1. A New World of Many Cultures
Unit 1:
A New World of Many Cultures
Created by: Ellie Dinsmore
AP US History
Mr. Hoefler’s Teacher’s Aide

2. Original Settlers in the Americas
First people in North and South America came at least 10,000 years before Columbus
Probably from Asia -> crossed on land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska (now covered by water)
Over time, dispersed to all corners of continent
Estimates of native population by = appx million people

3. Cultures of Central and South America
Native pop. concentrated in three highly developed areas:
Mayans on Yucatan Peninsula
Aztecs in central Mexico (Tenochtitlan as capital, with population equivalent to largest European cities)
Incas in Peru -> vast empire
Highly organized societies -> trade, scientifically accurate calendars, stable food supply (corn for Mayans and Aztecs, potatoes for Incas)

4. Cultures of North America
Natives societies smaller and less sophisticated than those of Central/South America -> b/c slow northward spread of corn cultivation from Mexico
A lot of societies disappeared by 15th century -> unclear why
By time of Columbus, most lived in semi- permanent settlements in small groups ( > 300 people)
Men -> making tools , hunting for game
Women -> gathered plants and nuts, grew crops such as corn, beans, and tobacco

5. Cultures of North America: Language
More than 20 diverse types of language families*
Algonquian in Northeast, Siouan on Great Plains, Athabaskan in Southwest
Together these 20 families included more than 400 languages
*language family- group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, i.e. English is part of Indo-European family

6. Cultures of North America
Southwest Settlements
Northwest Settlements
Along Pacific coast -> Alaska to northern California
Lived in permanent longhouses or plank houses
Hunting, fishing gathering nuts, berries and roots
Recorded stories on carved totem poles
High mountain ranges -> isolated tribes and created barriers to development
Southwest = region that now includes Arizona and New Mexico
Farming with irrigation systems -> arid land
Lived in caves, under cliffs, and in multistoried buildings -> used stone and masonry
Faced challenges such as extreme droughts and other hostile natives
i.e. the Hokokam, Anasazi, and Pueblos

7. Cultures of North America
Great Plains Settlements
Midwest Settlements
Nomadic hunters -> buffalo, lived in tepees,
Sedentary farmers & traders -> permanent earthen lodges along rivers, grew corn, beans and squash, trade
Didn’t get horses until 17th cent.
Migration = common
i.e. Apaches and Lakota Sioux
East of Mississippi River -> “Woodland American Indians”
Rich food supply -> hunting, fishing and agriculture
Permanent settlements (especially in Mississippi & Ohio River Valleys)
One of largest settlements = Cahokia
Adena-Hopewell -> woodland mound builders

8. Cultures of North America
Northeast Settlements
Hunting and farming -> farming techniques quickly exhausted soil
Iroquois Confederation- political union between 5 independent tribes in NY
Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, & Mohawk
Multiple families related thru mother lived in longhouses
Atlantic Seaboard Settlements
New Jersey south to Florida
“Coastal Plains”
Timber and bark lodgings along rivers
Rivers and Atlantic ocean = rich source of food

9. Europe Moves Toward Exploration
Improvements in technology -> Renaissance (rebirth of classical learning) -> gunpowder, printing press, sailing compass, improvements in ship building and mapmaking
Religious conflict -> Roman Catholic Spain pushed Moors out of Europe, funded Columbus’ journey -> all signaled new leadership, hope, and power for RC Europeans
Protestant Reformation -> “Church of England” split from Roman Catholic church -> added religious motive for exploration and colonization
Protestant: Blue
Roman Catholic: Olive
Islamic: Red

10. Expanding Trade
Needed to find new routes b/c Ottoman Turks seized control of Middle East
Either go south along African coast or west across Atlantic Ocean
Portuguese went south -> Vasco de Gama first to India
15th cent -> Portuguese started slave trade of W. Africans to use on sugar plantations -> very profitable
Africans resisted slavery -> ran away, sabotaged work, revolted -> held on to their culture (music, religion, folkways)
Developing nation-states -> countries in which majority of people shared common culture and loyalty to central government (i.e. Spain, France)
Depended on trade for revenue, church to justify right to rule
Used power to search for riches and spread Christianity (esp. overseas)
Henry the Navigator of Portugal

11. Early Explorations
1492- Columbus gets financial backing from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain -> landed in Bahamas -> didn’t find valuable trade route to Indies
His voyages brought about permanent interaction between people from all over the globe
Columbian Exchange – transfer of plants, animals and germs from both sides of Atlantic -> disease killed millions
Spain and Portugal disagreed of who got lands -> Pope drew line of demarcation (which was later moved a little by Treaty of Tordesillas) -> Spain = west, Portugal = east

12. Early Explorations cont’d.
Spanish dominance in New World -> power of conquistadores (i.e. conquest of Aztecs by Hernando Cortes, conquest of Incas by Francisco Pizarro)
Increased gold supply by 500% -> Spain = richest and most powerful European country
Encomienda system – Spanish king gives land grants and native fruits to individual Spaniards, Indians had to work as slaves on farms
Asiento system -> Spanish had to pay tax to king on each slave they imported to Americas
English claims -> based on voyages of John Cabot -> didn’t really do anything in 15th century b/c of religious drama (breaking away from Roman Catholic Church)

13. Early Exploration cont’d.
England’s Roanoke Island colony venture literally disappeared
French claims based on Jaques Cartier’s voyages -> slow to develop colonies b/c of conflict with Huguenots
First permanent French settlement = Quebec in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain
French explored and claimed Louisiana territory in late 1600s
Dutch explorer Henry Hudson = Hudson River -> surrounding area became New Amsterdam (later New York) -> controlled by Dutch West India Company

14. Spanish Settlements in North America
Florida- hostile natives and multiple failures, eventually established St. Augustine in 1565
New Mexico- Santa Fe est. as capital in 1610, harsh efforts to Christianize natives lead to Pueblo revolts, Spanish driven from area until 1680
Texas- attempted to resist French expansion down Mississippi River
California- San Diego and San Francisco est in response to Russian exploration of Alaska, series of “missions” (settlements) along coast by Franciscan order (religious)

15. European Treatment of Natives
Viewed natives as inferior people to be exploited for economic gain, converted to Christianity, or used as military allies
Spanish Policy- natives died of disease or were forced into slavery, a lot of intermarriage, rigid class system dominated by pure-blood Spaniards
Bartolome de Las Casas- advocate for better treatment of Indians, got king to make New Laws of ended Indian slavery/forced labor, economienda system
Valladolid Debate- Las Casas (above) vs Juan Gines de Sepulveda (Indians less than human)
English Policy- initially, coexisted, traded and shared ideas, soon gave way to conflict and open warfare
English viewed Indians as “savage,” Indians saw way of life threatened
Took native lands -> made Indians leave instead of making them slaves

16. European Treatment of Natives cont’d.
French Policy- maintained good relations, built trading posts to control fur trade -> traded with Indians
Few colonies meant French were less of a threat to natives
Native American Reaction- no unified response b/c saw themselves as distinct groups
Initially, goods such as copper pots and guns motivated Indians to trade
Violence and disease decimated native pop.
Some allied with one European power or another
Some migrated to new land