Pre-Columbian Exchange and Spanish Exploration and Influence I Flashcards
Timeline: The Americas, Europe, and Africa Before 1492
13,000-7,000BC: Humans cross land bridge between Asia and North America. 5,000BC: Corn domesticated in Mesoamerica. 2,000BC-900AD: Mayan civilization flourishes in Yucatan Peninsula. 622: Muhammad receives vision for Islam. 1,000AD: Leif Ericson arrives in present-day Canada. 1,100AD: Cahokia at its peak near modern St. Louis. 1325-1521: Aztec civilization flourishes in present-day Mexico. 1346: Black Death decimates Europe. 1492: Columbus arrives in Bahamas. 1400-1532: Inca Empire thrives in South America.
*The Americas* (A)
Great civilizations had risen and fallen in the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans. In North America, the complex Pueblo societies including the Mogollon, Hohokam, and Anasazi as well as the city at Cahokia had peaked and were largely memories. The Eastern Woodland peoples were thriving, but they were soon overwhelmed as the number of English, French, and Dutch settlers increased.
*The Americas* (B)
Mesoamerica and South America had also witnessed the rise and fall of cultures. The once-mighty Mayan population centers were largely empty. In 1492, however, the Aztecs in Mexico City were at their peak. Subjugating surrounding tribes and requiring tribute of both humans for sacrifice and goods for consumption, the island city of Tenochtitlán was the hub of an ever-widening commercial center and the equal of any large European city until Cortés destroyed it. Further south in Peru, the Inca linked one of the largest empires in history through the use of roads and disciplined armies. Without the use of the wheel, they cut and fashioned stone to build Machu Picchu high in the Andes before abandoning the city for unknown reasons. Thus, depending on what part of the New World they explored, the Europeans encountered peoples that diverged widely in their cultures, traditions, and numbers.
Origins of Early People in the Americas - Bering Land Bridge Theory
The Bering Land Bridge Theory has been the most widely accepted in the scientific community for the last 50 years. Basically, the idea is that during the last ice age, about 20,000 years ago (or a little less), lower water levels created a frozen bridge of land. The first settlers of the Americas are believed to have come across this land bridge called ‘Beringia’. This theory has dominated for a long time, but there are other ideas discussing what may have brought the people who developed into native cultures.
Beringia
Beringia is the land and maritime area between the Lena River in Russia and the Mackenzie River in Canada and marked on the north by 72 degrees north latitude in the Chuckchi Sea and on the south on the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Origins of Early People in the Americas - Coastal Route Hypothesis
The coastal route hypothesis is based on the idea that the first people to inhabit North America traveled by boat down the Pacific coast, living in areas of ice-free land, called refugia, along the way. They may have hunted some land animals, but they also would have fished and hunted sea mammals. Once they reached lands south of the ice sheets, some groups then made their way inland and settled in central and southern North America. These people were the ancestors of the people who later made and used the Clovis spear points.
Origins of Early People in the Americas - Solutrean hypothesis / Atlantic Theory
The Solutrean hypothesis (or Atlantic Theory) on the peopling of the Americas claims that the earliest human migration to the Americas took place from Europe, during the Last Glacial Maximum, 21,000 to 17,000 years ago. It is thought that ‘Clovis Points’ found in America resemble that of those found in Europe around this time period. Few, if any, scholars take this theory seriously.
Origins of Early People in the Americas - Oceana Theory / Pacific Crossing Theory
The Oceania Theory says that humanity came to the Americas first by crossing the Pacific Ocean from Australia and the South Pacific islands. Archaeological findings in Monte Verde, Chile predate Clovis sites associated with the Bering Land Bridge Theory by about 1,000 years. At this present time, evidence is not conclusive enough for it to be a viable theory if we are to assume all or most of America was colonized through this theory alone.
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in North America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica, and within this region pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the 16th century, European diseases like smallpox and measles caused the deaths of upwards of 90% of the indigenous people. It is one of five areas in the world where ancient civilization arose independently, and the second in the Americas along with Norte Chico (Caral-Supe) in present-day Peru, in the northern coastal region.
Mesoamerica - Olmec
The Olmec were the first elaborate pre-Columbian civilization of Mesoamerica (1200–400 BC) and one that is thought to have set many of the fundamental patterns evinced by later American Indian cultures of Mexico and Central America, notably the Maya and the Aztec. The Nahuatl (Aztec) name for these people, Olmecatl, or Olmec in the modern corruption, means “rubber people” or “people of the rubber country.” That term was chosen because the Olmecs extracted latex from Panama rubber trees growing in the region and mixed it with the juice of a local vine to create rubber.
Mesoamerica - Maya
The Maya civilization (250-1400 AD) was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya peoples, and noted for its logo-syllabic script (similar to Chinese characters) - the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in pre-Columbian Americas—as well as for its art, architecture, mathematics, an incredibly advanced calendar, and astronomical system. The Maya civilization developed in an area that encompasses southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. The Mayan never disappeared, but instead disbanded their cities.
Mesoamerica - Aztec
The Aztecs (1325-1521 AD), who probably originated as a nomadic tribe in northern Mexico, arrived in Mesoamerica around the beginning of the 13th century. From their magnificent capital city, Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs emerged as the dominant force in central Mexico, developing an intricate social, political, religious, and commercial organization that brought many of the region’s city-states under their control by the 15th century.
Pre-Incan Civilizations - Nazca Culture
The Nazca culture (also Nasca) was the archaeological culture that flourished from 100 BC to 800 AD beside the arid, southern coast of Peru in the river valleys of the Rio Grande de Nazca drainage and the Ica Valley. Having been heavily influenced by the preceding Paracas culture, which was known for extremely complex textiles, the Nazca produced an array of crafts and technologies such as ceramics, textiles, and geoglyphs—specifically the Nazca Lines. They also built an impressive system of underground aqueducts, known as puquios, that still function today. The Nazca Province in the Ica Region was named for this people.
Pre-Incan Civilizations -Pachacuti/Pachacutec
Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui was the ninth Sapa Inca (1418–1471/1472) of the Kingdom of Cusco which he transformed into the Inca Empire. Most archaeologists now believe that the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu was built as an estate for Pachacuti.
The Inca Empire
The Inca Empire (Quechua: Tawantinsuyu, lit. “The Four Regions”), also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The Inca civilization arose from the Peruvian highlands sometime in the early 13th century. From 1438 to 1533, the Incas incorporated a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean Mountains, using conquest and peaceful assimilation, among other methods. Its political and administrative structure is considered by most scholars to have been the most developed in the Americas before Columbus’ arrival. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was located in the city of Cusco. Its last stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572. Notable features of the Inca Empire include its monumental architecture, especially stonework, extensive road network reaching all corners of the empire, finely-woven textiles, use of knotted strings (quipu) for record keeping and communication, agricultural innovations in a difficult environment, and the organization and management fostered or imposed on its people and their labor.
Mesoamerica - The Aztec and Cortes
Invaders led by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes overthrew the Aztecs by force and captured Tenochtitlan in 1521, bringing an end to Mesoamerica’s last great native civilization. Cortes was able to do this with relative ease because the phenotypical features of the Spanish resembled the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl and much of the Aztec population was already decimated by disease.
The Primary Native American Cultural Groups of the Continental United States.
Northeastern, Southeastern, Plains, Plateau, Great Basin, Southwestern, Northwestern Coast, Subarctic, Arctic, Californian. (Other North American cultural groups are the Mesoamerican and Caribbean.)
Northeastern Native Americans
The tribes of the Northeast are the tribes that encountered the Pilgrims. The tribes of the Northeast lived in the territory from the Atlantic shores to the Mississippi Valley and from the Great Lakes to as far south as the Cumberland River in Tennessee. The people in this group include the Iroquois and the Algonquian. These tribes relied on each other for a very long time for trade, but also spent a great deal of time as warring enemies. The Northeast tribes cleared forests to plant crops and used the lumber to build homes and make tools. The women of many of these tribes did all of the work with crops, while the men primarily hunted and fished. An interesting note on the Iroquois social structure is that it was matrilineal. This means when a couple married, the man joined the woman’s family. After marriage, the man was no longer considered a part of his birth family. This family structure was not completely unique to the Iroquois, but it certainly would have seemed odd to European settlers.
The Iroquois League
The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse) are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy. They were known during the colonial years to the French as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy, and to the English as the Five Nations, comprising the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, they accepted the Tuscarora people from the Southeast into their confederacy and became known as the Six Nations.
Southeastern Native Americans
The tribes of the Southeast cultural group stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Trinity River in what is today Texas and from the Gulf of Mexico north as far as points in modern-day Missouri, Kentucky, and West Virginia. The tribes in this group included the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole. These are the people who would be referred to by whites as “the Five Civilized Tribes”. They were given this title because many of them decided to adopt customs of the colonists. They are also the people who later were victims of the forced relocation known as the Trail of Tears. The Southeastern tribes settled in river valleys. They were first and foremost farmers with hunting and fishing coming in second as their source of sustenance. They lived in various styles of houses. They included thatched roofs and various styles for the sides.
Great Plains Native Americans
The Plains tribes covered much of the middle of what is today the U.S. and Canada. The Plains tribes are greatly tied to horse culture and the hunting of the buffalo, but remember, this lifestyle was not possible until the horse was introduced to the Americas by Europeans. Earlier, many of these tribal groups were hunter-gatherers and farmers who lived in villages or at least semi-permanent settlements. Many groups later moved into the Plains region to partake in the new buffalo-hunting horse culture. From the feathered headdresses to teepees, almost everyone is familiar with some aspect of these groups. The most well-known tribes of the area are the Sioux, Pawnee, Blackfoot, Crow, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. The tribes today generally referred to as Sioux were the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota people. Sioux was a name given to them by their enemies.
Southwestern Native Americans
The Southwest cultural group territory goes from the south of present-day Utah and Colorado down through Arizona and New Mexico. This includes parts of Texas, California, and Oklahoma and continues into Mexico. These tribes all have the dry climate binding them together as a group. Two basic lifestyles developed in the region: farming and nomadic. Agriculture north of Mexico reached its highest level of development in the Southwest. Examples of farming, or agrarian, people include the Hopi, Zuni, and many other tribes. The nomadic groups include tribes such as the Apache, Navajo, and others. Agrarian tribes like the Hopi and Zuni developed desert farming techniques that did not require irrigation. They relied on the little natural moisture the area does provide by using specific planting techniques and getting the crops in as early in the season as possible. They traditionally grew corn, beans, and squash. For meat, they also farmed turkeys and did some hunting. Nomadic groups like the Apache were hunters and gatherers. The men hunted deer, rabbits, and other game. The women gathered berries, nuts, corn, and other fruits and vegetables. Being nomads, they moved from place to place in search of resources. Interestingly, most in these groups did not eat fish, although fish were plentiful. The Navajo were actually a farming people, and they lived in permanent dwellings, but they had two homes, called hogans - one in the mountains and one in the desert. Later their lifestyle included herding sheep. After the arrival of horses, both the Apache and the Navajo lifestyle became closely tied to riding horses.
Northwestern Coast Native Americans
The Northwestern Coast cultural group followed the West Coast all the way from Northern California all the way up to the southernmost parts of Alaska. Tribes of the Northwest Coast had oceans, rivers, and forests to offer up plenty of fish and game. Even with very little agriculture, the Northwest Coast Native Americans had more than enough food to support a dense population. Because of the readily available food and building materials for their large plank houses and seaworthy boats, the tribes had time to achieve an affluent, highly complex society. Much of this society revolved around the custom of the potlatch, an opulent ceremonial feast at which possessions were given away or destroyed to display wealth or enhance prestige. Chinook and Tillamook are two of the well-known tribes of this region.
Pre-Columbian Culture and Development - Social Organization - Eastern North America
The settlements of Eastern North America featured structures that resembled many Greek city-states with regards to either a king with a very powerful council or the placement of power in the hands of an assembly.
