Chapter 1: Meeting of Cultures

America Before Columbus South America = Empires Incas: Cuzco, Machu Picchu Modern day Peru Mayans: Mayapan Central America, Yucatan Peninsula Aztecs: Tenochtitlan Modern day Mexico North America Complex and Varied Civilizations   Mobile Societies No large empires or political systems like Incas, Mayas, or Aztecs

Europe After Dark Ages Commerce Re-Awakens population grows after bubonic plague, land values soar. Wealthy landholders and church have power and money Rise of Nation-states Consolidate money and land, more powerful than feudal lords Create armies, tax systems, and courts Mercantilism = one accumulates wealth at expense of enemies Set amount of wealth in the world “more I have, less there is for you”

Mercantilism = Search for advantages “Prince Henry the Navigator” – Portuguese explorer, goal to exploit African resources for “Christian” kingdom Crew finished trip after his death – first to chart route around Cape of Good Hope Portuguese dominate trade, become an empire Christopher Columbus: Italian born, Portuguese trained, sought faster route to India by going West. Convinced Ferdinand and Isabelle of Spain to fund trip

Early Explorations Amerigo Vespucci First explorer recognize North America as a new place Ferdinand Magellan first to discover the Pacific Ocean = Straits of Magellan Conquistadors Cortés conquered Aztecs, unknowingly exposed them to smallpox Viewed epidemic as an act of god, justified brutality Francisco Pizarro, conquered the Incas revealed Gold could be found in the new world. Hernando de Soto, explored what is today Florida. The first European east of the Mississippi River.

Spanish Dominance Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) Agreement between Spain and Portugal over control of “New World Initiated the Ordinances of Discovery 300 year period of Spanish dominance Discovered 10x more gold than the rest of the world combined.

Culture Forever Altered Spanish turn to permanent agriculture after gold refinery dwindles Cultural structures forever altered Ferdinand and Isabella – good Catholics, every settlement accompanied by Catholic mission St. Augustine, Florida (1565) – militant outpost for Franciscan Monks Oñate, New Mexico – peaceful Pueblo/Spanish settlement, established lucrative cattle trade on ranchos. Catholic monks forced natives to adopt religion, led to revolt in 1680

Spanish Colonies Heavily controlled by the crown back in Spain Social hierarchy reflected Spanish dominance Demographic catastrophe – Indian population devastated, intentionally subjugated Actually disproves European feeling they were uncivilized Agricultural revolution as result, and new cultures created Intermarriage practically a necessity in Spanish colonies.

Africa to America African society highly sophisticated prior to 1500 – Ghana and Mali centers of trade Matrilineal society elaborate social hierarchy more gender equality African slavery – never permanent, never inherent, always had rights Sugar plantations in America burned up labor – African slave trade lucrative by 1700