Period 1: Foundations 1491-1607 Flashcards
Vinland
-First European colony in North America (Newfoundland)
-settled by modern day Scandinavians
What were the THREE most important Mesoamerican Indian empires? what were they known for?
-Aztecs
-Olmec
-Maya
(All in Mexico)
Known for art/architecture, calendars, writing systems, and irrigation systems.
How did Native American societies respond to the climate of the Great Plains/Basin? other characteristics of Plains Indians
They became nomadic, following the animals they hunted.
-feathered headdresses
-hunted buffalo
-ride horses
-mobile lifestyle! but some developed more sedentary lifestyles
Cahokia (location and what was it)
-Largest urban concentration of Indians (N Mexico)
-Located on the BANKS OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER
When and how did migrants begin arriving to the Americas?
Around 40,000 years ago over the Bering Land Bridge!!
WHAT did Native Americans of the Northeast, Mississippi River Vally, and Atlantic Seaboard SHARE?
They all developed MIXED ECONOMIES (combining private and public enterprises) that used agricultural and hunting/gathering. this..
-favored development of permanent villages due to farming which required settlement
How did MAIZE impact the development of Native American societies?
-growth of economies
-new settlements
-advanced irrigation
-increased social diversification
BECAUSE societies could focus less on food production and more on other tasks
maize=corn
Prior to Columbus’s arrival, where was most of the New World’s population concentrated?
Concentrated in Central and South America where civilizations (Maya, Aztecs, Incas, etc.) flourished
Iroquois Confederacy (1451)
A loose political alliance of five Indian nations
became really strong force
- Europeans referred to them as “Romans of the New World”
-lasted until American Revolution
How did the Native Americans of the Pacific coast support themselves?
Used the enormous resources of the ocean when weren’t hunting/gathering
FISH!
How did Native Americans respond to Europeans’ divergent worldviews
-trying to adopt useful aspects of E’s culture
-defending their way of life too through military resistance and negotiations
**Racial justifications for the enslavement/murder of Africans and Native Americans emerged!
What was the purpose of Columbus’s voyage 1492? (funded by Spanish monarchy)
To discover a western route to India
arriving in New World, named peoples Indians because he thought he succeeded
After Columbus established permanent contact with the New World, how did Spain focus its colonial efforts?
Spain focused primarily on conquest and expeditions
results were bad in spain: debt, inflation, taxes
How did contact with Europeans affect the native inhabitants of the New World?
Indians had no resistance to European diseases and 90% died (smallpox, etc)
remaining were enslaved to work on Spanish farms/mines under Encomienda System.
Columbian Exchange
-Interchange of flora, fauna, and diseases between Europe and New World
-American crops (corn, potatoes, cassava) were brought back to Europe
Encomienda system
1st: Spanish gov provided grants of land and Indians to Spaniards
2nd: Spaniards cared for Indians (who worked for Spaniards) and converted them to Catholicism
Protestant Reformation 1500s
-revolt against authority of the Pope and established new versions of Christianity
-many new Christian sects would seek refuge in the New World
How did Protestants and Catholics view the religious nature of exploration/conquest?
-Both viewed religious conversion of Indians as primary justification for exploration and conquest
-each group wanted to convert Indians to their version
how did the peopling of north america likely take place
likely came over the “Bering Land Bridge” from SIBERIA and moved south from there
Iroquois
-an abundance of timber
-Longhouse- permanent villages
-confederacy: Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayuga, Senecas, and LATER Tuscarora
-matriarchal** leadership
-MAIZE and THREE SISTERS OH M MY GOD
Utes
-nomadic tribe
-in western plains
-hunted buffalo
GREAT BASIN
west coastal area
fished and traded
Pueblos
-southwest
-sometimes called Anazi people
-logs and mud bricks
-roads
-housing: small towns, Pueblos
-advanced irrigation systems and tech
-beans, squash, maize
-domesticated turkeys and dogs to help with hunting
Chesapeake region
Jamestown, joint stock company
-christopher newport and john smith
-first years are rough and most parish due to…
bad weather
drought
hunger
sickness
indigenous hostility
bacon’s rebellion
Poor farmers and Indentured servants attack Native Americans and also then go after the Royal Governor and the Plantation owners
Effect:
owners become more interested in Slavery instead of indentured
why did Pueblo ppl disperse and what were the effects
due to climatic change (severe drought and volcano), they dispersed around the Four Corners region
effect:
some settled w Rio Grande valley communities
some united w Zunis and Hopis
Shoshone, Ute, and Paiute ppl of GREAT BASIN
SUP
lack of natural resources
pottery and basket-making
**“desert culture”- characterized by seasonable mobility and during the year hunters and foragers looked for food
chinook ppl of PACIFIC northeast
-several groups all speaking related languages
-settled communities, longhouses of up to 50 ppl/house
-econ development and social stratification
higher caste which lived in isolation…
shamans, warriors, successful merchants
**SWSM**
three sisters
CBS
corn
beans
squash
why did the age of Exploration start??
-want more christians
-comp for power and status
-new source of wealth
impact of colombian exchange on EUROPE
brought back CCTTP: cocoa, corn, turkey, tomatoes, potatoes, also tobacco:((
**these revolutionized agricultural and culinary traditions in europe
also brought syphilis
impact of colombian exchange on AMERICA
disease
introduced to pets, livestock, weeds
brought sugar, wheat, bananas
goats, cows, chicken, HORSES!!!
economic impact of conquest in spain
- inflation- the influx of silver and gold set off in the 1500s, ordinary items were more expensive
- taxes- so the monarchy could pay for the military expeditions to secure New world
- debt- kept borrowing $$ from European banks and this depressed Spanish economy- some Spaniards (natives) didn’t recover until 1800s
revolution in navigation
compass
astrolabe
quadrant
hourglass
Portulanos- detailed maps
these helped plot direction, determine speed, assess latitude
treaty of tordesillas
between Spain and Portugal
-Spain got land of the Americas
-Portugal got Brazil and Africa
soon after European settlement in americas, a system of slavery developed. what was the impact of the slave trade on africa?
- concept changed- now, captured Africans were thought of as slaves FOR LIFE and so were the children of slaves
- introduction of European items- undermined traditional African economy
- resistance- maroon communities which were Africans who escaped from slavery in new world and developed independent communities (preserved African tradition in New World)
matrilineal vs patrilinial
m: members were identified by mothers’ lineages (American Indian societies)
p: identified by fathers’ lineages (European societies)
