NOTES-Chapter 1 Section 1: The Early Americas
Main Idea: People arrived on the American continents thousands of years ago and
developed flourishing societies.
Migration to the Americas
Hunters and Gatherers
 10,000 years ago Asia and North America were connected by a land bridge
across the ______________________________________
 Small groups of ____________________ (people who move from place to
place) crossed the bridge into North America following a ________________
_______________________ way of life
 As the climate warmed, the land bridge disappeared and in the
__________________________________________ Native Americans began
planting and harvesting crops, which allowed them to settle into villages
o Three crops dominated: corn, beans, and squash
o This caused the population to grow and allowed for the growth of crafts
Cultures of Central America and South America
Olmec, Maya & Toltec
 Olmec: centered around the Gulf of Mexico and influenced surrounding
cultures
o had the first system of writing
o used ___________________________________ agriculture
 Maya: rose as the Olmec declined
o Cities served as religious cities
o Created the concept of _____________
o Declined but still exist today
 Toltec: rose as the Maya declined
o Dominated central Mexico
o were warriors, artisans, and builders
Aztec and Inca
 Aztec: came to power in the 1400s
o Used canals and floating gardens to support large cities
o Conquered most of their neighbors and demanded tribute payments
o Most famous for their large-scale human sacrifice to their gods
 Inca: rose to power in the Andes Mountains in South America
o Conquered tribes along the coast and created an empire connected by
roads and bridges
The Earliest Cultures of North America
Southwest:
 Grew crops and traded with each other
 Hohokam and Anasazi built irrigation ditches and adobe buildings the
Spanish later called _______________________
 Declined due to drought and war
Mound Builders:
 Centered in eastern North American from ____________________________
____________ to Atlantic Ocean
 Lived in clans and built massive mounds (included Adena and Hopewell) and
had extensive ___________________________________
Mississippian Culture:
 Also mound builders but were the most advanced culture
 Introduced the ________ in agriculture and built massive pyramids for rulers
NOTES-Chapter 1 Section 2: North American Cultures in the 1400s
Main Idea: A variety of complex societies existed in different regions of North
America before European explorers arrived in the early 1500s.
Regional Differences Among Native Americans
Southwest
 Pueblo people: governed by council of _______________________________
 Grew corn, beans, squash & cotton
 Made pottery and baskets
Northwest Coast and CA
 Climate cool and rainy
 Hunted game and fished in _____________________________________
 Built large wooden houses
Far North
 ________________: survived through hunting (not much agriculture)
Great Basin and Plateau
 Little rain, few trees
 Populations remained small as they __________________ and hunted small game
Great Plains
 Best known groups (Sioux, Cheyenne)
 Followed the large herds (deer, elk and _________________)
Eastern Woodlands
 Rather isolated from each other due to dense forests and mountains
 ____________________ included several nations in the Northeast and built
longhouses
Southeast
 Grew crops and built thatch-roof log cabins plastered with mud
Native American Customs
Family Relations
 Family was the center of society and family groups were arranged into _________
 Kinship determined status, marriage and inheritance; usually
_________________________
Social and Political Structures
 Some had strict social classes, others were more equal
 Nearly all tribes were headed by a chief and run by a ___________________
______________
Land Use
 Did not believe in ________________________ of land
 Believed it was a gift from the Great Spirit to be used by all
 Would go to war over control of ____________________________________
Division of Labor
 Women usually cultivated and harvested crops and men hunted
 Childcare usually went to women
 Women made clothes and pottery, men usually did wood and metal work
Religious Beliefs
 All had spiritual connection to the natural world
 All societies had creation myths
 Animals were thought to be powerful spirits
 Most tribes had ____________________ thought to have spiritual and healing
powers
Trading Networks Link Native American Societies
 Trade was usually conducted through a ______________________________
 Tribes traded surplus goods for more scarce materials, leading to specialization by
tribe
 _______________________________________ developed to connect various
tribes and varied in size
 Tribes traded ideas as well as goods, especially architectural techniques and
religious beliefs
NOTES-Chapter 1 Section 3: African Cultures before 1500
Main Idea: Trade was a major factor in the development of African societies south
of the Sahara.
West African Trading Kingdoms/Kingdoms in East Africa
Trans-Sahara Trade
 Trade through the desert was dangerous but was worth the risk
 Tribes in the interior traded gold and ivory for _____________
 Traders also helped spread _________________ into West Africa
Ghana: most powerful, wealthy tribe
 Culture spread through the ____________________________________
 They did not convert to Islam
Mali
 Conquered Ghana in 1240 and were Muslims
 Built a university in Timbuktu that became a center of Islamic learning
Songhai
 Mid-1400s, surpass the Mali
 Eventually control most of the Niger River Valley
Costal Kingdoms
 1300- Benin becomes a powerful costal state
 in 1400s, trade centers shift to the coast
East Africa
 Traded with the Middle East, Egypt & India
 Influenced religion and culture
 ____________________ emerged combining Arabic and the language of the
Bantu people
African Society and the Slave Trade
 Family was the center of society; biggest division was between free and slave
 People were enslaved due to war, crime, and debt but could usually _______
their way out
 When the _____________________________ arrived in the late 1400s, they
made slavery permanent and used slaves to work plantations, especially in
the Caribbean
 Atlantic slave trade met a need for cheap labor but also reflected a European
belief that black Africans were ___________________
 Misunderstandings over slavery and desire to weaken other tribes or obtain
European goods led to cooperation by tribes with European slave traders
 Slave trade lasted 400 years and ________________________ slaves were
shipped to the Americas
NOTES-Chapter 1 Section 4: Europe and Exploration
Main Idea: Renaissance ideas changed Europeans’ medieval outlook and inspired
them to explore the world.
The Middle Ages
 _______________________________: 500-1500- time immediately following
the fall of the Roman Empire
 Feudalism rose to protect peasants by binding them to lords
 Roman Catholic Church dominated peoples’ lives and led to the
_____________________: series of wars to take the Holy Land from Muslims
 Led to trade with Middle East and the development of towns as centers of
trade and commerce
 Late Middle Ages- rise of _________________________________: kings with
centralized power and armies taking power from lords
 Some nobles fought back: English nobles forced King John to sign the
__________________________ in 1215 (trial by jury, representation in
government)
The Renaissance and Protestant Reformation
 _______________________________: begins in Italy and spreads
throughout Europe
 led to a revival of learning, science, and trade
 People began questioning the church ____________________________
__________________________: attempt to correct abuses within the Church
that led to the development of various denominations
 In Spain, Catholicism was firmly established with the rule of Ferdinand and
Isabella
 They expelled the Muslims in Granada and purged Protestants in the
_______________________________________
The Age of Exploration
Marco Polo & Prince Henry the Navigator
 Renaissance and Crusades led to exploration and expansion of trade
 Italian ___________________________ made a successful voyage to China
and wrote a book that inspired other explorers
 Prince Henry of Portugal established a school and naval observatory to
encourage exploration
 Sponsored expeditions along the western coast of Africa
 Established trade with many costal tribes
Sailing Technology & Sea Route to Asia
 Portuguese developed a new sailing vessel called the _________________:
central rudder, triangular sails, cargo holds
 Inventions like the _____________________ allowed sea travel beyond the
coast
 Travel to Asia by land was time consuming, expensive, and dangerous
 Explorers began looking for a sea route
 Dias and da Gama both rounded the southern tip of Africa; da Gama made it
to India and back
NOTES-Chapter 1 Section 5: Cultures Make Contact
Main Idea: Columbus’ voyages to the Americas established contact with Native
Americans and led to European colonies and an exchange of goods and ideas.
Vikings and Columbus
Vikings Visit North America
 Vikings from Norway are first to reach North America
 They attempt to colonize in Vineland, a settlement in what is now eastern
_________________ but it is unsuccessful
Columbus Voyages to the Caribbean
 Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who convinced Queen Isabella
of Spain that a _______________________ voyage to Asia was possible
 August 1492: Columbus sails westward with three ships
 They find land three weeks later in the Caribbean
 Because he thought he was in the east Indies, Columbus called the people
Indians
 The locals showed him gold, but after one of his ships ran aground, Columbus
returned to Spain
 Columbus made three more voyages to the Americas and died assuming he
was in the east Indies
Impact on Native Americans
 Columbus’ voyages set off a wave of colonization, starting in Hispaniola
 Relations between the Spanish and the natives quickly soured and Europeans
began enslaving the natives
 Priest ___________________________________________ attempted to win
better treatment of the natives and laws were passed to protect them, but
these laws were rarely enforced
The Columbian Exchange
 Exchange of plants, animals, language, technology, and disease between
Europe and the Americas
From North America:
From Europe:
*Beans
*bananas
*Corn
*cattle
*Coca
*citrus fruit
*pumpkins/squash
*peaches
*peanuts
*honeybees
*turkey
*pigs
*tobacco
*horses
*potatoes/sweet potatoes
*wheat
*tomatoes
*grapes
*syphilis
*smallpox/measles