A New World of Many Cultures 1491-1607 Period 1

Central and South America A.D. 300-800 The Maya Built cities in the rain forests of the Yucatán Peninsula Present-day Guatemala, Belize, southern Mexico The Aztecs Several centuries after the decline of the Maya Developed a powerful empire in central Mexico Tenochtitlán 200,000 people Incas Based in Peru Developed vast empire

Central and South America All three civilizations Developed highly organized societies Carried on extensive trade Created calendars based on accurate scientific observations Cultivated crops and provided a stable food supply Corn (Maya and Aztecs) Potatoes (Inca)

North America Native societies Smaller and less sophisticated than those in Mexico and South America Northward spread of corn from Mexico Most people in what is now the U.S. lived in semi-permanent homes in groups of less than 300 Men Made tools and hunted Women Gathered plants and nuts Grew crops Corn, beans, tobacco

North America: Southwest Settlements Present-day New Mexico and Arizona Dry region Hokokam, Anasazi, Pueblos supported by farming with irrigation systems Lived in caves, under cliffs, and in multistory buildings Faced Extreme drought and other hostile natives

North America: Northwest Settlements Pacific Coast Present-day Alaska to southern California Lived in permanent longhouses or plank houses Rich diet based on hunting, fishing, and gathering nuts, berries, and roots Tribes were isolated from each other by high mountain ranges Carved totem poles To save stories, legends, and myths

North America: Great Plains Most people Nomadic hunters or sedentary farmers and traders Nomadic tribes Lived in tepees Frames of poles covered in animal skins Easily disassembled and transported

North America: Great Plains Survived on hunting Mostly bison Food, decorations, crafting tools, knives, clothing Farming tribes Lived in permanent earthen lodges, usually along rivers Hunted bison Raised corn, beans, and squash Traded with other tribes

North America: Great Plains Acquired horses in the 17th century from the Spanish Some farming tribes became hunters Lakota Sioux Migration was common. Apaches migrated to Texas.

North America: Midwest Settlements Woodland American Indians East of the Mississippi River Rich food supply Hunting, fishing, agriculture Adena-Hopewell culture Present-day Ohio Famous for earthen mounds

North America: Northeast Settlements Some descendants of the Adena-Hopewell culture spread from the Ohio Valley into New York. Culture Combined hunting and farming Farming Exhausted the soil quickly so they had to move often

North America: Northeast Settlements Iroquois Confederation Political union of five independent tribes Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk Lived in the Mohawk Valley of New York Matrilineal society & lived in longhouses up to 200 feet long. A powerful force from the 16th century through the American Revolution

North America: Atlantic Seaboard Settlements New Jersey south to Florida People of the Coastal Plains Many descended from the Woodland mound builders Built timber and bark lodgings along rivers Rivers and the Atlantic Ocean provided a rich source of food

Native Peoples of the Americas, 1491

European Exploration: Technology The Renaissance Prompted an outburst of artistic and scientific activity in the 15th and 16th centuries Gunpowder Sailing compass Ship building Map making Sextant Invention of the printing press in the 1450s

European Exploration: Religious Conflict The Roman Catholic Church Threats Islamic strongholds in Spain conquered Revolt against the pope’s authority Protestant Reformation

European Exploration: Expanding Trade Economic motives for exploration Grew out of competition among European kingdoms for increased trade with Africa, India, and China

Expanding Trade: Slave Trading Fifteenth century The Portuguese Began trading slaves from West Africa (Sugar production was so profitable that Europeans used slave labor in their later established colonies in the Americas)

Expanding Trade: African Resistance Enslaved Africans Resisted slavery however they could Ran away, sabotaged work, revolted Maintained aspects of their African culture Music, religion, folkways

Early Explorations: Christopher Columbus Spent eight years seeking financial support to sail west from Europe to the “Indies.” 1492 Won the backing of Isabella and Ferdinand Agreed to outfit three ships and to make Columbus governor, admiral, and viceroy of all the lands he would claim for Spain

Early Explorations: Christopher Columbus October 12, 1492 Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas Glorified in in Spain after that first voyage Three subsequent voyages across the Atlantic were disappointing. Found little gold, few spices, no simple path to China and India

Christopher Columbus: Legacy Died in 1506 still believing that he had found a western route to Asia. Viewed as a failure by many Spaniards Suspected he had not found a valuable trade route Critics Point out the many problems and injustices suffered by the natives of the Americas after Europeans arrived and took over their land Most historians Agree Columbus was important Skilled navigator Voyages brought about permanent interaction between people from all over the world for the first time in history. Changed the world forever

Columbian Exchange Resulted from contact between Europeans and the original inhabitants of the Americas Transfer of plants, animals, and germs from one side of the Atlantic to the other for the first time Europeans Learned about many new plants and foods Beans, corn, sweet and white potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco Contracted a new disease Syphilis Introduced to the Americas Sugarcane, bluegrasses, pigs, horses, the wheel, iron tools, guns Germs and diseases Smallpox and measles

Spanish Exploration and Conquest Encomienda system Instituted by the Spanish after seizing the wealth of the Indian empires. The king of Spain gave grants of land and natives to individual Spaniards. Indians had to farm or work in the mines. Fruits of their labor went to their Spanish masters European diseases and brutality of masters reduced the native population

Spanish Exploration and Conquest Asiento system System under which the Spanish brought enslaved people from West Africa Required the Spanish to pay a tax to their king on each slave they imported to the Americas