Chapter 1 - 1000-1600: Europeans Came To America

Question 1

How long did Mayan civilization last?

Answer 1

300 AD to 900 AD

Question 2

How long did Hopewell civilization last?

Answer 2

50 AD to 400 AD

Question 3

Where did Hopewell people settle?

Answer 3

Central US, primarily Ohio and Mississippi River vallies

Question 4

When was the MS River Valley settled by Central Americans?

Answer 4

700 AD

Question 5

What civilization conquered the Mayans?

Answer 5

The Toltecs (Olmecs)

Question 6

Where was the Mayan capital?

Answer 6

Yucutan, Mexico

Question 7

How large was the Toltec capital?

Answer 7

More than 200k people

Question 8

How far did the Toltec civilization reach?

Answer 8

As far north as Arizona, and as far south as Peru

Question 9

How long did the Toltec civilization last?

Answer 9

About 300 years, from 900 AD to 1200 AD

Question 10

When did Cortez encounter the Aztecs? When had he conquered them?

Answer 10

Cortez encountered them in 1519, and had conquered them by 1521.

Question 11

How long did Aztec civilization last?

Answer 11

From 1200 to early 1500s.

Question 12

How large was Tenochtitlan (Mexico City)?

Answer 12

As large as Madrid. In 1500, Tenochtitlan has a population of 300k, paved streets, and stone buildings.

Question 13

Describe Incan infrastructure.

Answer 13

The Incas built more than 19,000 miles of roads, suspension bridges of wood and stone, canals and aqueducts.

Question 14

Describe the Incan bureaucracy.

Answer 14

The Incans divided their empire into four roughly equal districts under the government of a capital called Cusco. The highest ruler was the Sapa Inca, aided by 16 nobles known as the “Council of the Realm”. The people were divided into units that doubled as military units.

Question 15

When did Pizarro encounter the Incas?

Answer 15

1532

Question 16

What tribes comprised the Iroquois confederacy, in the order north to south?

Answer 16

Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca.

Question 17

What animals did Europeans introduce to North America?

Answer 17

Horses, oxen, pigs, sheep, goats, and cattle.

Question 18

What particular vegetables were introduced to Europe?

Answer 18

Corn and potatoes

Question 19

Describe population demographics in 1492.

Answer 19

In 1492, the total population of the Americas was probably about 80-100 million people, which was
approximately the same as Europe’s population in 1492. About 25 million of these Native Americans were Aztecs who dominated Mexico and Central America. Another 5-7 million Native Americans lived in North America. This was approximately equal to the population of the British Isles in 1492 and perhaps two-thirds the population of Spain in 1492. (Spain was one of the largest European states at this time.) Few Native Americans lived in the interior of the North American continent. The largest population centers were found in five areas: present-day New England; the present-day Southeast (i.e., the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee); present-day West Texas and southern New Mexico; present-day California; and the present-day Pacific Northwest (i.e., the Oregon and Washington coast, the Puget Sound area, and southern British Columbia).

Question 20

Who were the following men, what did they do, and when?

• John Cabot
• Ponce de Leon
• Hernando Cortes
• Francisico Pizarro
• Hernando De Soto
• Francisco Vazquez de Coronado

Answer 20

• John Cabot was the first European to reach North America in 1497
• Ponce de Leon went to Florida in 1513
• Cortes conquered the Aztecs between 1519-1528
• Pizarro conquered the Incas and the Andes highlands between 1531-1533
• De Soto conducted an overland exploration of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana (i.e. pretty much the SEC and the parts of R7 and R8) from 1539 to 1542
• Coronado explored the American Southwest from 1540 to 1542

Question 21

What are the 7 reasons Europeans traveled West?

Answer 21

A. Commercial gain. (See, Portugal, 1415-1460)
B. International power. Viewed as zero-sum game (realism).
C. Religion / Evangelism.Europeans had holistic view of religion/politics; they weren’t irreligious just because they were also political.
D. Birth of the modern nation-state. Centralization of power allowed more risky adventures.
E. Technological advances, such as the hourglass, astrolabe, and sextant. The Caravel (ship) also allowed greater transportation.
F. Economic recovery. A crippling famine hit Europe in the early 1300s, and the Black Death struck Europe around 1350. The Black Death alone killed between one-fourth and one-third of all Europeans. This had devastating implications for both the European economy and European political stability. For example, a series of bloody peasant-and-townspeople revolts swept Europe in the late 1300s, revolts triggered by suffering caused by famine and the Black Death. Around 1500, Europeans were just beginning to recover economically and demographically from the gruesome 1300s.
G. The Gutenberg Press. The resulting information revolution allowed exploits like Marco Polo’s to be broadcast, leading to more exploration.

Question 22

What diseases were introduced to EUROPE?

Answer 22

yellow fever and syphilis

Question 23

What diseases were introduced to AMERICA?

Answer 23

smallpox, chicken pox, measles, whooping cough, influenza, the common cold, and malaria

Question 24

What things were introduced to AMERICA from Europe?

Answer 24

1. many diseases that had never been seen in the western Hemisphere, diseases for which Native Americans had no immunities, such as smallpox, chicken pox, measles, whooping cough, influenza, the common cold, and malaria
2. horses, cattle, donkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, rats
3. many plants that became important crops in the Americas, including sugar cane, wheat, barley, rice,
   soybeans, apples, carrots, peaches, oranges, melons, bananas, onions, yams, and peas
4. many technologies, such as iron-edged tools and farming equipment (including plows, the wheel,
   gunpowder, and the concept of fence-enclosed ranching)

Question 25

What things were introduced to EUROPE from AMERICA?

Answer 25

1. most importantly, corn and potatoes.
2. sweet potatoes, tomatoes, blueberries, peanuts, pumpkins, and turkeys
3. diseases like yellow fever and syphilis
4. plants with medicinal qualities, such as quinine and ipecac
5. tobacco

Question 26

Describe the influence of Catholicism in the New World.

Answer 26

For virtually the entire sixteenth century, the Western
Hemisphere (including North America) was a Roman Catholic domain. Almost all of the original Christian institutions and endeavors in the New World were engineered by Roman Catholics from Spain. (English Protestants would not settle in Virginia until 1607 and in
Massachusetts until 1620.) Thousands of Native American Indians became at least nominal Christians due to Roman Catholic mission work during the 1500s. Roman Catholic churches were constructed throughout the New World and were staffed by Spanish priests, friars, nuns, and Jesuits. The first hymnal to be printed in the Americas was a Roman Catholic book of worship music; it was published in Mexico City in 1556. It is likely that the first American missionary martyr was
a Franciscan priest: Juan de Padilla was killed by Indians in modern day Kansas while engaging in a preaching tour. Roman Catholicism (as projected by Spain) enjoyed something like a religious monopoly in what is today the U.S. Southwest until the mid-1800s. For example, between 1769 and 1845, Franciscans founded twenty-one Roman Catholic missions in present-day California. There was no Protestant influence here during this time. By the same token, France controlled present-day Canada, much of the Great Lakes region, and the vast Mississippi River basin from 1608 (when Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec) until about 1760. Like Spain, France was a Roman Catholic state that deliberately exported its Catholicism to the New World. Almost all French trappers, settlers, soldiers, and merchants were Roman Catholics. They arrived in North America with Catholic priests, nuns, and Jesuits; together, they built a French Catholic culture in North America that included many Native American Indian converts.

Question 27

What was the Spanish approach to colonization?

Answer 27

Resource extraction. The Spanish cared only for resource extraction and didn’t plant colonies with blacksmiths, farmers, coopers, etc. They made no effort to secure the vast North American continent. When Spain encountered difficulties in Europe, they were unable to maintain their outposts, partially due to the fact that they were dependent on Spain and were not self sufficient. By 1600, Spain’s empire had atrophied, and by 1700, it had vanished.

Question 28

What was Britain’s approach to colonization?

Answer 28

Britain was very slow to get explorers to the Americas, and lost money for the first 50 years of colonization. Britain succeeded longterm because they realized that colonies needed to be self-sustaining. Unlike Spain, Britain’s throne hadn’t the sufficient wealth or power to organize a state sponsored colonization.

Question 29

What was France’s approach to colonization?

Answer 29

France established trading posts s in southern
Canada along the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. France also explored the Mississippi River and planted a settlement at New Orleans in 1718. They sent Jesuit missionaries who also had success. The French established no permanent/self sustaining colonies, partially due to a lack of potential immigrants.

Question 30

What was the Dutch approach to colonization?

Answer 30

Dutch power from 1600-1670 allowed them to establish some power in the New World, including trading posts and a fort in present-day Albany, NY. This was limited by fading Dutch power, as well as the decision of the Dutch West India Company to focus on the colonization of Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean. By the mid-1600s, the Dutch could not protect or sustain their outposts in the Americas, and they were assimilated by the English.

Question 31

What 5 reasons explain Spain’s hegemonic demise and Britain’s rise?

Answer 31

A. Imperial overstretch. Spain’s immediate wealth emboldened them to expand their empire beyond their ability to maintain and protect it. Spain’s new wealth and power led other European states to seek to balance Spanish hegemony. These wars bankrupted Spain, led to increased taxes (to the point that a Spanish peasant was paying 10 times what an English farmer paid.) This resulted in Spain borrowing from Italian, German, and Flemish bankers. By early 1600’s, 2/3 of crown revenue went to paying interest on its debts. This ravaged Spain’s state run colonial efforts.

B. Joint stock companies. England allowed the practice of groups of investors pooling their money, allowing the mobilization of large amounts of capital. This further relieved the crown of any financial burden in establishing these colonies.Some have called this privatized imperialism. The Virginia colony was born this way: from a joint stock company of 56 London firms, and 659 individual investors.

C. England allowed religious dissidents to populate its colonies, providing family units to create sustainable colonies. These colonists were highly motivated to succeed so they didn’t have to return to England.

D. Several economic and demographic factors in England created a large supply of willing immigrants. The population of England doubled in the 1500s. At the same time, wealthy English landowners forced peasants off the land, fencing in fields to create pastures for sheep that would provide wool for the profitable woolen industry. Because of this enclosure
movement, England had three times as many sheep as people in 1600. At the same time that the population was soaring and farmers were being pushed off their land, inflation created an army of impoverished Englishmen. (This inflation was sparked by the influx of American bullion into the European economy.) Prices tripled and in some cases increased five-fold during the 1500s. The population of London alone increased from 75,000 in 1500 to 200,000 in 1600. This created a vast pool of poor and landless English peasants — most of whom were skilled farmers — who were prime candidates for immigration to America. Unlike the Spanish, these Englishmen sought land to farm rather than gold to extract.

E. Writers such as Richard Hakluyt propagated the idea of colonizing America, rallying support among the population.