Three Worlds Meet

1. Three Worlds Meet

2. “Three Worlds Meet” Outline • Peopling the Americas • Coming to America • Empires Flourish • North American Societies to 1492 • Native Americans and Diverse Societies • Native American Societal Structure • West African Societies to 1492 • Connecting with the World • African Culture and Society • Three Major Kingdoms • European Societies to 1492 • Social Order • European Religion • Changes in Europe • The Age of Expansion • The Encounter • Christopher Columbus • Major Impacts • A New Society

3. Coming to America • Over 12,000 years ago, people began crossing the Beringia Land Bridge from Asia into North America • Nomadic (traveling) societies following food • 8,000 B.C. – Groups begin hunting smaller game and gathering fruits, berries, etc. • Agricultural societies begin to emerge

4. Empires Flourish • 1,200 B.C. – First Americans begin to create larger communities • Three major regions: Central/South America, Southwest N. America, and Eastern N. America • Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Inca all empires in Central and South America • Hohokamand Anasaziemerge in Southwestern North America • Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian claim Eastern North America • What would be some challenges to living in these regions?

5. North American Societies to 1492:Native American Societal Structure • Trading Networks • Spanned Mexico to the Atlantic Coast • Brought native groups into contact with each other • Regional tribes were known for specific goods • Land Use • Saw land as a part of nature that could not be bought or sold • Revered for bringing food to native groups

6. Native American Societal Structure Cont’d • Religion • Natural world was filled with spirits (living and non-living things) • Social Organization • Kinship (strong family ties) helped ensure continuation of tribal customs • Social order was divided by division of labor, or assignment of tasks based on gender, age, or status

7. Exit Slip • What major change occurred between 12,000-10,000 years ago for early groups in the Americas? • Explain the importance of trade to Native Americans. • What role did religion play in the daily lives of Native Americans?

8. West African Societies to 1492:Connecting with the World • Trade • The Sahara Highway connected West and North Africa • Through ports, Europe and Asia connected as well • Islam also spread into Africa • Portuguese Arrival • Looking for gold, Portuguese arrive in mid-1400s • Portuguese eventually enter slave trade • Slaves first used to man sugar cane plantations off coast of Africa

9. African Culture and Society • Family and Government • Close ties amongst people of the same lineage • Age influenced rank within family • Religion • Varied amongst tribes, but most worshipped spirits (present in living and non-living things) • Muslim and Christian faiths also spread into area

10. African Culture and Society Cont’d • Livelihood • Farming, herding, hunting, fishing, mining – all sources of labor for those in West Africa • Belief of collective ownership of land • Use of Slave Labor • Age, gender, and social status divided labor • Slaves at the bottom • Slaves in Africa could work to gain their freedom

11. Three Major Kingdoms • Songhai • 600-1600 A.D. – Gained power through control of Saharan trade • Wealth from trade meant more money for soldiers, weapons • Benin • Rose to power in 1400s • Another empire built on trade, dealt heavily with Portuguese when they arrived • Kongo • A group of villages ruled by one individual • Mining civilization, traded metal goods

12. European Societies to 1492:Social Order • Social Hierarchy • Monarchs, nobility and clergy, and peasants made up social structure • Peasants worked land owned by nobles through system of feudalism • Could not move out of class you are born into • Family in Society • Life centered around nuclear family, or mother, father, and children • Age and gender still played a role in labor division

13. European Religion • 1096-1270 - Crusades • Military expeditions into the Middle East in the name of Christianity • Europeans motivated by desire to spread their faith • Three consequences: • Increase in trade with Holy Land and Asia • Weakened nobles (lost $$$ and lives through fighting), while strengthening monarchs • Decline in power of the Pope

14. Changes in Europe • Economic and Population Growth • New markets established through Crusades • More money + more jobs = more people • Rise of Nations • Weakening of nobles led to strengthening of monarchs and merchants • Four nations beginning to emerge at end of 1400s: Portugal, Spain, France, and England • The Renaissance • Humanism – focus on the ability of the individual • Questioning of Church policy made people more secular • Motivation for exploration bc it called for people to have confidence in their accomplishments

15. The Age of Expansion • New Technology • Compass and astrolabe allow sailors to travel further • New sail designs better harnessed wind • Portugal • Prince Henry the Navigator pushed to bring these inventions to Portugal • 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias rounded southern tip of Africa • Within 10 years, Vasco da Gama reaches India • Portuguese, rich off of gold and trade from travels, begin to look for a quicker path to India

16. Exit Slip • Define the term Feudalism • Describe one of the three consequences of the Crusades • What types of technology led to the Age of Expansion?

17. The Encounter:Christopher Columbus • An Italian, Columbus sailed for Spain • August 3, 1492 – Columbus sets sail • October 12, 1492 – Land spotted • Three motivations for exploration: • “God, Glory, and Gold” • Columbus would return on 3 separate voyages – not as an explorer, but as an “empire builder”

18. Impact on Native Americans • Colonization • Establishment of distant settlements controlled by a parent country • Land taken, inhabitants used as source of labor or pushed out • Resistance • Some native groups resisted, fought back • Most were easily taken by Europeans • Disease • Natives had never been exposed to European diseases • Measles, mumps, chicken pox, small pox – examples of diseases that would kill millions of Native Americans

19. Impact on Europeans • Columbian Exchange • Trading of crops native to Europe, Asia, and Africa for those native to Americas • More $$$ for merchants • National Rivalries • Countries began fighting over colonial lands • With Spain and Portugal on verge of war, Pope Alexander VI negotiates Treaty of Tordesillas • Split Americas into “East” and “West” with Portugal owning East and Spain owning West

20. Impact on Africans • Slave Trade • Native Americans either refused to work or died due to disease • Need for workers in Americas had Europeans turn to Africans • Slave trade “ended” in 1800s after 12 million were taken from Africa

21. A New Society • New societies would emerge from European colonies in the Americas • U.S. History begins with a look at these 3 major peoples • Native Americans, Africans, Europeans • What kind of impact will this mulitculturalism have on the United States?