chapter 1 outline - A New World

Question 1

What was life in the Americas, particularly in regards to farming, prior to European contact?

Answer 1

Native Americans composed various different kinds of societies, each with their own unique language and culture
Native Americans inhabited both continents, up the tip of South America
Agriculture began developing around 9,000 years ago and spread throughout the Americas
Maize (corn), squash and beans formed the foundation of agriculture
Farming was limited by the lack of livestock in the Americas, preventing plowing of fields and the application of natural fertilizer

Question 2

What was the complexity of the South American Native tribes?

Answer 2

When the Europeans arrived, the Americas already consisted of cities, roads, canals, an elaborate trading network, and large architectural structures like the pyramid-temples
Tenochtitlan - the capital of the Aztec Empire, formerly one of the world’s largest cities, located in modern-day Mexico
The Inca Kingdom positioned further south was connected by an extensive system of roads and bridges

Question 3

How did the North American Native society compare to their South/Central American counterparts, and European society? ( in terms of technology / advancement)

Answer 3

North American native people hadn’t built societies of the same complexity or grandeur as their South/Central American counterparts
Their scientific knowledge was behind the European settlers, and they lacked mastery of gunpowder and machinery
They also didn’t have wheeled vehicles since horses and oxen were not available to pull them
The supposed “backwardness” of the Native Americans was a justification used by the Europeans for colonization

Question 4

What were the Hopi and Zuni Native tribes like, and where did they live?

Answer 4

The Hopi and the Zuni established settled villager life
Built planned towns with large multiple-family dwellings
Built dams and canals to collect and distribute water
Established trade with other native groups
After these communities fell into decline (likely due to drought), survivors moved south and east
Established villages
Perfected desert farming techniques, developing irrigation systems to water their corn, beans and cotton crops

Question 5

How did Native Americans who lived on the Pacific Coast live?

Answer 5

Distinct groups of Native people lived in separate villages
Fished for food (great supply of salmon)
Hunted sea mammals
Gathered plants and nuts

Question 6

How did Native Americans who lived on the Great Plains live?

Answer 6

Some Native Americans hunted animals (mostly buffalo) for food
Others lived in agricultural communities
Nomadic tribes
Lived in bison-hide teepees

Question 7

What were the key characteristics of eastern North American Native society?

Answer 7

Aspects of eastern North American Native society
Hundreds of tribes lived in towns and villages throughout eastern North America
Food source: corn, squash, beans, fishing/hunting deer, turkeys and other animals
Trade routes intersected across eastern North America
Tribes fought with each other frequently to take goods, take revenge and seize prisoners of war
Conducted diplomacy and made peace
Centralization was unheard of until the 15th century, during which in order to maintain peace, leagues/confederations were formed
The Choctaw, Cherokee and Chickasaw united in loose alliances in the Southeast
The Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca and Onodaga formed the Great League of Peace in the Northeast
Native wars differed from Europeans in that Natives fought to prove themselves and take revenge on other tribes, rather than conflict about land

Question 8

To what degree did Native Americans tribes have diversity?

Answer 8

Europeans found the diversity of the Native American society the most fascinating feature
Each tribe had their own political system, religious beliefs and languages
Native Americans did not have a sense of America as a continent and didn’t see themselves as a single unified people
Native American identity revolved around their immediate social circle-a tribe, village, chiefdom or confederacy
Most Native people viewed the Europeans as a chance to raise their standing against other tribes when they first arrived in America

Question 9

What was Native American religion revolve around?

Answer 9

Their lives heavily involved religious ceremonies regarding farming and hunting
They believed spiritual power was imbued in the world and sacred spirits could be found in living beings and inanimate things (like wind and water)
Through religious ceremonies, they hoped to harness the supernatural powers to aid human affairs
Some hunters performed rituals to satisfy the spirits of the animals they killed
Other ceremonies had the purpose of engaging the spiritual power of nature to guarantee abundant harvests or defend against evil spirits
Participation in the religious rites villages held helped define the boundaries of membership in communities
Within communities, those who harnessed supernatural powers, like shamans, medicine men and religious leaders, held positions of authority

Question 10

How did Native American tribes view land ownership, and how did they split up the land?

Answer 10

Land was viewed as a common resource, not an economic commodity
Usually, a chief assigned plots of land to individual families to use for a season or more
Families had the right to use the land for themselves, but they did not personally own the land

Question 11

What principles and ideologies did the Natives value and disregard in their culture, and how did this differ from the Europeans?

Answer 11

Native people also did not care about possessing material goods or accumulating wealth
In some societies, villages moved often when the soil or hunting game was depleted, so owning fewer possessions made sense
However, status was important
Tribal leaders were usually part of a small number of families
Chiefs lived more luxurious than average members of the society
Chiefs gained their reputation based on how willing they were to share with the community, rather than hoard wealth and goods to themself
Generally, wealth mattered significantly less in Native societies
Generosity was the most important virtue and gift-giving was an integral part of their daily lives
Trade was more than just a commercial exchange, it was usually

Question 12

What were Native Americans’ gender roles, and how did they differ from the Europeans?

Answer 12

Gender roles vastly differ from European societies
Women’s membership in a family still defined their lives, but they engaged in premarital sexual relations and were able to divorce their husbands
Most Native societies were matrilineal - centered on kinship groups in which children became members of the mother’s family
Most tribal leaders were men, but women played important roles in religious ceremonies and female elders participated in choosing the male village leaders and council meetings
Native women were able to own property and usually owned dwellings and tools
Husbands generally moved to live with the family of his wife
In some communities, men demonstrated their masculinity by hunting or fishing successfully, while women took part in the household duties and most of the agricultural work

Question 13

What were the Europeans’ perspective on Native Americans, and how did this change over time?

Answer 13

Europeans viewed the Native people as either “noble” savages (friendly and superior in some ways) or brutal and uncivilized
Over time, negative perspectives on the Native people began overshadowing the positive ones
Europeans described the Native people’s religion, land use and gender relations as barbaric and backwards
Europeans deduced that Native people worshiped the devil and lacked genuine religion and their religious rituals were at best superstition

Question 14

How did Europeans justify their conquering of Native American land?

Answer 14

Europeans justified their use of Native land in various ways
The Spanish claimed their right to land in America by conquest and papal authority
Christanity enabled the Euorpeans to commodify land and thus they saw the world as a collection of potential commodities and a source of economic opportunity
The English, French and Dutch believed that Native people hadn’t actually “used” the land and thus had no claim to it
Although Native people had advanced agricultural developments and settled towns, Europeans usually described them as nomads without established communities, and thus the land was vacant wilderness that Europeans were free to use

Question 15

How did Europeans view the difference in gender relations of Native American culture?

Answer 15

In gender relations, Europeans viewed the Native men as weak and the women as mistreated
Hunting and fishing were deemed leisure activities in European society
Native women working in the fields was deemed close to enslavement and Europeans believed they lacked freedom
Native men were emasculated by Europeans and viewed as:
Too weak to exercise authority within their families and control their wives’ seuality
Lazy because they were “forcing” their wives to perform the manual labor
Europeans promoted ideas that women should only do household work and that men should exercise greater authority within their own families

Question 16

How did Europeans believe they were helping the Natives?

Answer 16

Europeans thought that by restricting the Native Americans, they were giving the freedom of true religion, private property and the liberation of men and women from barbaric and heretic gender roles

Question 17

How did Native Americans embody the concept of freedom, and how did they understand it themselves? What did Europeans think about Native freedom?

Answer 17

Europeans saw that the Native people embodied freedom by (generally)
Not allowing social hierarchies
Banning servitude
However, Native societies didn’t have the concept of freedom or the language to describe it
Europeans viewed Native societies as barbaric and uncivilized because they didn’t have established governments or fixed laws, and had no respect for authority
They thought the Natives lived too freely and lacked the order and discipline of civilized society
Some believed that enslavement was better than the “absolute freedom” of the Natives’ lifestyle
Small-scale slavery happened within the Native tribes as well, and Native poeple understood personal liberty as not being held as a slave
Native people judged each other based on how they measured in what was widely understood as appropriate behavior
They valued community. kinship ties, the mutual obligations of living in a group, and the ability to follow spiritual values over individual autonomy and freedom
As European colonizers forced the Native people to grow more dependent on them, freedom became more important to the Native Americans

Question 18

How did Europeans view liberty, and what was Christian liberty?

Answer 18

Europeans had many differing ideas of freedom, but the general concept was a collection of rights and privileges that only a small percentage of the population could enjoy
One conception of freedom was “Christian Liberty”
Freedom was leaving a life of sin and following the teachings of Christ
Freedom to follow Christ, in this case, also meant servitude to God, so concepts of freedom and servitude were intertwined
This kind of liberty had no relation to religious toleration, and at the time, religious uniformity was considered the norm for Europeans
Every nation in Europe had a central church that decreed the kind of religious worship and belief, and anyone who strayed from the path would be condemned and face persecution

Question 19

How was the concept of authority applied in European society and connected to liberty?

Answer 19

Liberty was sometimes equated with obedience to a higher authority, so instead of anarchy, freedom meant obedience to the law
However, there were rigid social hierarchies within European societies, with the king and hereditary aristocrats at the top to the urban and rural poor at the bottom
Inequality was built into every social hierarchy, with those of higher rank often requiring deference from those below them, so people under the crown didn’t all enjoy the same degrees of freedom
Within families, the men held authority over their wife and children
After a woman became married, her legal identity was surrendered and covered by the husband
The husband conducted business and legal affairs for the entire family
Both the king’s authority over his subjects and the man’s authority over his family was seen as ordained by God by the Europeans

Question 20

What liberties existed in early American colonization?

Answer 20

Modern civil liberties did not exist during American colonization
Only a small propertied portion of the adult male population had the privilege of voting
The government could censor publications and criticisms of authority could lead to legal consequences
Employee contracts were strict and breaches could result in penalties
- However, freedom of press was less censored than compared to England

Question 21

How were the Portuguese successful in early colonization?

Answer 21

The Portuguese were able to take advantage of new sailing techniques and equipment to sail down to the coast of Africa. establish new trading routes and discover new commercial opportunities
In the 15th century, Africa was wealthy and had large sources of gold that provided Europe with most its gold
Portuguese ships began sailing further and further down the African coast and established trading posts along Africa’s western coast
The Portuguese factories’ profits inspired other European powers to do the same
The Portuguese also colonized islands in the Atlantic and eventually established plantations on the Atlantic islands and used enslaved people shipped from Africa

Question 22

What were the origins of the African slave trade?

Answer 22

Slavery in Africa was a practice before European arrival
African slaves were usually criminals, debtors and prisoners of war with well-defined rights and the ability to acquire their freedom
Slavery was only one of the many forms of labor, rather than the foundation of the economical system as it would become in America
During the latter half of the 15th century, the buying and selling of slaves accelerated with the arrival of Portuguese and other European traders
Trade routes and Portuguese bases were established in Asia as Portugal became a vast trading empire, surpassing the Italian city-states
Vacaso da Gama sailed around Africa to India in 1498
Bartholomeu Dias reached the cape of Good Hope at the continent’s southern tip in 1487

Question 23

When and why did Columbus set out on his journey?

Answer 23

Columbus believed the Earth was significantly smaller than its actual size and believed that by sailing West from Europe, he could reach India, as Europeans were unaware of the Americas
Columbus received sponsorship from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain and merchants who wanted to monopolize trade with the east away from Middle Eastern empires.

Question 24

Where did Columbus land and how did he treat the local Native Americans?

Answer 24

Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492, believing the Native people were residents of the east indies
He encountered the large islands of Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti and the Dominican republic) and Cuba
Enslaves and kills Native people through passing on disease and brutality
Nicolas de Ovando successfully established a permanent Spanish base as the center of the new Spanish Empire in America the following year
Amerigo Vespucci’s explorations along the coast of South America made it clear that the Americas were two distinct continents previously unknown to the Europeans

Question 25

What were the Spanish’ three goals for exploration and conquest?

Answer 25

The Spanish were the leading nation in exploration and conquest
They were eager to find gold, national glory and spread catholicism
Ferdinand Magellan’s fleet was the first to circumvent the Earth and correct Columbus’s beliefs about the earth’s size

Question 26

What was the Aztec Empire, and how and when were they conquered?

Answer 26

Henan Cortes arrived at Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire, in 1519
The Aztec Empire dominated over numerous groups of Native people living nearby and gained their wealth and power through that
They were violent warriors and engaged in human sacrifice, alienating their neighboring tribes and reinforcing the Spanish perspective that the Native people were barbaric
Cortes was able to conquer the Aztec people with a small number of European men because he had superior military power, enlisted the help of the Aztecs’ subjects, and the Aztecs had no immunity to the European disease of smallpox

Question 27

Who conquered the Incan kingdom and the Mayans?

Answer 27

Franciso Pizzaro used similar tactics to conquer the Incan kingdom
The Mayans were also conquered, albeit at a slower pace and with multiple conquistadores
These conquests lead to an influx of gold and silver to the Spanish crown

Question 28

What were the major ramifications of European interference on the Native Americans?

Answer 28

The Columbian Exchange introduced the New and Old World to previously unknown plants and products
Europe received advanced agriculture techniques and new nutritious foods
America received slaves, gun powder, Christanity, livestock
The most destructive was the transferring of germs from the Europeans
Disease (Natives lacked immunity to European disease, decimated the Native population)
Enslavement and brutality
Intertribal competition for European goods (lack of unity would be detrimental to Native freedom)
Dependence on European trade and technology (addiction to alcohol developed)
Ecological consequences - invasive plants, European livestock ate Native food sources, instruction of horses was helpful to Great Plains Natives

Question 29

How did the Spanish set up a colonial government system, and how did it evolve over time?

Answer 29

The Spanish crown replaced the conquistadores with a more stable government system led by bureaucrats and lawyers.
The government was meant to reflect the absolutism of the newly unified Spain
Authority began with the king, followed by the Council of Indies and then the local officials in America
The Spanish Catholic church also exerted authority over religious and moral matters and how to treat the Native Americans
Royal officials usually originated from Spain, rather than selected from the criollos (people born of European descent on the colonies)
As Spain’s power declined in the 17th century, the local elites garnered more power over colonial affairs
Due to the large expanse of the empire, usually local institutions enjoyed a great amount of independence

Question 30

How did the system of Native slavery evolve in Spanish America, and what was it called?

Answer 30

Large-scale exportation of African slaves to Spanish America wasn’t necessary except in the West Indies and a few cities
The Native population was forced by the Spanish to work in mines for gold and silver, as well as on large farms called haciendas that were controlled by Spanish landlords
These mines supplied the nation with its wealth
The main agricultural crops grown were beans, corn and squash, although the Spanish introduced livestock, wheat and sugar to the New World
Called the Encomienda System

Question 31

Why were colonists attracted to Spain, and who migrated here?

Answer 31

Numerous colonists from Spain were attracted to the American colonies by the idea of economic and social advancement
In the beginning, most who came were young single men working as laborers, craftsmen or soldiers
Others who came were government officials, priests, minor nobility or professionals; they came to direct the work of the Native Americans because not having to perform manual labor was deemed a sign of status

Question 32

How did the Spanish rule over the colonists, and how did the two groups intermingle?

Answer 32

Under the Spanish Empire, the Native population always outnumbered European colonists and their descendants, and large areas remained under Native control
The Spanish Empire granted the Natives certain rights and were expecting their eventual assimilation
The Spanish demanded that single colonist men get married and for their wives to join them in Spanish America
However, since the number of Spanish women was low, the European men intermixed with Native women
The Catholic Church legalized these kinds of marriages in hopes it would help spread Christianity
Mestizos were descendants of these minglings and soon consisted large portions of the urban population
Spanish American became a hybrid of European, Native American and in some areas African culture, while maintaining a single official faith, language and government system

Question 33

How did the Spanish colonizers justify their claim to Native land?

Answer 33

Early colonizers didn’t consider why they could claim possession of lands belonging to other nations but believed their culture to be superior and expected other societies to abandon their traditions to assimilate into European society
Failure to comply would reinforce in the Europeans’ perspective that these people were uncivilized and unchristian
Europeans had a long history of using violence to resolve their conflicts and further the spread of Christianity, while gaining the benefits of empire

Question 34

What was the Line of Demarcation?

Answer 34

Pope Alexander VI divided the non-Christian world between Spain and Portugal a year after Columbus’s first voyage to further legitimize Spain’s claim to rule for the New World

Question 35

What was Spain’s religious goal with the Natives?

Answer 35

The pope justified his division by requiring Spain and Portugal to spread Catholicism among the native inhabitants of the Americas
Amongst the religious conflict in Europe, Spain was one of the most prominent supporters of Catholicism as opposed to Protestantism, so they doubled down their efforts on converting Natives to the “true faith”
Spain insisted that the primary aim of colonization was to save the Natives from heresy and prevent them from falling to Protestantism
The goal was not to remove or exterminate the Natives, but to turn them into obedient Christian subjects of the crown, leading to a destruction of Native political, economic and spiritual traditions

Question 36

How was Christianity weaponized against the Native population?

Answer 36

Spanish rulers claimed the goal of converting Natives to Christanity could be used to justify enslavement, since it was a form of “liberation” from their backwardness and savagery and enabled them to join Christian society

Question 37

Who was the primary advocate against maltreatment of the Natives, what was his idealogy, and how did he spread his message?

Answer 37

Pope Paul III outlawed Native enslavement in the early 16th century
Dominican priest Bartolome de las Casas published an account of the decimation of the Native population. titled A Very Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies
He participated in the conquest of Cuba, but eventually freed his own slaves and started protesting against the injustices of Spanish rule
Las Casas’ writing denounced the Spanish rulers for the large-scale massacres of Native people
He narrated in detail the horrific measures that Christian men were using, like burning people alive and enslavement
Las Casas defended the Native people as rational beings and deserving of their personal liberty and land as subjects of the Spanish crown
He still believed the Spanish had the claim to rule North America on religious grounds and encouraged the importation of African slaves to avoid exploitation of Indian labor

Question 38

How did the Spanish attempt to reform their empire? What new system was implemented? To what extent did Natives’ condition improve?

Answer 38

Because of Las Casas’ efforts, the New Laws demanded that the Native people were no longer to be enslaved in 1542
In 1550, Spanish abolished the encomienda system that granted the first settlers authority over conquered Native lands and the ability to force local Natives into labor
Instead, the repartimiento system was instituted, which required Native villages to perform a fixed amount of labor each year but remained legally free and were entitled to wages
Although the Natives weren’t slaves, Spanish landlords and priests were still able to abuse their workers because they had to work for the Spanish as part of the new system
Settlers, missionaries and colonial authorities engaged in struggle for the control of Native labor, each believing they were humane and accusing the other parties of exploiting the Native Americans

Question 39

What did Spanish excursions into North America usually result in?

Answer 39

The European colonists started exploring past previous Spanish Empire boundaries in search of more sources of gold, going into areas that form what is now America
In the early 16th century, explorers like Juan Rodrigeuz Cabrillo, Hernando de Soto, Cabeza de Vaca and Francisco Vasquez de Coronado launched expeditions exploring the Pacific coast and Southwest region
These expeditions spread disease to and greatly massacred the Native communities, and when later explorers returned to colonize these areas, the former Native societies were mostly nonexistent
Spain neglected the Southwest until the late 16th century because the excursions there hadn’t found gold nor advanced civilizations that could be forced to work for the Spanish

Question 40

What was the Black Legend, and why did Spain want to change its reputation?

Answer 40

By the end of the 16th century, most of the labor of the Spanish empire was performed by African slaves or native inhabitants under the forced wage labor system
Las Casas’ writings popularized the idea of Spain as an uniquely brutal and unjust colonizer, known as the “Black Legend”, providing justifications for other European nations to challenge Spain’s dominance in the New World
The Spanish wanted to reform their empire’s reputation because the Protestant Revolution was happening at the same time and they wanted to continue pushing Catholicism

Question 41

What was the Spanish colony of Florida?

Answer 41

Florida was the first region to be colonized by Spain within the United States
Spain wished to establish a military base to combat pirates threatening their transportation of gold and silver, and also wanted to prevent the French from starting more settlements in the area
Pedro Menedez de Aviles was sent to lead the colonizing expedition and successfully destroyed the French outpost in Florida, as well as established Spanish forts in the surrounding areas
Spanish missionaries set up outposts in Florida and surrounding areas in hopes of converting the local Natives to Christanity, but they were destroyed by the natives in a revolt as retaliation for eliminating their culture in the late 16th century
They were rebuilt but later destroyed again by English and Native forces
Florida remained a small isolated military settlement of Spain

Question 42

How did Spain fare in the American Southwest?

Answer 42

Juan de Onate led a group of soldiers, colonists and missionaries to establish a permanent settlement in the Southwest and destroyed the local native inhabitants of Acoma, a city in present-day New Mexico
However, his brutal treatment of the locals and his failure to find gold resulted in punishment after he was ordered to retreat
Spain established the first permanent European settlement in the Southwest in 1610 (early 17th century)

Question 43

What was the relationship between New Mexican colonial authorities and the local Native tribes? How successful were the Spanish in converting Natives to Catholicism?

Answer 43

In New Mexico, the relationship between the Pueblo Native Americans and colonial authorities had declined significantly as colonists, government officials and missionaries continued to attempt to exploit the Native labor of a decreasing population
Missionaries often resorted to violence and intimidation as they worked relentlessly to convert the Natives to Christianity
Some natives were impressed by their spiritual dedication and courage, and added Catholic elements to their old religious practices
However, since the start of the Inquisition, the Spanish crown grew more intense about the persecution of non-Catholics so the missionaries were more strict about stamping out Native religions
They burned sacred objects of Native worship and alienated more Native people than they converted
The locals also grew more dissatisfied when the local authorities weren’t able to protect the village from attacks and the occurrence of a drought in 1660

Question 44

What was the Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico? Did the outcome of the rebellion last?

Answer 44

The Pueblo people had been divided amongst themselves since prior to Spanish colonization, and the Europeans thought they weren’t capable of uniting against them
They were proven wrong when a revolution lead by Pope, a religious leader, was enacted in 1680 with the purpose of driving out the Spanish and restoring Native autonomy
Warriors destroyed isolated farms and missions, and then surrounded Santa Fe, eventually forcing the Spanish to abandon the town by migrating South out of New Mexico
The Pueblo Revolt is the most complete victory of Native Americans over their European colonizers and the only full expulsion of settlers in the history of North America
The native warriors then turned with vengeance to destroy all symbols of European culture by burning churches and other Christian symbols and washing away their baptisms
They rebuilt Native places of worship called Kivas and resumed religious practices the friars had banned
The Pueblo people stopped cooperating after some time and conflict emerged between the villages, letting the Spanish reconquer New Mexico by the end of the 17th century
However, they were more lenient towards the Natives’ traditional religious practices and were less exploitative of their labor

Question 45

Where did the French establish their first colony?

Answer 45

The French had hoped to find gold and find a sea route connecting the Atlantic to the pacific, but were disappointed and saw North America as a large barrier
For the majority of the 16th century, only French explorers, fishermen pirates and fur traders visited the eastern coast of North America
French’s attempts to establish settlements would be stopped by inadequate planning and finances, as well as Native resistance
The French explorer Samuel de Champlian eventually established their settlement of Quebec in the early 17th century, followed by French establishments in the Mississippi River Valley and the Ohio Rivers
French Canada was ruled by the Company of New France by a governor general appointed in Paris until the mid-17th century

Question 46

Why was New France’s population considerably small and thinly spread?

Answer 46

The French government sent few colonists to New France because they feared a larger number of colonists would undermine France’s status as a major European power and compromise attempts to establish trade and diplomatic relations with the Natives
New France also remained an outpost of Catholicism and didn’t welcome the Huguenots escaping their country for refuge after the crown revoked the Edict of Nantes
The standard of living was higher in France than in the colonies
To be successful in the fur trade, merchants had to establish good relations with the local Native tribes and many of the French didn’t want to make the effort
Most of the colonists were men and very rarely did complete families migrate (so no re-population)

Question 47

How did the French treat the Native population, and why did this differ from the Spanish and the English?

Answer 47

The French established a series of military, commercial and diplomatic connections with the Native people, since they depended on them for providing furs to supply the French fur trade
Unlike the English and Spain, they didn’t appropriate the Natives’ land or conquer their people and force them to perform manual labor
Samuel de Champlain, a leading explorer during the beginning stages of the France colonies, insisted on religious toleration for all Christians and refuted the notion that Native Americans were culturally or intellectually inferior
The Jesuits were a Catholic missionary group that succeeded in converting many Natives, but they allowed Chrisian Natives to retain their independence and social order, and they didn’t suppress traditional religious practices

Question 48

How did contact with the French change the Canadian Native American tribes?

Answer 48

Contact with the French still lead to major changes in Native society
European diseases were still spread to the native people
Native people were also brought into the Atlantic economy through participation in the fur trade
Native Americans and Europeans were soon involved in each others’ conflicts

Question 49

How did the French settlers intermingle with the Native Americans?

Answer 49

The French encouraged the Indians to assimilate into French society
Marriages between Indian women and French traders/officials occurred and their children were called métis
The Indians were encouraged to adopt European gender roles and speak French
However, it was far more likely for the French to be attracted to the free lifestyle of the Native Americans

Question 50

Where was New Dutch founded. amd what was their status prior to exploration?

Answer 50

In the early 17th century, Henry Hudson, representing the Dutch East India Company, sailed into New York Harbor and encountered many fur-bearing animals and Native Americans eager to trade furs for European goods
The area was claimed for the Netherlands and Dutch traders established many trading outposts in the area
The Dutch were concurrently experiencing a golden age of achievements in the arts and sciences, as well as dominating international commerce
They invented the joint stock company to share the financial resources and share the risk of maritime voyages

Question 51

What freedoms and liberties did Dutch society possess that were unique in the European colonies, including to women and African slaves?

Answer 51

The Dutch enjoyed freedom of the press and broad religious toleration that was unique amongst European nations
Many religiously persecuted individuals like French Huguenots and those escaping form the Anglican church, as well as Jewish people, came to the Netherlands for refuge
Other immigrants arrived in hopes of sharing in the Dutch’s wealth
These newcomers would soon inhabit the Dutch’s overseas empire
New Amsterdam was essentially a fortified military outpost controlled by appointees of the Dutch West India Company, and the governing was in no way democratic
However, Dutch colonists enjoyed freedoms that differed from other nations’ colonies
They received more liberties in religious freedom and religious toleration was expanded to the catholics, Protestants and reluctantly to the Jewish people since they had invested in the company’s shares
The Dutch dominated the Atlantic slave trade in the early 17th century, but some of their slaves enjoyed “half-freedom” and given land to support their families, although they still had obligations to work for the company
They were also usually employed on family farms, or for household/craft labor, in contrast to the large plantations of the English colonies
Married women retained their legal identity, and could go to court, borrow money and own property

Question 52

What was the population of New Dutch? What attempts were made to appeal to potential settlers?

Answer 52

The Dutch West India Company attempted to attract settlers by promising colonists religious toleration, cheap livestock and free land after six years of labor
Eventually, they also let go of their monopoly on the fur trade
The company established a plan of “Freedoms and Exemptions” that offered large estates to patroons (shareholders that agreed to transport tenants for agricultural labor)
The patroon would purchase title to the land from the Indians, but then be entitled to 10% of his tenants’ annual income and complete legal authority within his domain, like a medieval lord
Kiliaen van Rensselaer took advantage of this system, and his autocratic rule over the tenants and taking over of some areas settled by English colonists would lead to protests later
While the Dutch sent many people overseas to populate and govern their colonies, very few made North America their home and new Netherlands remained a small outpost for the Dutch empire

Question 53

What were the Dutch relations with the local Native tribes?

Answer 53

The Dutch had recently won their independence from Spain in the 16th century and sympathized with the Natives as victims of Spanish oppression, although their primary goal was to employ the Indians in the profitable fur trade
The Dutch recognized Indian sovereignty over the land and prohibited settling land without purchase, but they required tribes to make payments to colonial governments
They were not free from conflicts with the Native Americans, like when Governor William Kieft began seizing fertile farmland from the Algonquian Indians
They managed to establish friendly commercial and diplomatic relations with the Iroquois Confederacy