Mr. Brauer
APUSH Lecture Notes
1. Exploration, Contact and Settlement
1. North American Culture:
a. Many settlements were smaller, base on a population around 300.
b. A few societies developed into larger communities.
i. Pueblos lived in multi-storied buildings and had a developed irrigation system.
ii. Adena, Hopewell and Mississippian cultures were mound-builders.
1. Mississippian culture began to decline in the 15th Century.
iii. Cahokia culture was the largest, having around 30,000 people.
iv. Iroquois
1. Developed a confederacy under the leadership of Hiawatha.
2. Made up of 5 major tribal nations.
a. Mohawk, Oneida, Onondagas, Cayuga, Seneca
2. Central and South American Culture:
a. Population of around 25 million lived in rather complex societies.
b. 3 Major societies
i. Mayan
1. Lived 300-800AD in the Yucatan Peninsula
ii. Aztecs in Central America (Mexico)
1. Tenochtitlan (the Aztec Capital) Rivaled major European Cities in Size and
Grandeur.
iii. Incas in Peru
c. These societies were highly complex and developed accurate calendars.
3. Push/Pull factors of European Exploration to the New World
a. The Renaissance
i. Renewed interest in classical learning, arts and scientific activity, reaching a peak in the
late 1400’s and early 1500’s.
ii. Scientific advances/inventions
1. Gunpowder from China
2. Sailing Compass from the Chinese through Arab traders
3. Shipbuilding and mapmaking advances
4. Invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg
b. Religious Factors
i. Catholic conquest in Spain (Reconquista)
1. 1492, Spain defeats the Moors in Grenada
ii. Protestant Reformation
1. Religious conflict between the protestants and Catholics led both to desire their
version of Christianity spread to non-European people’s.
c. Economic Factors
i. Increasing competition for trade between the kingdoms of Europe
ii. Trade route from Venice and Constantinople cut off when Ottoman Turks conquered
the Byzantine Capital.
iii. A new over-seas trade route to the Far East was needed.
1. Portugal’s Prince Henry the Navigator opened up sea route around southern tip
of Africa. Columbus (Spain) would try cross-ocean route.
d. Political Factors
i. Increasingly powerful monarchies in Europe
1. Needed trade revenues to keep up with growing budgets.
2. Required backing of the Church to legitimize rule.
4. Early Explorations
a. Columbus
1
Mr. Brauer
APUSH Lecture Notes
i. Ferdinand and Isabella (Spain) finance a voyage for Columbus to find a Westerly trade
route to Asia after 8 years of trying to find someone to finance it.
ii. First expedition landed on October 12. 1492 in the Bahamas. Thinking he reached Asia,
he erroneously called the Natives “Indans”.
iii. Later moved on to Hispaniola. Encountered the Arawak Indians.
iv. Second and third voyage met with disappointment, and Columbus dies in 1506.
v. Brought about permanent interaction between Europeans and Native Americans.
vi. Remembered both as a “conqueror” and “discoverer”
b. Colombian Exchange
The New World
o Beans,
corn,
sweet and
white
potatoes,
tomatoes,
cocoa
beans
o tobacco
o syphilis
c.
The Old World
THE COLUMBIAN
EXCHANGE
o Sugar Cane,
bluegrasses,
pigs, horses,
tea, carrots,
apple
o Smallpox
(90% Native
Americans
die)
o Wheel, Iron
tools, guns
…and more
d. Treaty of Tordesillas
i. Dispute between Catholic Nations Spain and Portugal over New World claims settled
by the Pope by drawing a vertical line on a world map.
ii. Spain received all lands west of the line, Portugal received all lands east.
Portuguese
Control
Spanish
Control
2
Mr. Brauer
APUSH Lecture Notes
e. Spanish Conquest
i. Conquistadors
1. Hernan Cortez conquers the Aztecs
a. Moctezuma thought Cortez was Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec God
2. Francisco Pizzaro conquers the Incas
a. Discovers masses of gold and silver.
3. Vasco Nunez Balboa finds the Pacific Ocean trekking through Panama in 1513
4. Francisco Coronado toured the American Southwest
a. Looking for cities of gold (“El Dorado”)
5. Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigated the globe in 1522
6. Ponce de Leon discovers Florida
a. Seeking the Fountain of Youth
ii. Ships laden with gold sent back to Spain. Increases gold supply by 500%
1. Spain becomes richest nation in Europe.
iii. Encomienda System
1. Grants of land and slaves given by the King.
2. When Natives died out, Spain turned to importing African slaves under the
asiento system.
iv. St. Augustine
1. Fortress constructed to block French claims in 1565
2. Oldest European settlement within the borders of the USA
v. Vast Spanish rule
1. Spanish influence included California, Florida and all of Central America.
a. This influence began what is now a multitude of Spanish speaking
countries in the Americas.
f. English Claims
i. Henry VIII’s break from the Catholic Church kept England from focusing on the New
World.
ii. Under Elizabeth I, England begins to challenge Spain for control of the seas. In 1588, the
defeat of the Spanish Armada gains England a reputation as a world naval power.
1. England now controlled the shipping lanes to North America.
iii. Sir Francis Drake
1. The “Sea Dogs” sailed against Spanish ships, taking their heavy laden riches
bound for Spain.
2. Returned high profits to his financiers (including Queen Elizabeth)
iv. Sir Walter Raleigh establishes the failed Roanoke colony along the North Carolina coast.
g. French Claims
i. During the 1500’s, internal religious conflict between Catholics and Huguenots kept
France from focusing on the new World.
ii. Quebec, along St. Lawrence River was first permanent settlement founded by Samuel de
Champlain.
iii. Robert de La Salle, in 1682, founds Louisiana after exploring Mississippi basin.
h. Dutch Claims
i. Henry Hudson founds New Amsterdam (New York) in 1609.
ii. The Dutch West Indies Company (joint stock company) given control of the region for
economic gain.
5. European relations with Native Americans
a. Native Americans viewed as inferior. They were to be exploited for political, economic or
religious purposes.
b. Two long term effects of European Colonization
i. Decimation of Native American population through disease and war.
ii. Establishment of a permanent legacy of a hierarchical system that placed indigenous
people’s at the bottom.
c. Spanish aims toward Native Americans
3
Mr. Brauer
APUSH Lecture Notes
i. Sought to bring the Catholic religion to the Natives.
ii. Due to limited number of spur-blood Spaniards, intermarriage became common.
iii. Hierarchy develops with pure-blooded Spaniards dominating, enforced through
encomienda system. Natives were at the bottom, and served as a labor supply.
d. English aims toward Native Americans
i. Early on, relations were relatively friendly, allowing English settlers to learn the
necessities of survival (how to grow corn and hunt in the forests of the New World)
ii. English settlers held little value for the culture of the Natives, and turned to a policy of
pushing the Native Americans further west, or outright annihilation.
e. French aims toward Native Americans
i. Maintained strong relationships with the Native Americans based on trade.
ii. Helped the Huron fight the Iroquois.
6. Impact of First Contact
a. Impact on Native populations
i. Death
1. 90% of Native populations destroyed
ii. Cultural transformation
1. Plains Indians redefine their lives via the horse.
b. Impact on Europeans
i. Commercial Revolution
1. Capitalism on a global scale
ii. New food sources (e.g. potato in Ireland) raise health standards
1. Higher health standards produce greater population feeding the need for
emigration to the New World and importation from the New World.
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