Objective: Summary of Origins and Lifestyles of Early Americans HW:Read Ch 1 sections 4 and 5 “Young Omahaw, War Eagle..." by Charles Bird King 1821
Essential Questions What factors pushed forward the Age of Exploration in Europe? What conclusions can be made about the Native American societies that existed before Columbus’ journey?
Help?
The Great Temple at Tenochtitlán At the height of Aztec-Toltec civilization in central Mexico, which coincided with the arrival of Cortés and his Spanish soldiers in 1519, this capital city had a dense population of over 300,000, more than any European city. Built on marshy lowlands and linked to the mainland by broad causeways, it had great public works and pyramids to the sun and moon that were connected by an elaborate irrigation system. From this metropolis, priests, warriors, and rulers held absolute authority over hundreds of thousands of people in the countryside. (American Museum of Natural History #32659) The Great Temple at Tenochtitlán Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
CIVILIZATIONDATESLOCATIONACHIEVEMENT OLMEC C BC Gulf Coast of Mexico Stone Sculptures, stone buildings MAYA AD Yucatan Peninsula (Guatemala) Astronomy, stone Temples (365 steps ) AZTEC AD Mexico engineering (Tenochtitlan) farming ANASAZI/HOHOKAM 300 BC AD American Southwest Pueblos (cliff dwellings) MISSISSIPPIAN 800 BC AD East of Mississippi River Mound Builders (Cahokia) Copper ornaments
Europeans in North America First European to North America Vikings (c. 1001) First English settlement Roanoke 1587 (Walter Raleigh, Croatoan) Oldest English Colony Jamestown 1607 Oldest Continuous European Settlement St. Augustine 1565 (Spain: de Aviles)
1.4: The Age of Exploration What had been holding back exploration? What Changed Growth of Commerce (extra $) Population growth (demand for resources) Growth of Nation States (Competition for $) Renaissance/Reformation Technology (Examples) Fall of Constantinople
Columbus was driven, not by the love of discovery, but by the lust for profit: "Gold is the best thing in the world, it can even send souls to paradise", he declared, while Cortes went further: "We Spaniards suffer from a sickness of the heart whose only cure is gold". (Engels, op cit). "Following Columbus' report, the Council of Castille de cided to take possession of a country whose inhabitants were quite unable to defend themselves. The pious project of making converts to Christianity sanctified its injustice. But the hope of finding treasure was the real motive behind the enterprise... All the Spaniards' other enterprises in the New World, after Columbus, seem to have had the same motive. This was the sacrilegious thirst for gold..." (Adam Smith).
Christopher Columbus WHO – A Genoese sailor WHAT – Credited with “discovering” the New World. (Native Am. (Taino) already living there. WHEN – Oct. 12, 1492 WHERE – He left Spain and “discovered” the islands of San Salvador, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola. WHY - He was looking for a route across the Atlantic to trade with Asia. Spain sought “Gold, Land, and Religion” in the lands he found. “COLUMBUS MAKES HITLER LOOK LIKE A JUVENILE DELINQUENT” (Russell Means) 90% of population wiped out
The Route
The Columbian Biological Exchange Forms of Biological Life Going From: Old World to New World:New World to Old World: Diseases: Smallpox Measles Chicken Pox Malaria Yellow Fever Influenza The Common Cold Syphilis Animals: Horses Cattle Pigs Sheep Goats Chickens Turkeys Llamas Alpacas Guinea Pigs Plants: Rice Wheat Barley Oats Coffee Sugarcane Bananas Melons Olives Dandelions Daisies Clover Ragweed Kentucky Bluegrass 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 | This page was last updated on 12/3/98. | Return to History 111 Supplements | Site Map |Return to History 111 SupplementsSite Map Dr. Harold D. Tallant, Department of History, Georgetown College 400 East College Street, Georgetown, KY 40324, (502)
Indians with smallpox European diseases killed many millions of Indians during the initial stages of contact because they had no immunity to such epidemic illnesses as influenza, measles, and plague. Smallpox was one of the deadliest of these imported diseases. This Aztec drawing illustrates smallpox's impact, from the initial appearance of skin lesions through death. Traditional Indian medical practices were unable to cure such diseases, and physical contact between shamans and patients actually helped to spread them. (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana) Indians with smallpox Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Depiction of Racial Mixtures by Miguel Cabrera One of the few extant depictions of a mixed-race family in eighteenth-century North America, by the Mexican artist Miguel Cabrera, The Spanish father and Indian mother have produced a mestiza daughter. Families such as this would have been frequently seen in New Mexico as well. (Private Collection ) Depiction of Racial Mixtures by Miguel Cabrera Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.