raw materials, especially metals and soil for sugar cane, tobacco, corn, and more

19. VI. When Worlds Collide A. Positive Results of Columbus’ Discovery 1. New World plants, such as tobacco, maize, beans, tomatoes, and potatoes eventually revolutionized: a. The international economy b. The European diet (3/5 of the crops cultivated around the globe today originated in the Americas) c. Fed the rapid population growth

20. VI. When Worlds Collide 2. Columbus returned to Hispaniola (Dominican Republic today) with cattle, swine, and horses a. The horses reached the North American mainland through Mexico and in less than two centuries had spread as far as Canada b. North American Indian tribes like the Apaches, Sioux, and Blackfoot swiftly adopted the horse, transforming their cultures into highly mobile, wide-ranging hunter societies that roamed the grassy Great Plains in pursuit of the shaggy buffalo

21. VI. When Worlds Collide B. Negative Results of Columbus’ Discovery 1. The Europeans also brought the germs that caused smallpox, yellow fever, and malaria 2. During the Indians’ millennia of isolation in the Americas, most of the Old World diseases disappeared from them and so their bodies didn’t need the protective antibodies. These diseases would quickly devastate the Native Americans. 90% of the Native Americans perished 3. Indians infected early explorers with syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease that was transferred to Europe

22. VI. When Worlds Collide C. Results of Spanish Discoveries 1. By 1600, Spain had a huge amount of silver. This resulted in: a. The foundation of the modern commercial banking system b. Increased consumer costs by as much as 500% c. Could have led to the growth of capitalism d. Spread commerce and manufacturing e. Paid for trade with Asia f. Islands of the Caribbean Sea (West Indies) served as bases for the Spanish exploration of mainland America (supplies could be stored and men/horses could be rested)

24. VI. When Worlds Collide 3. The West Indies also served as a place to test the encomienda system. It allowed the government to give Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to try to Christianize them. It was actually slavery. With the death of Native American slaves, Spaniards began importing African slaves

25. encomienda system

26. VII. The Spread of Spanish America A. Protecting Their New World 1. To secure the northern periphery of their New World domain and to convert more Indian souls to Christianity, the Spanish began to fortify and settle their North American borderlands B. The Spanish erected a fort at St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. This founded the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in the future U.S.

27. C. Catholicism in the New World 1. Found few furs and little gold, but they did discover a wealth of Indians to be converted to the Christian religion 2. Pope’s Rebellion of 1680 a. The Indians were upset that missionaries were suppressing their religious customs b. Indian rebels destroyed every Catholic church in the province and killed priests and hundreds of settlers c. It took nearly half a century for the Spanish fully to reclaim New Mexico from the Indians

28. D. Effects of the Spanish in the New World 1. Misdeeds of the Spanish established the “Black Legend.” This concept held that the conquerors merely: a. Tortured and butchered the Indians b. Stole their gold c. Infected them with smallpox d. Left little but misery behind e. They also erected a large empire from Florida to California f. They input their culture, laws, religion, and language g. Intermarried and incorporated native culture into their own (rather than shun and eventually isolate the Indians as the English did) h. Laid the foundations for many Spanish-speaking nations