 12. The Americas” Pre-Columbian Empires to Colonies
 Earliest Civilizations in the Americas
◦ The First Americans
 Formed their own civilizations as Europe, Africa and Asia were.
 25,000 years ago during Ice Age
 Land bridge (Bering Strait) connected Asia to Alaska
 Asian hunters crossed in search of food.
◦ Continued to Walk South
 Settled along lakes and rivers.
 Experienced their own Neolithic Revolution
 “Mother Cultures” laid foundations for culture, religion, technology
◦ Mesoamerica
 Present day Mexico and Central America
 Pre-Columbian: Existed before Columbus
 Maya (1500 B.C. – 1546 A.D.)
 Settled in the Yucatan Peninsula
 Frequent wars and human sacrifices.
 Achievements
 Built huge cities in the jungle with palaces, temples and
pyramids. (Chichen Itza)
 Developed writing: hieroglyphics.
 Number system; use of 0 / 365 day calendar to mark seasons.
 Painted murals as decoration / ball game played on a
rectangular court.
 Aztecs (1200 – 1521)
 Located in central Mexico (Lake Texcoco).
 Grew crops in marshlands
 Observed the movement of the sun and moon.
 Frequent wars
 Complex society with emperor / nobles / commoners / slaves.
 Worship of sun god led to human sacrifices to keep the universe in
motion.
◦ South America
 Inca Empire (1200-1535)
 Along the Pacific coast and the Andes Mountains (South America)
 Ruled an empire over much of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile.
 Built stone roads with warehouses along the way to preserve food.
 Quipu – bundles of knotted and colored ropes to count, keep
records, send messages.
 Excellent engineering skills (Machu Picchu)
◦ Pre-Columbian Art
 Stone sculptures
 Ceramic bowls carved with human and animal forms
 Used to ward off demonic spirits.
◦ Gender Roles in Mesoamerica
 Roles were established at birth
 Boys given machetes
 Girls given stone instrument to grind maize.
 Women’s role in family
 Harvesting, preparing food and caring for animals.
 Bearing and caring for children
 Some sold goods in market place.
 Some served as priestesses.
 Exploration & Colonization
◦ Search for a New Route
 Conquest of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Turks (1453) interfered
with European trade with Asia.
 Were searching for a water route to Asia.
 Spirit of inquiry of the Renaissance was leading Europeans to explore the
oceans.
◦ Spain and Portugal Lead the Way
 Prince Henry of Portugal with lighter vessel, sponsored expeditions along
the coast of Africa.
 Ferdinand and Isabella had just conquered the Muslim areas of Spain and
expelled the Jews. Looking for ways to spread Christianity through the
world.
 Resulted in the voyage of Christopher Columbus.
◦ The Columbian Exchange
 Exchange of products, ideas, & diseases between the Americas and the rest
of the world.
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 European diet was improved with the addition of tomatoes, corn, potatoes,
peppers, squash, pineapples and chocolate.
 Europeans also received turkeys and tobacco.
 The Americans learned of wheat, sugar, cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, chickens
and grains.
Later Explorers
 Vasco da Gama (1460-1524): Sailed around the tip of Africa in 1497 and
discovered water route to Asia. / Portugal
 Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521): First to circumnavigate the world. /
Portugal
 John Cabot: England claimed territory in America.
 Jacques Cartier, Samuel Champlain, Robert de la Salle explored St.
Lawrence, Great Lakes and Mississippi River for France
 Holland sent Henry Hudson to explore Hudson River searching for the
Northwest Passage.
 Spanish Conquistadors and Priests
 Came to conquer native peoples, seize gold and silver. Obtain natural
resources and convert natives to Christianity
Conquest of Mexico
 Hernando Cortes met and conquered the Aztec Emperor Montezuma.
 An outbreak of smallpox among the Native Americans leads to their defeat.
Conquest of Peru
 Francisco Pizarro and a few Spanish were able to defeat the Incas as a
result of their advanced technology (and smallpox).
 The Spanish treated the conquered Indians harshly.
 Forced to become Christians
 Forced labor
Colonial Latin America
 The Spanish empire was much larger than Spain itself.
 Royal governors were viceroys.
 Became the most powerful nation in the world
 Encomienda system: forced labor
 Jesuits worked with the Indians until they were expelled in 1767.
New Colonial Order
 Peninsulares: Spanish nobles and landowners
 Creoles: With Spanish background but born in the New World
 Mestizos: Mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry
 Native Americans who performed the hard work.
◦ Native American Population Decline
 Diseases and hard work.
 Spanish landowners turned to the importation of African slaves as a new
labor source.
◦ New France
 Settled in Canada, the Great Lakes and along the Mississippi River.
 Particularly interested in fur-bearing animals particularly beavers.
◦ New Netherland
 Claimed control around the Hudson River.
 Established trade centers
 New Amsterdam (New York City) became trade center.
◦ English Colonies
 Jamestown (1607): 1st permanent settlement. Men came in search of gold.
Became profitable by growing tobacco.
 Plymouth (1620): Pilgrims, a religious group, came to practice religion in
peace.
 Puritans landed in Massachusetts Bay, 1630.
 Eventually grew to 13 colonies.
◦ Atlantic Slave Trade
 Need for dependable labor source
 Established the Atlantic slave trade
 Expanded to include an estimated 15 million.
 Most going to the Spanish colonies/Caribbean.
 Many died in the Middle Passage.
◦ Legacy of Slave Trade
 Encouraged African warfare in order to obtain slaves to trade with
Europeans
 Disrupted African culture: Created a legacy of violence, bitterness and
social upheaval.
 Increased cultural diffusion.