CHAPTER 1
Contact, Conflict, and Exchange
in the Atlantic World to 1590
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I. The First Americans
 Maya, Aztecs and Hohokam become early
advanced societies
 Eastern Woodlands peoples reside between
Atlantic Ocean and Appalachian Mountains
 Algonquian and Iroquois were two major
language groups
 Scattered groups were diverse, but similar
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Nature-based shamanic religions
Importance of kinship groups
Economies of agriculture, hunting, gathering ,and
fishing
Women and men had different, but comparable, roles in
society
“America Before Columbus”
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Inca Empire and Principal Earlier Cultures
II. Beginning of European
Overseas Expansion
 Exploration encouraged by Prince Henry “the
Navigator” of Portugal
 Exploration and discovery aided by technological
advances
 Astrolabe
 Quadrant
 Square and lanteen rigged sails
 caravela redondo
 Introduction of shipboard cannon
“Europe and West Africa in the 15th Century,”
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
III. Africa and the Atlantic
Slave Trade
 Diverse West African cultures share common
features
 Trade links with outside world
 Conversion to Islam
 Traditional religion in interior
 Societies hierarchy dominated by patriarchs
 African slavery different from Atlantic slave trade
-- social rather than economic
 Slavery sustained by plantation system
Africa’s Trade
Routes, 15th
Century
IV. Spain and Portugal Divide
the Globe
 Spain and Portugal vie for trade dominance
 Spain funds Columbus’s voyage to the New
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World
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), divides sphere of
influence at 370 leagues west of Azores
Portugal controls trade to Africa and India
Spain controls most of New World
England and France joins into exploration with
John Cabot and Giovanni da Verrazano
European Explorations, 1492-1542
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V. The Spanish Empire in America
 Spain explores region from Mexico to Florida
 Vast majority of natives killed by European
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diseases
Small, well organized Spanish military forces
overcame native empires
Columbian Exchange begins
Religion becomes conflict between natives and
explorers
Spanish establish imperial government
Spain’s New World economy is tied to
mercantilism
Spanish establish encomienda system
Mexico Under the Aztecs, 1519
Principal Spanish Explorations of North America
Spanish Empire and Global Labor System
VI. Protestant Northern Europeans
Challenge Catholic Spain
 Protestant Reformation causes conflict
 The major Reformation leaders were Martin
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Luther and John Calvin
French Protestants (Huguenots) had little early
success
Act of Supremacy (1534) established Church of
England
Spanish Armada (1588)
British privateers damaged Spanish trade and
helped establish early British colonies
Discussion Questions
 Describe the Native American civilizations that
existed before Columbus’s arrival. Include
examples from North America, Central America,
and South America.
 Shortly after Columbus, Spanish conquistadors
explored and conquered a huge empire in
America. How was this accomplished?
 How did Spain rule its empire in the New World?
What part did religion and mercantilism play on
the encomienda system?
 What was the Restoration? What was its role on
exploration of the New World?