Unit

Native Americans -Culturally diverse communities -About 400 different languages -Adapted to their environment -Tended to live in smaller, semi-permanent, decentralized settlements. (some exceptions such as Aztecs, Mayans, Incas, and Mississippians) -Prominent crops included maize, squash and beans (three-sisters) supplemented by hunting and fishing -traded and fought with other tribes

-Did not view land as a commodity -Many tribes were matrilineal -Spiritual religion

Indirect Discoverers -those who contributed to the discovery of the New World but who did not actually discover it. They “set the stage” for its discovery. -Vinland in Newfoundland settled by Vikings. Settlements were abandoned because they were not supported by strong nation-states wanting to expand. -Crusaders (11 th -14 th centuries) acquired a taste for Asian goods (silk, drugs, perfumes, draperies, spices such as sugar). Goods had to be transported long distances and go through Muslim middlemen- dangerous and expensive. -Marco Polo- his book stimulated European desires for a cheaper route to the East.

The Portuguese -The Portuguese adopted Arab and African practices in terms of slavery. They greatly expanded the slave trade to supply the sugar plantations on the islands of Madeira, the Canaries, Sao Tome, and Principe. It became “big business.” (40,000 slaves carried away to the sugar islands in the last half of the fifteenth century. Millions more after the discovery of the Americas.) Origins of the modern plantation system.

-The Portuguese adopted Arab and African practices in terms of slavery. -greatly expanded the slave trade to supply the sugar plantations on the islands of Madeira, the Canaries, Sao Tome, and Principe. It became “big business.” (40,000 slaves carried away to the sugar islands in the last half of the fifteenth century. Millions more after the discovery of the Americas.) -Origins of the modern plantation system.

Spain -Late fifteenth century Spain became unified after the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. The Muslim Moors were expelled from Spain. This political unity and military victory gave Spain power, confidence, and wealth to compete with Portugal.

Setting the stage for the voyage of Columbus -The Portuguese voyages had demonstrated the feasibility of long-range ocean navigation. -Spain’s unity gave it wealth and power to promote discovery, conquest, and colonization. -The beginning of the Renaissance in the fourteenth century sparked a period of optimism and adventure. (add to this scientific knowledge) -The printing press (about 1450) facilitated the spread of scientific knowledge. -The mariners compass (possibly borrowed from the Arabs) made navigation at sea more certain.

First voyage (1492)- exploration Second voyage (1493)- was one of conquest. He also brought cattle, swine and horses to Hispaniola. -took slaves Hispaniola- Present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Within five years, Taino population went from about 1 million to about 200.

The Columbian Exchange -The transmission of plants, animals, diseases, culture, human populations, and technology between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. -not the same as the Triangle Trade!

Impact of the Columbian Exchange -population growth in Europe and Africa as a result of new foods. -population decimated in the Americas as a result of diseases. -perhaps three-fifths of the crops cultivated around the world today originated in the Americas. -horses transformed some Native American cultures -Columbus brought sugar cane which thrived in Caribbean. “Sugar Revolution.” Expansion of slavery system.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)- -divided the New World between Spain and Portugal. Most land went to Spain. Portugal received what would become Brazil and territory in Africa and Asia. Dividing line ran from North to South Pole. Catholic Church helped arrange the agreement. line- pdfs/The%20Treaty%20of%20Tordesillas_Map.pdf

Encomienda -Spain wanted to gain the riches of the New World and to “civilize” the Native Americans -encomienda was the system that allowed the government to “commend,” or give, Indians to colonists in return for the promise to try to Christianize them. It was, in effect, a form of slavery.

Mexico -Aztec capital at Tenochtitlán (300,000)

1521- Hernán Cortés and several hundred men defeat Moctezuma and the Aztecs. -Mexico City built upon the former Aztec capital -Europeans bring laws, customs, and religion -intermarry with Indians -mestizos- people of mixed Indian and European heritage -new blended civilization

Exploration and Imperial Rivalry The Spanish began to build forts to protect their territories. The Spanish cruelly abused the Pueblo peoples in the Battle of Acoma (1599). They founded the province of New Mexico in 1609 and its capital in 1610 (see Map 1.6). The Roman Catholic mission became the central institution in colonial New Mexico.

The native Indians rose up against the missionaries in Popé’s Rebellion (1680). In the 1680s the French sent Robert de La Salle down the Mississippi River. In 1716 the Spanish settled in Texas. In 1769 Spanish missionaries led by Father Junipero Serra founded San Diego and 21 mission stations.

St. Augustine -In order to defend northern periphery and convert more Indians to Christianity, the Spanish began to fortify the northern borders. -St. Augustine, Florida (1565) -oldest continually inhabited European settlement in what became the U.S.

Missions -Don Juan de Oñate and the Spaniards claimed New Mexico and brutally treated the Pueblo peoples. -Roman Catholic missions established to convert Indians Popé’s Rebellion -Pueblo Indians destroyed every Catholic church -Spanish lost control of the area for 12 years.

Father Junipero Serra established Spanish missions in California -gathered Indians into fortified missions -taught them horticulture and converted them to Christianity.

Black Legend -false concept that said that the Spanish conquerors merely tortured and killed the Indians, stole their gold, and infected them with smallpox. -it ignores the Spanish achievements -they established a large empire and grafted their culture, laws, religion, and language onto native societies, laying the foundation for many Spanish-speaking nations

Invaders brought more than conquest. They intermarried with surviving Indians, creating culture of mestizos, people of mixed Indian and European heritage. Mexico blends Old and New Worlds. Booty and silver may have led to capitalism; certainly transformed the world economy.