Lesson 1 - New World Beginnings:
“The Americas, Europe, & Africa before 1492”
Early map of North America by Sebastian Münster (Circa 1546)
Peopling the Americas
• The last “Great Ice Age” (Pleistocene Era) occurred about 1.8
(some scientists say 2.5) million years ago and it congealed
most of the world’s oceans 150,000 to 35,000 years ago.
• Water levels lowered, which exposed a land bridge in the area
of the present-day Bering Sea (between Siberia and Alaska).
Also known as “Beringia.” Est.: 9 to 15 thousand years ago.
• Nomadic hunter-gatherers traveled by land and sea to follow
migratory animals (I.E.: Mammoth, Bison, etc.) and to forage.
• Nomadic tribes (groups of people that moved together on foot)
migrated from Africa and Eurasia into the Americas for nearly
250 centuries populating both North and South America.
• By the time Europeans arrived in 1492, an estimated 50 to 100
million people inhabited North and South America.
• Native Americans split into countless tribes, developed more
than 2,000 different languages, and developed many diverse
religions, cultures, and ways of life. Note: Various Clovis sites.
• Scientific connection to migration: Asians and Native Americans
share similar genetic markers on the Y chromosome.
Migration Routes Across the Bering Strait
(“Beringia”) by Land and by Sea
Early Nomadic Hunters to Cross into North America from
Asia “Paleo-Indian Era”
15,000 B.C. to about 7,000 B.C.
Cactus Hill, Nottoway River (Virginia)
The Cactus Hill Archaeological Site is located on the Nottoway River (in Sussex County).
The site gets its name from the prickly pear cacti found growing on the site’s sandy soil.
Cactus Hill is one of the oldest and most well-dated archaeological sites in the Americas,
with the earliest human occupations dating to between 18,000 and 20,000 years ago.
Mantis Mastodon Kill Site, Washington
The Mantis Mastodon Kill Site is a 2 acre archeological dig
site that is located on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington
State. Archeologists discovered the site in 1977 and found
a Mastodon rib bone that was pierced with a tool made of
Mastodon bone that dates back more than 13,800 years
(thanks to carbon dating). Stones and animal bones were
both used by Native Americans to hunt in the Americas.
Advanced New World Cultures
• Incans in Peru, Olmec and Mayan in Central America,
and Aztecs in Mexico shaped stunningly sophisticated
civilizations (farming, trade, cities, and large temples).
• Advanced agriculture (cultivation of maize/corn),
mathematics, engineering, and commerce.
• The cultivation of corn was essential to the
advancement of Native American cultures.
• These civilizations lacked both wheel technology for
travel and large drafting animals (oxen, horse, etc.),
still managing to build large thriving empires. Note:
The Inca did have llama and alpaca but they were not
used for drafting (I.E.: pulling a plow for farming).
Early Cultivation of Maize/Corn
•Maize (corn), man’s first and possibly greatest feat of genetic
engineering (seeds must be planted by hand).
• Debate continues over a “wild” ancestor of the crop.
Note: Many scientists believe that “teosinte” is the wild ancestor.
•The Olmec and Mayan are credited as the first civilizations in the
Americas to widely develop the crop.
•The Mayan Popol Vuh (the Mayan cultural narrative) credits the
hero twins, Hun and Hunahpu as the gods of maize.
Advanced New World Cultures:
Mexico, Central America, and South America
• The Olmec civilization was an original in Mexico (Veracruz and
Tabasco). Olmec were credited for bloodletting sacrifice to the
gods, corn cultivation, rubber extraction, the Pok A Tok
ballgame, and artwork considered among ancient America's
most striking (Colossal Heads). They led to the Maya & Aztec.
• Mayan cultivated corn, development of a sophisticated alphabet
(“Landa Alphabet”), played Pok A Tok, sacrificed humans to the
gods, and built temples based on advanced astronomical
observations. Notable sites: Tikal, Chichen Itza, and Tulum.
Note: The temple at Chichen Itza was built to honor Kukulkan.
• The Aztec also routinely sought the favor of their gods through
human sacrifice but also developed a large and very efficient
system of canals, Chinampas, farms, city centers and temples
in Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City). Very strong warriors.
• Incans developed one of the largest unified empires in less than
100 years (thanks to the “mita”/early 1200s at Cuzco) and one
of the earliest road systems in the Americas (rivaling that of the
Roman Empire). They used a system of colored ropes/knots
known as the “quipu” to communicate and to keep records.
Olmec Heads
Mayan
Aztec
Tenochtitlan (with “Chinampas” or floating gardens) was the
Aztec capital located on the shore of Lake Texcoco. The Aztec
controlled central Mexico from the 1300s to the1500s. The tribe
often referred to themselves as “Mexica.” The Aztec had a rich
mythological culture with hundreds of gods that they worshiped.
Inca
Advanced New World Cultures: North America
• Pueblo tribes (ancestors of the Anasazi) in the Rio Grande
valley established intricate irrigation systems, salt mines, and
built elaborate dwellings out of mountain sides (Chaco) and
adobe (mud/clay) with rooms to preserve and smoke food.
• Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee tribes created advanced
farming techniques, tribal hunting, and a network of trade
routes in the southern region of the Appalachian Mountains
(rich in resources and oldest mountain range in North America).
• Iroquois (present-day upstate New York) created the Iroquois
Confederacy (enemy of the Algonquin and Huron), which was
one of the most successful political and military alliances in
North America. Iroquois women held a great deal of power.
• Plains Indians (notably Sioux, Pawnee, Omaha, Lakota) hunted
buffalo herds and lived as large nomadic tribes in tepees (tipi).
• Mound and Wigwam builders (Adena, Hopewell, Miami,
Shawnee, and Mississippian) controlled the Ohio and
Mississippi River Valleys. Cahokia (located near present-day
St. Louis) was an empire that had as many as 30,000 people.
Chaco
Cahokia
Visual Evidence of Indirect
Discoverers of the New World
• West African explorers from Mande
and the Olmec at San Lorenzo and La
Venta (estimated 1200 to 400 BCE).
•Legend of St. Brendan in Norse Sagas
(Irish Monk and Explorer 484-577).
•Norstead (L'Anse aux Meadows),
Viking Village in Newfoundland in 986.
•Polynesians in Chile and Peru in the
700s. Note: Archeologists found
Polynesian chicken bones & fishhooks.
•Chinese explorer Zheng He in 1421.
The Rise of European Exploration
• Marco Polo sets European exploration precedence from 1271
to 1295. His 24 year journey to China and other parts of the far
east led to the publication of “The Travels of Marco Polo” - 1300
• Europeans sought a faster and cheaper trade route to Asia.
• Portuguese mariner, Prince Henry the Navigator established a
school for exploration in Sagres around 1450, which led to the
development of the caravel (ship) and key seafaring inventions.
• Portuguese explorers travel the West African coast (AKA: “The
Gold Coast”) for new trade routes, gold, African slaves, and
other trade goods through the end of the 15th century (1400s).
• Portuguese explorer, Bartholomeu Dias was the first European
to round the “Cape of Good Hope” in South Africa in 1488.
• Christopher Columbus was hired in 1492 to find a south
western trade route to Asia for the Spanish. Hired by Isabella
and Ferdinand to find riches and spread the word of God.
• Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama became the first
European to reach India by traveling around the “Cape of Good
Hope” (southern tip of South Africa) in 1498.
Marco Polo and his Route to China
Prince Henry the Navigator and the
Navigation School at Sagres, Portugal
Bartolomeu Dias and his Routes
Along the West Coast of Africa
Christopher Columbus and his Four
Voyages to the Caribbean
Vasco Da Gama and his Route along
the African Coasts and on to India
European Motives for Exploration
• Improvements in Technology- invention of gunpowder, the
Harquebus (Arquebus), the compass, the caravel (ship), the
astrolabe, and the printing press (Johannes Gutenberg - 1450).
• Religious conflict- The Crusades end in 1291(Christians vs.
Islam). The rise of Roman Catholic (Christian) power in Spain,
Portugal, Italy, and parts of Southern Europe. Protestant
(Christian) Reformation in Northern Europe. Europeans wanted
to spread their interpretation of Christianity all over the world.
• A religious motive for exploration and colonization was added to
(or intertwined with) political and economic motives in Europe.
• Expansion of trade- European kingdoms increased trade with
Africa, India, and China after the Crusades. The far eastern
trade routes passed through the Byzantine city of
Constantinople until the Ottoman Turks (Islamic) conquered the
city and shut down the route in 1453. Note: “Gold, God, Glory”
• Developing Nation-States- European monarchies (England,
Spain, France, Portugal, Holland, etc.) were competing to
strengthen their empire by gaining land, resources, wealth, etc.
Far Eastern Trade Goods
• Gold and precious jewels from Africa to
China
• Gunpowder from China
(Spanish Harquebus)
• Cinnamon from Ceylon
• Pepper from India and Indonesia
• Nutmeg from Celebes and Indonesia
• Cloves from Moluccas and Indonesia
• Silks from Japan
• Cotton and dye from India
Columbus Comes Upon a New World
• Columbus’s crew set sail on August 3, 1492 from Palos, Spain.
Ships included the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria (flagship).
• Columbus landed in present-day San Salvador on October 12,
1492, narrowly escaping a full mutiny (overthrow) from his crew.
• Columbus interacted with the Arawak (or “Taíno”) and dubbed
them indios in the mistaken belief that he had reached the
Indonesian Islands. Their initial interaction was peaceful.
• Driven by an obsessive quest for gold, Columbus enslaved and
destroyed the entire Native population. Note: Total genocide.
• Columbus made three additional voyages across the Atlantic.
Despite popular belief, Columbus knew that he had found
something more than the “West Indies” or a trade route to China.
• However, the continents would be named by cartographers for
another Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci in 1507.
• Note: Martin Waldseemüller (German cartographer) produced a
world map on which he named the new continent America after
the feminine Latin version of Vespucci's first name.
The Arrival of Columbus and his Coat
of Arms
Amerigo Vespucci and his
Routes to the New World
The Columbian Exchange
New World Contributions
• Minerals- gold and silver
• Agriculture- corn,
potatoes, pineapples,
tomatoes, tobacco,
beans, vanilla, and
chocolate
• Disease- syphilis
(historical debate)
Old World Contributions
• Agriculture- wheat, sugar
cane, rice, and coffee
• Livestock- horses, cattle,
oxen, sheep, and pigs
• Disease- smallpox,
measles, bubonic plague,
influenza, typhus,
diphtheria, scarlet fever
African Contributions
•Trade goods, tools, musical instruments, gold, slave labor
When Worlds Collide
• European diseases devastated the Native
American population across both
continents. Diseases spread very fast.
• Old World germs carried by settlers and
livestock (especially pigs) killed 90% of the
Native American population. The main
killers were smallpox and yellow fever.
• Native Americans infected Europeans with
syphilis, a lethal sexually transmitted
disease that was difficult to cure in the 16th
century. Note: Historical debate here.
Aztec Smallpox Victims
The Spanish Conquistadores
• Europeans realized the vast wealth that existed in the
American continents after Columbus’s voyages for
Spain in the late 1490s/early 1500s.
• Gold and silver was coming out of the advanced
Native or “Indian” civilizations of Mexico and Peru.
• Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)- Divided the “heathen
lands” (Americas) between Portugal and Spain, with
Spain gaining the majority of the American claims
(claims to land was a major motivator). The treaty
was by order of the Catholic Pope.
• The Spanish conquerors dominated New World
exploration during the 1500s in the name of God, gold,
and glory. A “Golden Age” of exploration for Spain.
• The conquistadores spread disease, established
Christian missions, and enslaved the Natives.
 Treaty of
Tordesillas Line
Vasco Nunez de
Balboa
• Balboa (Spanish) crossed
the Isthmus of Panama and
was hailed as the discover of
the Pacific Ocean for the
King of Spain in 1513.
• Was later tried in 1519 as a
traitor and usurper (exploring
without consent of the
crown) and was executed in
present-day Panama.
Juan Ponce de Leon
• Leon (Spanish) based out of Puerto
Rico. He was searching for gold and
possibly the “Fountain of Youth.”
• Explored and named Florida (“Full of
Flowers”) between 1513 and 1522.
Note: He explored with Columbus.
• Laid claim to the land near St.
Augustine, one of the original
European settlements in North
America. Note: The oldest
continuing settlement in the
continental U.S. (Note: Gulf Stream)
• He was killed in a Native American
attack at the hands of the Calusa.
He was hit with a poison tipped
arrow and died in Cuba.
Ferdinand Magellan
• Magellan (Portuguese but
hired by Spain) left Spain in
1519 with five tiny ships.
• His crew passed through the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
before Magellan was killed
by Natives (hit by a poison
arrow) in the Philippines.
• One of his vessels returned
home in 1522, completing
the first circumnavigation of
the globe.
Hernan Cortes
• Cortes (or Cortez)
conquered the Aztec
capital, Tenochtitlan
(present-day Mexico
City) between 1519 and
1521.
• His expedition led to the
fall of the Aztec empire.
• Note: More details to
come for Cortes.
Francisco Pizarro
• Pizarro invaded Peru and
conquered the Incan
empire in 1531-1532.
• He captured and killed
Incan emperor Atahualpa,
and claimed the lands for
Spain.
• He was later
assassinated by El Mozo
(a son of one of Pizarro’s
rivals) in Lima in 1542.
Hernando de Soto
• De Soto (formerly a captain
under Francisco Pizarro)
explored Florida on a goldseeking expedition from
1539 to 1542.
• He and his men were the
first Europeans to discover
the Mississippi River.
• He abused Indians along the
way using iron collars and
attack dogs. He tried to
convince the Natives that he
was a god (Son of the Sun).
• He died of fever on the
banks of the Mississippi.
Francisco Coronado
• Coronado was in search of the
“seven fabled cities of gold” in
present-day New Mexico and
Arizona between 1540-1542.
• Coronado did not find gold, but
did manage to conquer the
Pueblo, discovered the Grand
Canyon and Colorado River,
and encountered enormous
herds of buffalo (bison).
• He would later die of disease
in Mexico City.
Economic Effects of the Conquistadors
• The flood of precious metal touched off the Price Revolution in
Europe. Prices rose on average roughly six fold over 150 years
(a level of inflation of 1% to 1.5% per year for 150 years).
• Consumer costs increased by 500% from 1492 to 1592.
• Some scholars believe that this ballooning money supply was
the fuel that led to modern capitalism (in Europe and globally).
• New World bullion (gold/silver) transformed the world economy
and laid the foundation of modern commercial banking.
• European merchants (France, England, and Holland)
stimulated the spread of commerce and manufacturing.
• Silver opened international trade with Asian merchants.
• Caribbean islands served as off shore bases for storage,
conquest, and the spread of “encomienda.” Note: Pirates!
• “Encomienda” was a system that allowed the Spanish
government to give Indians to colonists in return for the promise
that they would Christianize them. The system was basically a
system of slavery (leading to the asiento “slave” trade system).
Spanish Gold Bars Recovered from a Ship
Wreck in the Gulf of Mexico
and Land Claimed by Spain in the Americas
The Conquest of Mexico
• Hernan Cortes set sail in 1518 from Cuba with 11 ships, a
full crew of 500, and fresh horses to the fabled Aztec capital.
• Cortes captured an enslaved Spanish castaway and a
female Indian slave, La Malinche (which meant traitor). Both
served as interpreters in the Mayan language. Note: He had
a child, Martin with La Malinche (AKA: “La Dona”).
• Cortes hit landfall near Vera Cruz (Olmec country) to
receive word that there was unrest in the Aztec empire.
• Cortes burned his ships to put down a mutiny among his
crew, allied with enemy tribes of the Aztec, and began to
march on Tenochtitlan. He knew of the god, Quetzalcoatl.
• Aztec chief Moctezuma (technically Moctezuma II) sent
ambassadors to Cortes bearing lavish gifts.
• Moctezuma believed that Cortes was the Aztec god
Quetzalcoatl (chief of the deities), who predicted his own
return from the eastern sea. Cortes exploited their religion.
• The conquistadores approached Tenochtitlan with both
weapons and infectious diseases unopposed.
Hernán Cortés and La Malinche meet Moctezuma II in Tenochtitlan, November 8, 1519.
Facsimile (c. 1890) of Lienzo de Tlaxcala.
The Conquest of Mexico (cont.)
• Cortes was treated as a god at first but the Spaniards thirst for
gold and wealth wore out their welcome. Note: A Cross
• Conflicting reports on the death of Montezuma II in 1520.
• The Aztec launched an attack on June 30, 1520 known as la
noche triste (sad night or night of sorrows).
• The Spanish were pushed out of the capital, but began to lay
siege on Tenochtitlan for the next year (with rival tribes).
• By the summer of 1521 a smallpox epidemic ravished the Aztec
and the largest city ever discovered in the New World fell.
• The grand Aztec temples of Tenochtitlan were destroyed and
transformed into Spanish influenced infrastructure (Spanish
colonial style cathedrals, buildings, etc.). Note: Mexico City
• Over the next 100 years, disease would destroy the Native
Mexican population from an estimated 20 million to 2 million.
• Spanish laws, religion, and culture replaced the Aztec way of
life, but the Mexican Old World-New World traditions were born
(“Mestizos”). Note: Martin was one of the first Mestizo children.
Cortes and
Moctezuma II 
Quetzalcoatl
Aztec Capital
Tenochtitlan
La Noche Triste
The Spread of Spanish America
• Spanish colonies grew with cathedrals, missions, commercial centers, and
universities in Mexico City and Lima, Peru in 1551.
• Spanish conquests led to an exploration rivalry in Europe:
- England sent John Cabot to explore in 1497.
- France sent Giovanni da Verrazano (1524) and Jacques Cartier (1534).
• Father Bartolomé de las Casas was a missionary and the author of A Short
Account of the Destruction of the Indies where he described the atrocities
committed by the colonizers against the indigenous peoples.
• The Spanish erected a fortress at St. Augustine, Florida (the oldest inhabited
European settlement in the U.S.) in 1565 to fight off the French Huguenots
(protestants who were trying to settle Fort Caroline, Florida).
• The area of Santa Fe, New Mexico became settled in the early 1600s after
the brutal treatment of the Pueblo by Spanish conquistador, Don Juan de
Onate. He perpetuated the “Spanish Black Legend” in Europe.
• Pope’s Rebellion in 1680 was a successful Pueblo uprising against the
Spanish missions of New Mexico. Every church was destroyed and
hundreds of Spanish colonists were killed. Spanish missions and
settlements ultimately spread to Texas and California in the early 1700s.
• The Alamo mission was established in 1718 in San Antonio, Texas.
• Father Junipero Serra founded a chain of 21 missions that spread from San
Diego to Sonoma, California from 1769 through the turn of the century.
Father Serra led the brown-robed Franciscan friars.
(Clockwise)
Fortress at St. Augustine, FL
Father Junipero Serra
The Alamo at San Antonio, TX
Don Juan de Onate
University of Lima, Peru
French Exploration in the New World
• Giovanni da Verrazano explored the eastern seaboard of North
America (from NC to Mass) in 1524, including New York harbor.
• Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River between 1534 and
1542. He claimed “Canada” in honor of King Francis I of France.
• Samuel de Champlain founded the French trading post at Quebec in
1608. He was known as the “Father of New France.”
• Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet explored the Mississippi
River to the border of present-day Louisiana and Arkansas in 1673.
• Rene-Robert de LaSalle was the first European to explore the entire
length of the Mississippi River (Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico) in
1682. He named the territory in honor of King Louis XIV, Louisiana.
• France was in search of a “Northwest Passage” or trade route to
China but didn’t find it. French exploration allowed France to claim
most of Canada and the entire Mississippi River Valley by 1700.
• French treatment of Native Americans was relatively good. The
French hoped to dominate the fur trade along the St. Lawrence and
allied with the Huron Indians (traditional enemies of the Iroquois).
• The French trading posts provided the Indians with valued supply for
an abundance of furs and pelts that were easily attained in the
Northeastern woodlands. The French took Native American wives.
Verrazano
Champlain
Cartier
LaSalle
Jolliet
Father Marquette
Dutch Exploration in the New World
• In the 1600s, the Netherlands sponsored voyages of
exploration (the Dutch East India Co. or “VOC”).
• They hired Henry Hudson, an experienced English ship
captain, to seek a northwest passage to China.
• In 1609, Hudson sailed up the large river that now bears
his name on the west side of Manhattan Island. Hudson
met his demise in 1611 on a different expedition into the
bay to bears his name. His crew led a successful mutiny.
• The Dutch claimed present-day New York City and
renamed the settlement New Amsterdam and began to
settle a large colony known as New Netherland.
• The private joint stock company known as the Dutch
West India Company or “GWC” (sister company of the
Dutch East India Co. or “VOC”) controlled the
settlement’s leadership, real estate, imports, and exports.
Hudson
Original Map of New Amsterdam
Hudson’s crews’ mutiny in the Hudson Bay (1611)