NEW WORLD ENCOUNTERS
America: Past and
Present
Chapter 1
Native American Histories
before Conquest
• 20,000 years ago—Ice Age “Land Bridge.”
• 14,000 years ago--Humans reach southern
point of South America.
• These Paleo-Indians did not suffer from
many communicable diseases
Routes of the First Americans
The Environmental Challenge:
Food, Climate, and Culture
• Native Americans enjoyed an abundant
supply of meat
• 5,000 years ago-- Agricultural Revolution
– Crops include maize, squash, and beans
– Shift from nomadic hunting and gathering to
permanent villages or large cities
Mysterious Disappearances
• Anasazi Culture—Chaco Canyon
– Sophisticated irrigation
– Well-built roads for transportation
– Pueblo “apartment” buildings
• Adena and Hopewell Peoples—Ohio Valley
– Large ceremonial mounds
– Extensive trade network
• Cahokia (in Illinois) —Mississippi Valley
– Large ceremonial mounds
– Far-flung trade network
[had evolved from Ohio Valley civilization]
Aztec Dominance
• Aztecs settle valley of Mexico
• Center of large, powerful empire
• Highly organized social and political
structure
• Rule through fear and force
Eastern Woodland Cultures
• Atlantic Coast of North America
• Native Americans lived in smaller bands
• Agriculture supplemented by hunting and
gathering
• Likely were the first natives encountered by
English settlers
• Spoke Algonquian, which included many
dialects
• Formed confederacies, ie Iroquois League
Locations of Major Indian Groups
and Culture Areas in the 1600s
Threats to Survival:
• TRADE created a dependency on
Europeans, ultimately made Native
craftsmanship obsolete.
• DISEASE killed millions of Native people,
even before Europeans set foot in North
America. (smallpox, measles, influenza)
West Africa: Ancient and
Complex Societies
• Diversity of sub-Saharan Cultures
– Islam
– Strong traditional beliefs
• A history of empires
– Mali
– Ghana
• Daily life centered on elder-ruled clans
Trade Routes in Africa
Beginnings of the
Slave Trade
• 15th-century Portuguese chart sea lanes
from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa
• Native rulers sell prisoners of war to
Portuguese as slaves
How Many Slaves?
•17th century--ca. 1,000 Africans per year
•18th century--5.5 million transported to the
Americas
•By 1860--ca. 11 million
•Before 1831, more Africans than Europeans
came to the Americas.
Building New Nation-States
• Population growth after 1450
• “New Monarchs” forge nations from
scattered provinces
– Spain
– France
– England
• “Middle class” a new source of revenue
• Powerful military forces deployed
Imagining a New World
• Spain the first European nation to achieve
conditions for successful colonization
• Unified under Ferdinand and Isabella
• Conquest of Canary Islands provides
rehearsal for colonization and for using
slave labor.
Myths and Reality
• Columbus persuades Queen Isabella to
finance westward expedition to “Cathay”
• 1492--Initial voyage
• Three subsequent voyages to find cities of
China
• 1506--died clinging to belief he had reached
the Orient
• Made possible Spanish dominion in America
The Conquistadores
• Independent adventurers commissioned by
Spanish crown to subdue new lands
• By 1512--Major Caribbean islands
decimated
• By 1521--Cortés destroys Aztec Empire
(Moctezuma)
• 1539-42--de Soto explores Southeast
• 1540-42--Coronado explores Southwest
Voyages of European Exploration
From Plunder to Settlement
• Encomienda System rewards Conquistadors
– Large land grants
– Indian inhabitants provide labor or tribute
• Appointed officials answer only to Crown
• Catholic Church
– Advocates for Indian rights (Bartolomeo de las
Casas)
– Performs mass conversions
• By 1650, 1/2 million Spaniards in New World
– Unmarried males intermarry
– Mixed-blood population emerges (mestizo and
mulatto)
Portugal
• Had turned down Columbus’ proposed
expedition in favor of sailing around Africa
(very profitably)
• Treaty of Tordesillas gave Portugal a large
swath of land in South America (Brazil)
The French Claim Canada
• Fur trade underpins economy, little
settlement of families, etc.
• Indians become valued trading partners
The English Enter the Competition
• John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) – 1st recorded
transatlantic voyage by an English ship in 1497
• Makes claims of New World territory possible
under Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547)
• Colonization under Elizabeth would be fueled
by a nationalist, anti-Catholic (anti-Spanish)
spirit.
Protestantism
• Lutheran Reformation
– God speaks through Bible, not Pope or priests
– Justification by faith alone for salvation
• Calvinist Reformation
– John Calvin stresses God’s omnipotence
– Predestination—some persons chosen by God for salvation
• Calvinist Christianity expands in northern Europe
– France—Huguenots
– Scotland—Presbyterians
– England—Puritans
Birth of English Protestantism
• English rise influenced by Protestant
Reformation
– 1517--Martin Luther sparks reform in Germany
– 1536--John Calvin’s Institutes published in
Geneva
• Reformation pits European Protestants
against Catholics
The English Reformation
• Tudor monarchs bring political unity
• Reformation under Henry Vlll (r. 1509-1547)
strengthens Crown
• Religious “see-saw” under Edward (Prot.), Mary
(Catholic), Elizabeth (Prot.)
Elizabeth I
• Elizabeth I (1558-1603) a very capable monarch
• Elizabeth introduces Via Media
– Protestant Doctrine
– “Catholic” Ritual
– Ends religious turmoil in England
• Elizabeth’s excommunication by Pope prompts
Spanish crusade against England
• England aligned with Protestant nations against
Catholic powers
Religion, War, and Nationalism
• Spanish hostility makes Elizabeth the symbol of
English, Protestant nationhood
• Sea Dogs’ seizure of Spanish treasure makes
them English heroes
• 1588-- Spanish Armada defeated
Irish Rehearsal for American
Settlement
• English experiences in Ireland shaped how
they would conquer the New World
• To the English the Irish were wild and
barbaric
– They would view Native Americans the same way
– One way of justifying Irish land grab was the
“inefficient” way the Irish farmed.
– Brutality fostered long-term resentment.
An Unpromising Beginning: Mystery
at Roanoke
• Sir Walter Raleigh established Roanoke colony
in 1584
– He named the region Virginia after the “Virgin
Queen”
• The colony failed and Raleigh tried again in
1587
• The colonists disappeared without a trace and
their fate remains a mystery
Campaign to Sell America
• By 1600 no English settlements in New World
• Richard Hakluyt advertises benefits of American
colonization
– Claimed that England needs American colonies
– Book, The Principall Navigations, Voyages, and
Discoveries of the English Nation, spurred
colonization.
• What is ethnocentrism?
• Columbian Exchange?
• “Age of Discovery” reloaded . . .