Review Session #1
Period 1 1491-1607
5 % of Exam
No DBQ or Long Essay will focus exclusively on period 1
Key Concept 1.1 “Before the arrival of Europeans, native populations in
North America developed a wide variety of social, political, and
economic structures based in part on interactions with the environment
and each other.”
• Good to know:
• Look @ maps of different areas of North America:
• How did natives adapt to their environment?
• How did different natives interact with each other?
Maize (corn)
• Specifically mentioned in curriculum framework
(might see a direct question about it)
• In general maize cultivation
• Enlarged populations
• Allowed for more permanent living
• Natives developed villages around maize
The Great Plains/ Plains Area
• Great Plains,
• Hunting and gathering
• Lack of resources
• Large flat land
• Horses (introduced by Europeans)
• Hunting becomes easier (bison)
• Warfare becomes more destructive
• .
Southwest US
• In the southwest of North America, tribes tended to settle in
one place and practice agriculture (ex. Pueblo people)
• Pueblos developed irrigation systems to support maize
cultivation
Northeast
• Mix of hunting/gathering
• Many permanent housing structures
• farmed the three sisters (maize, beans, and squash), hunted game,
and fished in the many rivers, lakes, and the sea
• Iroquois- (Present day NY and PA):
• Burned forests to hunt and grow crops
• Villages were built around maize (corn)
• matriarchal society:
• Power was based on female authority
• Women were instrumental in councils and decision-making
• Women would tend to crops and oversaw community affairs while men
hunted
Iroquois long house
Serve as home for extended family or
clan
All clans traced their heritage back
through female ancestors (matriarchy)
West
• Most based on hunting, gathering, and foraging
• Societies tended to be ruled by wealthy families
• Chinooks
• Advocated warrior traditions
• Used advanced fighting techniques
• Lived in longhouses which could house many
families similar to Iroquois
Key Concept 1.2 “European overseas expansion resulted in the Columbian Exchange, a series
of interactions and adaptations among societies across the Atlantic.”
• Good to know:
• Positives and negatives from Columbian exchange
• Impact on New and Old Worlds
Reasons for exploration
• Reasons for European exploration
• 3 G’s – God, Gold, & Glory
• Spain- spread Christianity
• Encomiendas- allowed the government to “commend”, or give, Indians and land to
certain colonists in return for the promise to try to Christianize them
• It really was slavery.
• France- profit – beaver fur in northern America
• England- profit
• Joint-stock companies- $ raised by selling shares to investors who became partners in
the venture
Why Explore Now? (1400-1500s)
• Technological/scientific innovations (caravel ship, better
maps, astrolabe)
• Intellectual curiosity and thirst for knowledge, stimulated
by the Renaissance
• Bigger populations, rebounding after the Black Plague in
the Middle Ages
• Increase in trade/desire for new trade routes/$$$
• Increased nationalism (pride in country/ethnic group) as
nation-states like Spain emerged
The “Columbian Exchange”
 Columbian Exchange refers to the
interaction between the “Old World”
(Europe) and “New World”
(Americas).
 Americas to Europe:
 turkeys, pumpkins, corn, tomatoes,
peanuts, tobacco, and other goods.
 Europe to Americas:
 livestock (including the first horses),
grapes, sugar cane, honey bees, and citrus
fruits.
 Europeans also brought diseases
including smallpox, malaria, and
measles, which wiped out thousands of
Native Americans. Within 50 years of
Columbus’s landing, only one in 10
Native Americans still survived.
Columbian Exchange
• Europe
• Increase European food consumption and population
• Shift from Feudalism to capitalism
• Africa
• Increase slave trade
• Natives
• Increase in disease
• Drawing from
the Florentine
Codex showing
transmission of
smallpox among
Natives
Key Concept 1.3 “Contact among American Indians,
Africans, and Europeans challenged the worldviews of
each group.”
Good to know:
How did Spaniards view/treat natives
How did Natives resist European conquest
How did Africans adapt to new contact
Spanish Contact
• “Black Legend”- concept held that the conquerors merely
tortured and killed the Indians, stole their gold, infected
them with smallpox, and left little but misery behind.
• Somewhat true
• They grafted their culture, laws, religion, and language
into the native societies. This laid the foundation for the
modern- day Spanish speaking nations.
• The Spanish also incorporated indigenous culture with their
own, rather than isolating and shunning the Indians as the
English did
• Intermarriage
• Mestizo-SP and Native
• Mulatto- Spanish and African
Spanish Contact
•
Many Spaniards saw themselves as
superior to Natives
•
Tried to impose their religion through
missions
•
Caste system develop
• Mestizo
• Mulatto
•
Bartolome de las Casas
• argued Natives as equals to SP
• Helped end encomienda system
•
Juan de Sepulveda:
• Advocated harsh treatment of Natives
• Claimed slavery for Natives was justified
under Christianity
Adaption/Resistance
• Some Native resistance/ tried to preserve their autonomy
• Juan de Onate- defeated revolts of Pueblos in New Mexico area
• Africans
• Maintained native religious elements while mixing them with Christianity
• Maroon communities in Brazil and Caribbean- communities of runaway
slaves