APUSH- Period 1

Pre-Columbian Peoples of the American Southwest

Date: Era before 1492

Theme: Geography and the Environment

-The Ancestral Pueblo people lived in areas of the current Southwestern United States

-The Spanish called them the Pueblo people because many lived in small towns (pueblos); they are also known as the Anasazi people

-They developed complex, technologically advanced societies and architecture

-They became increasingly dependent on the cultivation of maize

-Climatic change and regional conflicts led them to abandon the civilizations they had developed over hundreds of years and join other Southwest groups

Historical Context: The pre-Columbian peoples of the American Southwest were agriculturally focused groups that developed powerful and complex societies.

Pre-Columbian Peoples of the Great Basin and Great Plains

Date: Era before 1492

Theme: Geography and the Environment

-The Great Basin is a 400,000-square-mile area between the Rocky and Sierra Mountains

-Peoples of the Great Basin include the Shoshone, Piute, and Ute

-The Great Plains is a large area between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains

-Peoples of the Great Plains include the Sioux, Blackfoot, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Osage, Wichita, and Omaha

Historical Context: The pre-Columbian peoples in the Great Basin and Great Plains were migratory because of limited resources

Pre-Columbian Peoples of the American Atlantic Seaboard

Date: Era before 1492

Theme: Geography and the Environment

-Hundreds of tribes along the St Lawrence and Great Lakes made up the Algonquian people

-Another group of tribes in present-day New York State formed the Iroquois Great Law of Peace

-Over time, the Iroquois grew more cohesive and became a powerful force in the pre-Columbian period

Historical Context: The pre-Columbian peoples of the American Atlantic Seaboard cultivated crops and participated in foraging and hunting, often creating lasting settlements.

Christopher Columbus

Date: 1451-1506

Theme: America in the World

-Columbus was an Italian-born navigator who landed in the Americas (October 12, 1492)

-He set sail on behalf of Spain with three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and his flagship, the Santa Maria

-Originally, he had sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean to find a water route to Asia

-Columbus was convinced that he had found the waterway that he sought and that the Americas were actually an extension of China

-He returned from his expedition with gold, encouraging future exploration

Historical Context: The conquest of the New World produced a more ethnically diverse population and led to a new social system that often exploited native peoples and slave labor.

Columbian Exchange

Date: 1492-1500s

Theme: Work, Exchange, and Technology

-The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of new crops, livestock, culture, disease, technology, and ideas between Europe and the New World after Spanish settlement (named for Christopher Columbus)

-Europeans brought horses, goats, cows, chickens, coffee, and wheat, among other goods

-Germs caused widespread disease and death in the New World

-Europe’s population grew and its economy suffered from inflation during this time

Historical Context: The goods and technologies that colonists brought changed the migration patterns and social practices of the New World

Treaty of Tordesillas

Date: 1493

Theme: America in the World

-The Treaty of Tordesillas was a treaty between Spain and Portugal

-The treaty created a Papal Line of Demarcation, which divided the New World: east of the line for Portugal and west of it for Spain

-Portugal also received the easternmost part of what is currently Brazil

-Later, the Papal Line affected colonization in Africa and Asia

Historical Context: European exploration and colonization in the Western World created major conflicts between European nations

New Spain

Date: 1400s and 1500s

Theme: Work, Exchange, and Technology

-New Spain was the Spanish Empire’s tightly controlled territory in the New World

-Mainly located in North and Central America, New Spain included the Caribbean and Spanish East Indies

-To deal with labor shortages, the Spanish developed a system of large manors (encomiendas) using enslaved American Indians under conquistadors

-With the deaths of enslaved American Indians, Spain began transporting enslaved people from Africa to supply their labor needs

Historical Context: Spain closely managed its settlements in the New World and often maintained these colonies with native and slave laborers, who were at the bottom of the Spanish social pyramid

Encomienda System

Date: Formalized in 1503

Theme: Work, Exchange, and Technology

-Spain developed the encomienda system to exploit American Indian labor, often in a brutal way

-Spain granted tracts of land to Spanish settlers in the New World

-It gave settlers the right to use inhabitants for agriculture and for mining precious metals, a portion of which the settlers sent back to the monarchy

-Spain eventually reformed the governance of its colonies with the repartimiento and took direct control over their management

Historical Context: Spain closely managed its settlements in the New World and often maintained these colonies with native and slave laborers, who were at the bottom of the Spanish social pyramid

Social Structure of Spanish America

Date: 1500s-1700s

Theme: Social Structure

-Some Spainards held traditional notions of the superiority of “pure blood”

-This ideology was at odds with regular intermarriage in the colonial world

-The Spanish casta system defined the variety of multiracial people in the New World

-Peninsulares (born in Spain) and creoles (born in the New World of Spanish parents) had the highest social status

-Next were mestizos (children of Spanish men and American Indian women) and mulattos (children of Spanish men and African women)

-American Indians and Africans were seen as the bottom of the social pyramid

Historical Context: Spain closely managed its settlements in the New World and often maintained these colonies with native and slave laborers, who were at the bottom of the Spanish social pyramid

Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

Date: Repartimiento Instated in 1542

Theme: Social Structures

-Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas criticized Spain’s brutal encomienda system and reported on atrocities against native peoples

-He initially advocated for using African slave labor but later came to believe that all slavery was morally wrong

-Spanish theologian Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda defended Spanish treatment of native peoples; he claimed that they were “natural slaves” and that “natural law” and Catholic theology dictated that Spain should master and civilize them

-This debate led to limits on the encomienda system with the repartimiento system, though the major lasting impact was growth of the African slave trade

Historical Context: The rights and treatment of native peoples was a point of contention among some Spanish and Portuguese colonizers

St. Augustine, Florida

Date: 1598

Theme: Migration and Settlement

-French Protestants (Huguenots) went to the New World to practice their religion freely, and they formed a colony near modern-day St. Augustine, Florida

-Spain, which oversaw Florida, reacted violently to the Huguenots because they were trespassers and because the Catholic Church viewed them as heretics

-Spain sent a force to the settlement and massacred the inhabitants

-The settlement at St. Augustine, Florida is considered to be the first permanent European settlement in what would become the United States

Historical Context: Spain closely managed its settlements in the New World and often maintained these colonies with native and slave laborers, who were at the bottom of the Spanish social pyramid

Juan de Oñate and the Acoma War

Date: 1598

Theme: Social Structure

-Juan de Oñate was a Spanish conquistador

-His soldiers occupied Western New World lands where the Acoma Pueblo people lived

-The Acoma resisted an order to hand over supplies they needed to survive the winter

-The Acoma killed several of the Spanish soldiers, including Oñate’s nephew

-Oñate’s forces responded by killing more than 800 native people, putting the survivors on trial, and enslaving the remaining Acoma

Historical Context: As European demands on native peoples grew, these peoples sought to protect their beliefs, practices, resources, and independence

Maroon Communities

Date: 1500s-1700s

Theme: American and Regional Culture

-Maroons were Africans who escaped from slavery in the New World and established independent communities (many of them in the Caribbean and Brazil)

-Maroons tried to preserve memories of Africa by continuing certain traditions

-One significant community was Palmares, established in Brazil

-Other enslaved Africans fled and joined communities of Arawak Indians

-Maroons came to control large areas of the Jamaican interior

Historical Context: Many enslaved Africans kept their traditions or adapted their culture to the New World to maintain their identity