Chapter 1
When Old Worlds Collide:
Contact, Conquest, Catastrophe
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Peoples in Motion
 Many people had migrated to North American
long before the European explorations
 Beringia—Land bridge between Siberia and
Alaska


Home to generations and source of migration to
North America
Debate rages about exactly when migrants arrived
 Probably arrived in three waves
 First more than 14,000 years ago
 Middle a few thousand years later
 Last after 7,000 B.C.
Hunting/gathering Societies
 Earliest migrants found a multitude of
animal species
 Gradually
disappeared, largely due to over-
hunting
 Sex segregated jobs within communities
Indian Women as Farmers
Appearance of Permanent
Farm Villages
 Between 4000 and 1500 B.C.
 Planned agriculture probably began with
women
 Can be termed the Neolithic evolution
Norse exploration of North
American
 First explored and occupied Iceland and
Greenland
 Three explorations between A.D. 1001
and 1014
 Established colony of Vinland, did not
last
Chinese Culture More Advanced in
Many Ways than Europe
 Initiated many explorations of East Asia
between 12405 and 1434
 Interest diminishes as China turned
toward thereafter
 Convinced
that Chinese culture was
superior to rest of world
Europeans and Islamic World
 Arab mariners best in world
 Desired
access to East Indian spices
 European resurgence came only after
Renaissance
 Legacy from Crusades provided lessons
for greater European exploration
Portugal Emerged as Leader of
European Exploration Efforts
 Role of Prince Henry and the crusading Order
of Christ
 Leaders in technological innovation and
development
 Involvement in slave trade

Exploited local rivalries among states of West and
Central Africa
 Began search from water route to Asia in the
1480s

Established chain of naval bases but no real
settlements
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Africa and the
Mediterranean
in the 15th
Century
Spanish Efforts to catch up to
Portugal after 1400
 Really possible after marriage of
Ferdinand and Isabella in 1469
 Spanish support for Christopher
Columbus
 Sought
water route to Asia across Atlantic
 Four voyages to the New World after 1492
 Never realized he had discovered a New
World
Early Spanish Experience in
the New World
 Brutal treatment of native population
 Continued exploration throughout North
America
 Engaged in search for great riches
Emergence of Sedentary and Semisedentary Cultures in the Americas
 Native lives transformed by agriculture
after 4000 B.C.
 Non-migratory societies only among
most advanced cultures
 No individual ownership of land among
any Indian society
 Regardless of size, Indian societies
remained Stone Age culture
Rise of Andean Civilization
 Utilized ingenious irrigation systems for
high-altitude farming
 Chavin, Mohica, Tiwanaku empires all
thrived
Inca Empire
 Emerged abound A.D. 1400
 Built capital at Cuzco, high in Andes
Mountains
 Empire stretched 2,000 miles north to
south
 No written language, yet controlled 8 to
12 million people by 1500
Cultures of Mesoamerica
 Olmecs emerged along Gulf Coast around
1200 B.C.

Built small settlements of around 1,000 people
 Constructed first pyramids and ballparks in
Mesoamerica
 Utilized 52 year calendar system
 Toetihuacan emerged in mountains outside of
present day Mexico City
Cultures of Mesoamerica (cont.)
 City
has population of 40,000 by A.D. 1
 Best known for brightly painted murals
 Governed by a senate, not a monarch
 Suddenly destroyed around A.D. 750
 Mayans emerged in southern lowlands
of the Yucátan
Aztec Empire
 Capital of Tenochtitlán in middle of Lake
Texcoco
 Waged perpetual war to gain captives
for religious ceremonies
 Made
many enemies among peoples of
Mesoamerica
North American “Mound Builders”
 Three distinct cultures
 New Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and
their tributaries
 Thrived from 3000 B.C. to about a.D.
1700
 Largest Mount at Cahokia near modern
St. Louis
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Mound Building
cultures of North
America
Southern Urban Cultures
 Hohokam in central Arizona between 300
B.C. and A.D. 300



Sophisticated irrigation
Manufactured cotton cloth and distinctive red
pottery
Declined around 1450, likely due to water
shortages
 Anasazi in New Mexico and Colorado
 Cliff-dwelling-people
 Flourished for two centuries, then declined in last
quarter of thirteenth century
 Likely ancestors of Pueblo Indians
Early European-Indian Encounters
Revealed Many Differences
 Christians unprepared to deal with native
societies


Troubled by Indian religious practices
Branded Indians Satan worshippers
 Natives equally troubled by European
practices



Horrified by European executions of suspected
witches and other Europeans
Troubled by Communion rite in Christian churches
Widespread resistance to early Christianization
efforts
Early European-Indian Encounters
Revealed Many Differences (cont.)
 Different conceptions of warfare




Europeans sought to slay as many of their enemies as
possible
Indians fought to acquire live captives
Europeans disliked Indian torture and ritual sacrifice of
captives
Indians appalled by European slaughter of women and
children
 Indian societal organization differed markedly
from European


Most Indian societies were matrilineal and had clearly defined
social roles for men and women
Resisted Europeanization efforts because they challenged
their traditional social norms
The Spanish Conquest of
Mexico and Peru
 Hernando Cortés invaded Aztec capital
of Tenochititlán in 1519
 Seized
Emperor Moctezuma and replaced
Aztec religious images with Christian ones
 Initial invasion no successful
 Returned later with aid from the
Tlaxcalans, enemies of the Aztecs
 Looted the city and established Mexico
City on its ruins
The Spanish Conquest of
Mexico and Peru (cont.)
 Francisco Pizarro located Incas in 1531
 Capitalized
on internal turmoil
 Defeated much larger Incan force and
destroyed Cuzco
 Established new capital at Lima on the
coast of Peru
Principal Spanish Explorations of North America
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Spanish Missionaries and Religious
Efforts in North American
 Jesuits established mission in Virginia in 1570
 Departed after Indian revolt
 Franciscans replaced them North of Mexico
 Royal Orders for New Discoveries, 15773
 Made it illegal to enslave Indians or even attack them
 Laid plans for unfortified missions headed by
priests to convert natives into peaceful Catholic
subjects of Spain
 Some missionary success in northern Florida
and New Mexico
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Missions in Florida
and New Mexico,
circa 1675
The Spanish Empire in Practice
 Ruled by direct control from Spain
 Labor systems exploited natives
 Empire and its riches transformed
missionaries

Became less concerned with saving souls as they
acquired land and laborers
 Council of Indies established to choose New
World leaders
 Power further consolidated after Portugal and
Spain joined in 1580 under rule of Philip II
Spanish Empire and Global Labor Systems
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Explanations for European
Conquest
 Vast technological superiority
 Steel most important
 Biological effect of European diseases
devastating the Indians
 European vegetation choked out native
plants
 European animal prevailed over
potential American rivals
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