APUSH Period 1 (1491-1607)

Period 1 Summary

1491 marks one year prior to the arrival of Columbus and Europeans in large numbers to the Americas. Additionally, 1607 is the year that the first permanent English settlement was established in Jamestown, Virginia. Period 1 focuses significantly on Native American life PRIOR to the arrival of Europeans. Furthermore, the impacts of the Columbian Exchange on Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans are important to know.

autonomy

to have self-government or independence.

Native Americans and Africans sought to preserve autonomy in the face of contact with Europeans.

subjugation

to take control of a person or group of people by force.

Native Americans and Africans were subjugated by Europeans, often in the form of slavery.

maize

corn, grown in present-day Mexico and spread to the Southwest portion of the present-day United States.

Native Americans built societies around maize. Once it was introduced to Europe (Columbian Exchange), it helped lead to a drastic increase in population.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

encomienda system

Spanish system of granting land to colonists in the New World.

This system exploited Native Americans and resources. Eventually, Native American labor was replaced with African slave labor.

For each region listed below based on the map, describe what Native American life was like.

Great Plains/Great Basin: mainly hunting, did not have many resources

Southwest: foragers, hunter-gatherers, fished

Northeast: hunted and farmed, had some maize yet still hunted

What technological improvements allowed for European Exploration?

sextant - like a GPS, determined longitude, and latitude

joint stock companies - people collect all their money together in order to pay for explorations

What is the Columbian Exchange?

the Columbian Exchange was an exchange of goods, ideas, people and diseases between Europe Africa and America

What impact did the Exchange have on Europe?

brought more goods - potatoes and maize greatly affected the population

shift from feudalism to capitalism

What impact did the Exchange have on Natives?

not immune to diseases Europeans brought - more than 90% died once they came in contact

horses and guns affected way of life - easier to hunt and battles more destructive

What impact did the Exchange have on Africans?

increase in the slave trade - Portuguese and Spanish in West Africa

How did the Encomienda System impact Natives?

natives now working as slaves for labor

Christianized once given land

treated harshly and forced to do heavy manual labor

What replaced the Encomienda System?

African Americans were brought in and replaced with slave labor

How did Europeans often view Natives?

Europeans viewed natives as "uncivilized people"

In what ways did Africans preserve autonomy in the Western Hemisphere?

they preserved autonomy by combining Christianity with their religions

created their own communities of runaway slaves - marron communities