Chapter 1 Notes

1. Chapter 1 Notes AHSGE Social Studies Review

2. Crusades • The crusades produced a desire for Europeans to trade with Asia. • Europeans began looking for faster sea routes to Asia. (Trading over land was costly.) • New advances in navigation devices and sailing ships enabled sailors to travel to the New World.

3. Crusades • Europeans discovered new spices and cloth while fighting the Muslims in the Holy Land. • Columbus found the New World while searching for a new sea route to Asia.

4. Renaissance • Scholars returned to ancient Greek, Roman, and Hebrew writings to find answers to basic questions. • Religious reformers questioned the teachings of the Catholic Church after comparing contemporary church practices with the practices in the early church.

5. Renaissance • This questioning led to the division of many different sects from the Catholic Church. • Protestants and Catholics vied for power in Europe. • Many Europeans sought new converts to Christianity.

6. Renaissance • Protestant and Catholic dissidents left Europe by the thousands for the New World where they could enjoy religious toleration. • They were looking for a place to practice their beliefs free of government interference.

7. Colombian Exchange • It was an exchange of goods, ideas, and customs back and forth between Europe and the New World. • Europeans brought over horses and farm animals. • Europeans took fruits and vegetables from the New World and cultivated them in Europe.

8. Colombian Exchange • Europeans brought diseases such as smallpox and measles to the New World. • Native American societies destabilized due to the diseases and conquest by Europeans. • European diseases destroyed entire cultures of people in the New World.

9. Explorers- Portugal • Bartholomeu Dias- first European to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, Africa • Vasco de Gama- first European to sail around Africa and reach India by sea

10. Explorers- Spain • Christopher Columbus- discovered the New World, landed in the Caribbean Islands and South America • Amerigo Vespucci- scouted the coast of North America; the American continents are named after him

11. Explorers- France • Jacque Cartier- explored the St. Lawrence seaway looking for a waterway to the Pacific • Samuel de Champlain- established fur trading settlements in Canada

12. Explorers- England • John Cabot- looked for a waterway to the Pacific along the North American coast • Sir Walter Raleigh- sponsored the first English settlement at Roanoke; searched for “City of Gold” in South America

13. European Settlements- Spain • St. Augustine- • first city founded by Europeans in North America • It was vital to maintaining control of Florida and ensuring the safety of the Spanish trade in Mexico.

14. European Settlements- Spain • Served as an important port for Spanish ships (commercial and military) • It provided protection against the British and the French pirates who tried to loot the Spanish ships sailing from Mexico to Spain loaded with gold and riches.

15. European Settlements- Spain • The Spanish annihilated Native American villages because they had better weapons. • Their guns and canons destroyed whole towns. • Native Americans had never seen fair skinned, bearded people, so they thought they were sent from the gods.

16. European Settlements- France • The French settled in the region of Louisiana before the country’s founding. • French influence can still be found today in the architecture (Gothic or Romanesque), street names (French words), food (Creole and Cajun), and music (Cajun).

17. European Settlements- England • Roanoke- first attempted English colony in North America. • It was unsuccessful. It became known as the Lost Colony of Roanoke. • Governor was John White. • Virginia Dare- the first English child born in the Americas

18. European Settlements- England • Philadelphia- largest city in the new colonies. • Its name means “brotherly love.” • It became a center for shipping, fishing, and trading.

19. European Settlements- England • Jamestown- • It was the first successful English colony in the present day US. • Merchants founded this colony and gave the people in the colony the right to have their own representative government. • It became an example for the founders of the US government.

20. European Settlements- England • Plymouth- • The first Puritan colony established in North America. • The pilgrims governed this colony with the Mayflower Compact, promising equal justice for all and popular democracy for all adult males at town meetings.

21. Native American Groups • Arctic- • Location- Coasts of Alaska • Livelihood- Hunted seal and caribou, fishing • Cultural differences- Tents in summer and well-insulated frame structures covered with skins and blocks of sod in winter • Central Canada winter homes were igloos (made of blocks of ice)

22. Native American Groups • Southeast • Location- from Atlantic Ocean to TX, from Gulf of Mexico to Midwest • Livelihood- hunted deer and other wild game, gathered fruit and nuts • Cultural differences- burned underbrush in forest to maintain a high deer population/ built mounds/ some had town squares

23. Native American Groups • Aztec • Location- Mexico • Livelihood- farmers of maize and cocoa • Cultural differences- built aqueducts, bridges, pyramids, practiced human and animal sacrifice, used pictographic writing on leaves

24. Native American Groups • Inca • Location- Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile • Livelihood- Farmers of potatoes and maize, used llamas as beasts of burden • Cultural difference- advanced gov’t system for 3- 16 million people, built temples, palaces, fortresses, stone buildings, rope suspension bridges, irrigation canals, aqueducts, used bronze, practiced human and animal sacrifice

25. Vocabulary/ Terms • Compass- an instrument that uses magnetic needle to indicate direction • Astrolabe- an instrument that allowed sailors to find their position from the stars • Caravel- a ship with triangular sails and rudder • Sextant- an instrument for determining a ship’s position at sea; it replaced the astrolabe as an instrument which used the stars to determine location

26. Vocabulary/ Terms • Conquistadors- Spanish explorers and soldiers who conquered Native American empires • Mercantilism- economic policy which favors exports over imports to increase a nation’s gold reserves • Joint-stock company- a private company that sells shares to investors • House of Burgesses- colonial government made of elected representatives

27. Vocabulary/ Terms • Plantation- large estate farmed by many workers • Indentured servants- people who signed a contract to work for a certain length of time in exchange for passage to the colonies • Triangular trade route- colonial trade routes between the Caribbean, New England, Europe and Africa • Mayflower Compact- agreement that the pilgrims signed before landing at Plymouth