1.2 Native American Societies Before European Contact
Latin America
Mayans, Aztecs, Incas. The latter two were formed centuries after the decline of the Mayans. The Aztecs went to Central America, and the Incas went to Peru.
All highly advanced civilizations extensively traded with each other.
North America
North American societies were sparse and less developed. This was due to the slow cultivation of corn.
The natives had a huge diversity, especially in language (20 language families).
Northwest were hunters and fishers. Southwest had pueblos and cave/cliff houses. The Great Plains were inhabited by nomadic people due to the dry climate. The Mississippi was where the people who built large mounds for houses lived. The Northeast was the Iroquois Confederation. Atlantic Southeast was the Cherokee.
These tribes were hugely diverse and only later formed a collective identity.
Most tribes were semi-permanent settlements. All used irrigation, but lots hunted and gathered. The three sisters of farming were corn, beans, and squash. No domesticated animals yet; Europeans brought those.
1.3 European Exploration in the Americas
Exploration
Three key motivators:
First was Technology: The Renaissance brought Gunpowder, the Sailing Compass, and the Printing Press. Shipbuilding innovations such as the Caravels revolutionized travel.
Second was Religion: Spain reconquered Iberia (previously controlled by muslims). The Protestant Reformation was in full swing, and many wanted to convert others to their religion.
Desire for Luxury Goods(wealthy upper class wanted to scratch their itch for luxury goods imported for asia)
Fierce competition for trade with Asia, so many searched for faster routes. The land-based routes to Asia were controlled by the Muslims, and the Europeans weren’t able to establish an exchange of goods with Asia on their own terms.
Slaves were used in sugar plantations.
Politics
Smaller kingdoms and multiethnic empires led to nation states and multiethnic empires.
PEOPLE WANTED LAND, and so they went to try and get some.
Spain
The first to colonize America through Columbus.
The Treaty of Tordesillas, with Portugal, split the New World. Everything east was Portugal (Hence why Brazil speaks Portuguese), and everything west was Spain.
Led to Portugal going east to Asia!
The desire to find more wealth for economic and military competition.
3 G’s (Gold, Glory, God) were the main motivators
England
Challenged Spain's colonies and Naval Power
Established Roanoke, and that failed miserably.
They were less hyper-focused on Religion than Spain
The English live separately from the Natives.
Sometimes, coexistence, but mostly conflict and open warfare, leads to Natives being pushed further and further west.
France
France was too invested in European Stuff
They had the best relationship with Native Americans
Came along Quebec, Canada, after the Beaver Fur Trade.
Lots intermarried with Native Americans, who went down the Mississippi River and created Louisiana and New Orleans. This is new trade stuff.
Dutch
Didn’t do much. Go along the Hudson, and New Amsterdam (present-day NYC) was founded. Huge proponent of Women's rights and Egalitarian (Everyone can do well basically)
Joint stock company!!
1.4 Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, and Conquest
Conquest
Spain saw rapid power and wealth. By the end of the 1500s, the most powerful empire in the world
Cortés conquered the Aztecs. Pizarro conquered the Incas.
Columbian Exchange
This led to the Columbian exchange, which brought goods to Europe and the Americas.
Europeans gave Animals (Domestication!), Ideas, Alcohol, and Disease (This went both ways)
Disease kills 90% of Indians, with Smallpox, Measles.
Creates Radical demographic change, and creates dependence on Europeans
The exchange benefited Europe more: Corn and crops were exported to Europe, which led to a population boom.
Effect - Europe moves from Feudalism to capitalism.
Exchange of the Columbian Exchange:
Americas to Europe:
Maize
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Cacao
Tobacco
Europe/Africa to Americas:
Rice
Wheat
Soybeans
Rye
Oats
Lemons
Oranges
Horses
Pigs
Cattle
Chickens
The Spanish colonization efforts were driven by the state and specifically its mercantilist economic policies. Mercantilism depended on heavy governmental direction and intervention. Many nations later would privatize exploration with a new method called Joint-Stock Companies.
1.5 Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System
Encomienda system
A coerced labor system where Natives were given land and protection.
De Las Casas
Ended Native American Slavery because of morals. LEADS TO AFRICAN SLAVERY
African Slavery - 10-15% died during the Middle Passage.
Asiento system - The Colonist pays taxes per imported slave
In the Spanish Caste system, there was a racial hierarchy:
The caste system was based on racial ancestry:
Important -> Least important
Peninsulares(Spain born, spain ancestry)
Criollos(spain born in the americas)
Mestizos
Mulattoes
Africans
Native Americans
1.6 Cultural Interactions Between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans
Conflict
Natives were polytheistic (many gods), with more women's rights, traditional approach.
Europeans were Monotheistic (one god), had fewer women's rights, and legal documents.
Natives were viewed as inferior, a means of economic gain/ religious conversion.
Spain subjugated the Natives.
England expelled natives rather than subjugating them because England wanted land
The French sought trade with the Natives, so France had fewer colonies.
Summary
Comparison
Whereas the Spanish and Portuguese subjugated the Natives the most, the French had the best relations with the Natives. English kicked 'em out.
Spain and Portugal colonized mainly Central and South America, while Britain, France, and the Netherlands settled in North America.
Native Americans tended to be polytheistic, whereas Europeans were monotheistic.
Continuity
People wanted land and participation in trade with Asia.
Change
Many Native American tribes and Mesoamerican societies thrived prior to European arrival, but quickly fell to disease and conquest.
Economic systems in Europe gradually transitioned from the feudalism of the Middle Ages to the beginnings of free-market capitalism.
Causation
Since the Natives had no immunity from European diseases, European diseases such as smallpox severely impacted them.
Desires to spread Christianity and economic gains caused Europeans to seek exploration