• Early inhabitants of the Americas
• American Indians, Empires in Mesoamerica, the Southwest, & the Mississippi Valley
• American Indian cultures of North America at the time of European contact
About 35,000 years ago, the first discoverers of America were small bands of
hunters who crossed a temporary land bridge from Siberia. They developed a
great variety of societies based on corn agriculture and hunting.
The IMPETUS (push, force, forward motion) for European exploration came
from a desire for NEW TRADE ROUTES TO THE EAST & technological
discoveries of the RENAISSANCE ERA.
BIOLOGICAL CHANGE (COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE), population loss,
conquest, African slavery, cultural change and economic expansion were just
some of the consequences (results) of the inter-mingling of the two
ECOSYSTEMS (environments).
MOCTEZUMA II – Aztec ruler who was defeated by Cortes invasion of Mexico.
He was devoted to HUITZILPOCHTLI, but also came under the influence of
astrologers….. their pessimistic (negative, gloomy) predictions about his fate
(future, destiny) weakened his will to resist the Spanish invaders.
What role did disease and forced labor (including slaves) play in the
early settlement of the Americas?…. Is the view of the Spanish and
Portuguese as HARSH CONQUERORS AND EXPLOITERS VALID –
or is this image just another version of the English “BLACK LEGEND”
concerning the Spanish role in the Americas?
1st Paragraph
Introduction of Topic
Underline your THESIS STATEMENT
(last sentence of the 1st paragraph)
2ND Paragraph
Support of 1st item in your Thesis Statement
3rd Paragraph
Support of 2nd item in your Thesis Statement
4th Paragraph
Support of 3rd item in your Thesis Statement
5th Paragraph
Conclusion
Summarize your ideas
Last paragraph – re-state your THESIS STATEMENT
and how, why you proved/supported it.
THE AMERICAS, WEST AFRICA, AND
EUROPE
• Ancient Cultures arrived
about via a land bridge
called the____________
• Earliest settlers were
hunters & gatherers
• Agriculture thrived
starting about 5,000 years
ago
• Some Natives remained
Nomadic
• Maya, Aztec, and Inca
societies flourished
What group of Indians offered human sacrifices to the Gods?
The AZTECS – cutting out the hearts of living victims – often prisoners
caught in Battle.
SPANISH NORTH AMERICA
• So, Columbus, an
Italian navigator
crosses the Atlantic; in
October of 1492 and lands in
San Salvador (“Holy Savior”)
• He spent about 3 months
exploring Islands in the
Bahamas
• Europeans used advanced
weapons to force locals into
labor: Plantation System
• Disease devastated
Native population
What was introduced in 1450, that spread SCIENTIFIC
KNOWLEDGE during the Renaissance?
The
Printing Press, the Gutenberg Printing Press
The Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was a series of interchanges that permanently
changed the world’s ecosystems and changed nearly every culture around
the world.
Native Americans taught Europeans local farming methods & introduced new crops &
foods like corn, tobacco, and the potato.
Europeans introduced the Native Americans to crops such as wheat, oats and barley
and to DOMESTIC livestock.
In addition, Europeans brought diseases that killed millions of Native
Americans because they lacked IMMUNITY to the diseases.
Old World to New
World:
Diseases: Smallpox
Measles
Chicken Pox
Malaria
Yellow Fever
Influenza
The Common Cold
New World to Old World:
Syphilis
The Columbian Exchange
Animals:
Old World to New
World:
Horses
Cattle
Pigs
Sheep
Goats
Chickens
New World to Old World:
Turkeys
Llamas
Alpacas
Guinea Pigs
The Columbian Exchange
Old World to New
World:
Plants:
Rice
Wheat
Barley
Oats
Coffee
Sugarcane
Bananas
Melons
Olives
Dandelions
Daisies
Clover
Ragweed
Kentucky Bluegrass
New World to Old World:
Corn (Maize)
Potatoes (White & Sweet Varieties)
Beans (Snap, Kidney, & Lima
Varieties)
Tobacco
Peanuts
Squash
Peppers
Tomatoes
Pumpkins
Pineapples
Cacao (Source of Chocolate)
Chicle (Source of Chewing Gum)
Papayas
Manioc (Tapioca)
Guavas
Avocados
EUROPEAN EXPLORATION
• The countries of
Portugal, Spain, France
and England explored in
the late 1400s for God,
Gold, and Glory
• Improved mapmaking,
___________,better
sailboats, compasses,
astrolabes, Prince
Henry– all led to better
exploration
Astrolabe – uses the position of the
sun to determine direction,
latitude, and local time.
Cartography = map making
IMPACT OF COLUMBUS
 On Africans- Before slave
trade ended in the 1800s,
10 million Africans taken
 On Europeans- Biggest
voluntary migration in
world history started
 On Trade- Columbian
Exchange meant new
goods & products flowed
between continents
SPAIN CLAIMS A NEW EMPIRE
• Spanish explorers
(Conquistadors) seized
much of the Americas
• Cortes conquered the
Aztecs in Mexico
• Pizzaro conquered the
Incas in Peru
• Exploitation of local
populations was
significant – Encomienda
System
Who was MALINCHE?
Female Indian slave rescued by Cortes in 1519. She knew the MAYAN
language and NAHUATL Language (AZTEC Language)
What GOD did Montezuma believe Cortes to be?
Who was the Conqueror of Mexico?
"La Malinche." Slave,
interpreter, secretary,
mistress, mother of the first
"Mexican." her very name still stirs
up controversy.
Many Mexicans continue to revile
the woman called Doña Marina by
the Spaniards and La Malinche by
the Aztecs, labeling her a traitor
and harlot for her role as the alterego of Cortes as he conquered
Mexico.
They ignore that she saved thousands
of Indian lives by enabling Cortes to
negotiate rather than slaughter. Her
ability to communicate also
enabled the Spaniards to
introduce Christianity and attempt
to end human sacrifice and
cannibalism. Herself a convert,
baptized Marina, she was an
eloquent advocate for her new faith.
Who was the Franciscan Missionary who settled California?
29. ___ The geography of the North American continent was fundamentally
shaped by the glaciers of the Great Ice Age.
30.___ North America was first settled by people who came by boat across the
waters of the Berring Straight from Japan to Alaska.
31.___ The early Indian civilizations of Mexico & Peru were built on the
economic foundations of cattle and wheat growing.
32.___ The greatest effect of the European intrusion on the Indians of the Americas
was to increase their population through intermarriage with the whites.
33.___ A primary motive for the European voyages of discovery was the desire to
find a less expensive & shorter route to Asian goods & markets.
34.___ The Spanish conquistadores had little to do with the native peoples of
Mexico and refused to intermarry with them.
35.___ The province of New Mexico was first settled by French colonizers .
36.___ The belief that the Spanish only killed, tortured, and stole in the Americas
while doing nothing good is called the Black Legend.
37.___ The primary early colonial competitor with Spain in the New World was
England.
___38. Inland sea left by melting glaciers
whose remnant is the Great Salt
Lake
___39. Female Indian slave who served as interpreter for
Cortes
___40. Franciscan missionary who settled California
___41. Founded in 1565, the oldest continually
inhabited European settlement in United
States territory
___42. Wealthy capital of the Aztec empire
___43. Powerful Aztec monarch who fell to Spanish
conquerors
___44. Exposure of a “land bridge”
between Asia & North American
___45. Italian-born navigator sent by English to
explore the North American coast in 1498
___46. Spanish conquerors of great Indian
___47. Legendary founder of the powerful Iroquois
Confederacy
What was the name of the AZTEC capital?