American History 101: Lecture 1 Flashcards
What is some POTENTIAL archeological evidence about human exploration in the earliest times?
Pacific Islanders brought goods and ideas to and from the Americas, Middle East, Africa, and mainland Asia.
(THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO & NOT THE MOST CONCRETE EVIDENCE)
What is the supposed way that Humans came to the Americas?
Came to the Americas by sea as well as the ice-age land bridge between present day Russia & Alaska.
Where did Norse sailors establish temporary settlements at first?
Greenland and Nova Scotia
Did the Norse sailors write home while in Greenland & Nova Scotia?
No.
Who funded Columbal/Columbus’ first Voyage?
Spain
Give the Order of the “Players”/First-last in terms of dealing with colonies (importing, exporting, dominating).
Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, English
What were the original catholic empires?
Spanish and Portuguese
Were the French protestant or catholic?
Catholic
What was the first protestant empire that occurred during the reformation?
The Dutch
How did technology advance by the time of Columbus’ Voyage? (2 main factors)
- Better ships
- Better Navigational Technology
What did the humans back then believe about the earth?
Knew it was a sphere, but did not know the SIZE of the sphere.
Therefore struggled because places were “too far”
Why did Columbus call the Native Americans “Indians”?
Because he thought he was in India.
What was the purpose of the Scientific Evolution?
The quest for knowledge of the natural world.
What did Columbus Expect to find?
A quick ocean route to India and Asia as opposed to an overland route or around South Africa.
What did navigators believe existed in terms of routes?
They believed a water route existed that cut through North America which would provide a direct route to Asia.
What is the Northwest Passage?
A sought-after water route that would provide a shorter route between Europe and Asia than traveling around Africa.
Did the Native Americans help or hurt the Europeans?
Both.
Helping through allies and stuff, but hindering through lying about certain things like “El Dorado.”
How long did the Northwest Passage route belief persist? (what year did it persist until)
As late as 1805.
While Columbus was after the Northwest Passage, what were the Spanish and Portuguese after?
“El Dorado” which referred to a city filled & covered with Gold.
What did the Spanish and Portuguese instead find in North America? (4 main things)
- They found a lot of land (much more land than expected or ever found)
- Lots of Waterways leading DEEP into the continent (good for settlement)
- Found people (Native Americans) with diverse language, culture, and settlement patterns
- Plenty of land for AGRICULTURAL purposes
- Essential Crops
What were the essential crops that the Europeans found in North America?
Sugar, tobacco, corn (later on).
What are some factors that pushed people to voyage to far-away places from their homes? (6 factors)
- Religious Conflicts (Great Schism)
- Overpopulation (Europe didn’t have enough space for the amount of people residing in it)
- Growing Merchant Class (middle class) – people who profit from all the trades and consumer products.
- Trade Goods
- Raw Materials (including new foods)
- Extreme gap between Rich & Poor (Poor people were considered criminals)
What are some factors that pulled people to voyage to far-away places? (6 factors)
- Gold, silver, gems
- New Food Sources
- Inexpensive land for farming
- Labor Force for Agriculture
- Development of the nation state (creates National power & wealth)
- Tales from explorers (strengthened the pull)
What are some new Foodstuff from the Americas that Europeans would incorporate?
Potatoes, peppers, legumes (squash, pumpkin, etc), sugar, corn, etc.
