0001 Pre-Revolutionary Era and the War for Independence (SMR 2.1) Flashcards
About how many different tribes and language groups existed before Europeans came to America?
There were over 500 different tribes and language groups before Europeans came in.
What is a Clovis Point?
A clovis point is a sharpened stone tool (originally found in Clovis, New Mexico), tells us that humans have been on North American continent for 13,500 years
What is a popular theory for how people arrived in North America?
A land bridge that formed over the Bering Strait, evidenced by Kennewick Man skeleton & clovis points
What Native American tribes were found in the Southwest (New Mexico & Arizona)?
Pueblo, Apache, and Navajo
Describe the Pueblo tribe
Southwest tribe including Anasazi and Hopi tribes. They were settled groups with complex religious systems, their agriculture was based on Maiz. They had complicated pottery that showed use of pottery wheel and they farmed with irrigation
What did the Pueblo tribe contribute to early American society?
Pottery & farming with irrigation
Where did the Pueblo tribes live and what kind of houses did they live in?
In the Southwest in wooden framed houses built into cliff sides, they had complex pueblo villages
Describe the Apache tribe
The Apache tribe were a group of nomadic hunters, they traded with the Pueblo Indians
Where did the Apache tribes live and what kind of house did they live in?
Lived in wickiups made of bark, grass and branches in the Southwest
Describe the Navajo Tribe
The Navajo group were a settled tribe in the Southwest, they raised corn, squash and beans and hunted deer.
After the Europeans came to North America, how did it change agriculture for the Navajo Indians?
The Navajo indians went from hunting deer and raising corn, squash and beans to having sheep, goats and horses
Where did the Navajo Tribe live and what kind of house did they live in?
The Navajo tribe was from the Southwest and lived in dome-like urban houses
What major tribes were from the Northeast Settlements and what kind of people were they?
Iroquois & Algonquian were tribes in the Northeast. They were into agriculture and hunting
What is three sisters farming?
A farming technique by Northeast Indians where people would plant corns, beans and squash together
Describe the Iroquois tribe
The Iroquois tribe were from Northeast & Canada (Ontario), they had complex politics and a confederacy, representatives of parliament chosen by women, matrilineal because of fertility connection to mother earth, economy was agricultural and women distributed food. Had a great understanding of geopolitics
What was the name of members of Parliament in the Iroquios tribe and how were they voted into power?
Sachem were representatives of the Iroquois parliament and were voted into power by women b/c their society was matrilineal (note that women did not hold the seats though)
Why was the Iroquois tribe matrilineal?
Because of women’s connection to fertility and mother earth
How did the Iroquios Parliament work?
The Iroquios parliament was made up of five tribes. It was bicameral parliament with two tribes holding half and the fifth as a broker. Sachems chosen by women
Which tribe showed the largest opposition to European colonialism?
The Iroquois tribe in the Northeast
What made the Iroquois tribe hard to overcome?
The Iroquois built large fortresses between rives and had walls that made it complicated to enter
What was the Iroquois League?
an agreement established between five Iroquoian speaking groups in late 1300’s to curb inter tribal violence
Where did the Iroquois people live and what did they live in?
The Iroquois people in the Northeast were a collective society who lived in long houses with their extended families
Describe the Alqonguian tribe?
Alqonguian tribes were from the Northeast (Massachussets and Virginia), men fished and hunted, women did agriculture, formed the Powhatan Confederacy against Europeans, lived in longhouses
Why were the Algonquian tribes important to Europeans?
The Algonquian tribes were home to Wampanoah which was present at Thanksgiving feast, and home to Powhatan, the tribe of Pocahontas (Jamestown)
What was the Powhatan Confederacy?
The Powhatan Confederacy was a cultural and political union of Algonquian tribes in the Northeast that provided military support to chief Powhatan
What was the mound-building tradition?
A tradition by Hopewellian native culture that was used to bury the deceased in mounds
Describe the Great Plains (Sioux) indians
The Sioux Indians where semi-nomadic corn farmers, they traveled with domesticated animals and in migration patterns, upon introduction of Europeans they dropped farming and became pastoral nomads with horses
How did the introduction of Europeans influence the Sioux people?
The Europeans introduced the horse which inspired the Sioux people to drop farming and become pastoral nomads who lived off the land and animals. They used horses to hunt buffalo which supplied food , decorations, tools, knives, and clothing.
Where did Sioux people live?
The Sioux people slept in Teepees which could be easily packed up to support their nomadic way of life.
What major characters of early American life came from The Great Plains settlements?
Crazy Horse (Lakota), Sacagewea, and Sitting Bull
What were some tribes of the Southeast settlement?
Choctaw, Cherokee, Cahokia
What did the Cherokee people provide?
Basketry, pottery & Lacrosse
What was Monk’s Mound?
It was a pyramid in meso america believed to have been a temple or chief residence
Where did the Cahokia tribes live?
The Cahokia tribes lived in Mississippi in Chickees which are thatched roof houses (also lived in by Seminoles)
Southeast tribes mostly engaged in ________ for their economy.
Southeast tribes were based on agriculture
Inuit Americans lived in _______.
igloos
Tribes in the Northwest (Pacific Coast) had a rich diet based on what?
The Northwest tribes had a rich diet based on hunting, fishing, gathering nuts, berries, and roots
Northwest tribes lived mostly in permanent _______.
longhouses
What caused the Northwest tribes to be isolated?
High mountains isolated tribes and created barriers to development
Name the five civilized tribes
Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Chickasaw, Seminole, and Choctaw
Why were the five civilized tribes named?
These five tribes were generally settled prior to Europeans coming over. When the Europeans arrived, they easily adapted to European style of living and concept of land ownership, even having their own slaves.
What was the basic unit of organization for tribes?
Family
Did Native Americans trade?
Yes, they had an extensive trade unit
What did land represent to Native Americans?
Land was considered a source of life, not commodity to be sold (this would cause a lot of conflict when Europeans arrived)
Native Americans believed in a _____ world filled with ______.
Natural/ Spirits
What did the Black Death have to do with Europeans coming to the new world?
After the Black Death made the population decrease in Europe, the feudal system ended and serfs/peasants became a free working class. Less people meant less famine and soon the population increased greatly, leading to the desire to find new land for people to live
Population, New Frontiers, New Production Markets & ________ were all reasons why Europeans wanted to conquer the new world.
European Colonial Competition
Why were new frontiers important for some British settlers?
They were seeking religious freedoms
What was the importance of the Indian Ocean Economy when it came to settling in the new world?
Europeans were looking for more raw materials that could boost industry and help them create actual products that could then be traded to Asia.
Though the 13 colonies were settled by Britain, what do old maps of settlements show us?
That settlements were multicultural. i.e. Florida and Texas were first settled by Spain, Louisiana by France, etc.
Who was the first to create a permanent settlement in America?
Spain in 1492 when Columbus arrived and marked contact with Europe and Americas (note that Vikings were first to settle but didn’t permanently stay)
What was the reason that Spain was the first to reach the new world instead of its European counterparts?
Prior to this, Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain had ousted Muslims from the country and won their political and religious wars to keep Catholicism in Spain once and for all. With this behind them, they had the money to explore the new world.
Meanwhile France & England were fighting other political wars and Protestant wars also kept other countries out
