Ch1: Many Cultures Meet Pre History to 1550

1. Ch1: Many Cultures Meet Pre History to 1550

2. How did the spread of civilization begin in the Americas? The earliest inhabitants of the Americas found a land rich in resources and varied in geographic features. As they settled across the land, they adapted to local environments and developed distinct ways of life.

3. Paleo-Indians were the first humans to live in the Americas. • Scholars believe the Paleo-Indians came from Siberia, a region in Asia. • They disagree, however, about when and how the Paleo-Indians arrived.

5. The Paleo-Indians eventually migrated throughout the Americas.

6. About 10,000 years ago, the climate warmed, melting the polar ice and raising the ocean level. The warming climate and the skill of hunters killed off the mammoths and other large animals. Paleo-Indians adapted by turning their attention to fishing, gathering, and hunting smaller mammals.

7. About 3,500 years ago in central Mexico, Native Americans developed agriculture. The expanded food supply led to population growth and permanent villages. In Mexico, some villages grew into great cities ruled by powerful chiefs.

8. From Mexico, agriculture slowly spread northward into North America. In Mexico, the Mayas and the Aztecsbuilt advanced civilizations. However, in some places, people continued hunting, gathering, and fishing.

9. Diverse cultures emerged in what would later become the United States. In different regions, Indian tribes: • had different kinds of homes and clothes. • ate different foods. • developed different traditions. • spoke hundreds of different languages.

10. The arid Southwest climate forced Native Americans to build dams and irrigation canals in order to grow crops. Some Native Americans in this region lived in adobe houses while others lived in pueblos and cliff dwellings.

13. Due to the mild winters, warm summers, and ample rainfall of the Southeast, most Native Americans in this region were farmers. But they also hunted in the forests and fished in the rivers and lakes of the region.

14. The Algonquians lived in wigwams on the Atlantic seaboard, while the Iroquois lived in longhouses around Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Northeastern people developed into two major language groups: the Algonquians and the Iroquoians. Five Iroquois peoples united to form the Iroquois League, which promoted peace among the member nations.

15. Despite their cultural diversity, most Native American groups shared several cultural features: • decentralized political power. • spiritual beliefs and shamanism. • little private ownership of property. • equality among the various tribes and nations. • division of labor along gender lines.

16. How did Europeans begin to explore more of the world? New ideas swept through Europe during the 1400s, causing enormous cultural, economic, and technological changes. Europeans began to look beyond their shores on a quest of exploration and discovery that would change Europe and much of the world.

17. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the early years of the Middle Ageswere marked by: • the absence of an effective central government. • the constant threat of famine, disease, and foreign invasion.

18. Europe was recovering from the effects of the bubonic plague, which had killed about a third of all Europeans during the 1340s. But as new institutions and ideas slowly took hold, a new civilization emerged in Europe. Most of the surviving population lived in the countryside, and the economy was agricultural.

19. AS But cities and towns were growing, especially in northern Italy and the Netherlands. Artisans produced cloth, tools, and other goods in city workshops. Cities also were centers of trade.

22. The kingdoms were often at war over land and power. The most important kingdoms in Western Europe were Spain, Portugal, France, and England. Each was ruled by a monarch who depended on the elite class to do much of the governing.

23. Despite their rivalries, many Europeans united in the common cause of capturing and controlling the Holy Land. During the latter half of the Middle Ages, European Christians and Muslims fought one another in a series of religious wars known as the Crusades. In the end, the Muslims defeated the Christian Crusaders.

24. But the Crusades had lasting effects that benefitted the people of Europe. • Europeans became aware of distant lands and different ways of life. • Soldiers returned home with exotic goods. • Demand for these products soared, and European traders expanded their businesses into Asia.

25. Trade Routes in Europe, 1000−1300

26. By the mid-1400s, the European Renaissancehad begun, and during this period: • trade with and knowledge of other lands expanded. • the wealth generated from trade fueled further exploration. • the development of the printing press made books more widely available. • literature promoted new ideas.

27. In some places, violent conflicts continued between Christians and Muslims. On the Iberian Peninsula, the kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, and Portugal were waging the reconquista. They hoped to drive out the Muslim Moors, who had ruled Iberia for centuries.

28. Starting in 1419, Portugal’s Prince Henry the Navigator led early efforts at exploration and expansion of trade. • He founded a school of navigation. • He sponsored expeditions down the west coast of Africa.

29. Technological innovations helped the Portuguese take the early lead in sailing into the Atlantic Ocean. • Sailors used the compass, the astrolabe, and the quadrant to determine their location and direction. • Shipbuilders created the sturdy caravel, capable of sailing hundreds of miles.

30. What was life like in West Africa before the age of European exploration? The early civilizations of West Africa grew into great trading empires with rich and varied cultures. Trade between West Africans and Europeans—including trade in slaves—would shape the future of both peoples for years to come.

31. West Africa is a land of varied geographic features. • The Sahara Desert dominates the northern part. • To the south of the desert lies a broad savanna. • South of the savanna is a lush region watered by the Niger and Senegal rivers. • Valuable natural resources such as goldand salt are found in West Africa.

32. AS A thriving trade networkpromoted the growth of trading towns.

33. Ghana • Mali • Songhai • Other, smaller kingdoms Trading towns eventually grew into great and powerful empires. In time, the trading routes of these empires linked West Africa with North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Asia.

34. West African Trade Routes, A.D. 800−A.D. 1600

36. Slavery was common in West Africa, and slaves were often used as items of trade. West African rulers sold about1,000 slaves annually to Arab traders, who took them to the Mediterranean. The slave trade was an important part of West Africa’s economy.

37. West African slavery had developed as a system with unique characteristics. • It was not based on racial superiority or inferiority. • Prisoners of war and criminals often became slaves. • Slaves were usually adopted by their owners, and their children usually did not inherit slave status. • Slaves could become wealthy, important officials and soldiers.

38. But African resistance soon forced the Portuguese to shift to trading. Throughout the 1400s, the Portuguese explored farther south along the West African coast. Initially, they acted as pirates, seizing gold, pepper, and slaves.

39. In time, the Portuguese established a profitable tradewith the West Africans. The Portuguese exported peppers, ivory, copper, and African slaves. In this way, Europeans first became involved in the long-standing slave trade of Africa.

40. The Portuguese greatly expanded the slave trade. • Some slaves were shipped to Europe. • Most worked on sugar plantations on islands in the East Atlantic. • Growing numbers went to new plantations in the Americas. By 1500, Europeans purchased about 1,800 African slaves a year, nearly doubling the trade between the West Africans and the Arabs.

41. Thus began the brutal exploitation of West Africans enslaved by Europeans. This fate would befall millions more African men and women in the centuries ahead.

42. How did European exploration affect the Americas? With the goal of reaching Asia, European sailors continued their journeys of exploration. In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas, planning to conquer the land, exploit its wealth, and convert its people to Christianity– a pattern followed by later explorers.

44. By default, the Spanish looked westward into the open Atlantic. • The Spanish hoped to find islands in the west that they could exploit. • They also hoped that, by leaping from one set of islands to another, explorers could one day reach the coveted coast of China.

45. The Italian mariner Christopher Columbus had heard stories about mysterious lands to the west. Columbus was determined to make a westward voyage in search of China. He hoped to convert the Chinese to Christianity and use their wealth to begin a new crusade against Islam.

46. Funded by Spain, in 1492 Columbus reached the Bahamas, which he claimed for Spain. In all, Columbus made four voyages to what he thought was the East Indies, near Asia. He used force to conquer Native Americans on the islands. Columbus had not reached Asia, but he had found a land that would bring riches and power to Europe—at the expense of Native Americans and African slaves.

47. Columbus’s Voyages, 1492-1504

48. In 1494, Spain and Portugal negotiated the Treaty of Tordesillas. • The treaty drew a boundary line through the mid-Atlantic, giving the Spanish lands west of the lineandthe Portuguese lands east of the line. • Other European kings refused to honor the treaty. • No one bothered to consult the Native Americans.

49. Conquistadors extended Spain’s empire in the Americas, treating Native Americans brutally in the process. • The Spanish killed or enslaved thousands of Native Americans. • Many were forced to convert to Christianity. • The Spanish destroyed their cities, stole their gold, and exploited their natural resources.

50. With steel-edged swords, guns, and horses,the conquistadors destroyed native civilizations. Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs. Francisco Pizarro defeated the Incas.