Period 1 APUSH

What are some of the clans that are part of the Iroquois?

the Seneca, Onondaga, Mohawk, Oneida, and Cayuga nations, as well as the Cherokee and Tuscarora

What type of people were the Iroquois

The Iroquois were farmer/ hunters who lived in extended family groups (clans), sharing bark-covered longhouses in towns of 3,000 or more people.

Traits of the eastern woodland people

the peoples along the Gulf of Mexico who farmed and hunted and spoke the Muskogean language

what were some of the changes in Europe that spurred on the need to explore outside known lands (America)

Dramatic intellectual changes and scientific discoveries, along with sustained population growth, transformed religion, warfare, family life, and national economies. In addition, the resurgence of old vices—greed, conquest, exploitation, oppression, racism, and slavery—helped fuel European expansion abroad

what replaced the serf-noble system?

A trade-based economy with a new "middle class" of profit-hungry bankers, merchants, and investors emerged. 'they were committed to an increasingly dynamic commercial trade economy fueled by innovations in banking, currency, accounting, and insurance.

what are some of the features of the southwest?

The arid (dry) Southwest (present-day Arizona, New
Mexico, Nevada, and Utah) featured a landscape of high mesas, deep canyons, vast
deserts, long rivers, and snow-covered mountains that hosted corn-growing societies.

What are some of the tribes that live in the southwest today?

The Hopis, Zunis, and others still live in the multistory adobe cliff-side villages (called pueblos by the Spanish), which were erected by their ancient ancestors.

Who are the Hohokam and what are some of the practices they followed

About 500 C.E. (Common Era), the Hohokam ("those who have vanished") people migrated from Mexico northward to southern and central Arizona, where they built extensive canals to irrigate crops. They also crafted decorative pottery and turquoise jewelry, and constructed temple mounds (earthen pyramids used for sacred ceremonies).

What are the names of some of the tribes that lived in the North West region

The Haida, Kwakiutl, and Nootka

What did the North West tribes create due to the population boom and the rise of religion mixed with intricate woodworking skills?

towering totem poles featuring decorative figures of animals and other symbolic characters.

Overview of great plains

The many tribal nations living on the Great Plains, a vast, flat land of cold winters and hot summers west of the Mississippi River, included the Arapaho, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Apache, and Sioux. As nomadic hunter-gatherers, they tracked herds of buffaloes (technically called bison) across a sea of grassland, collecting seeds, nuts, roots, and berries as they roamed. At the center of most hunter-gatherer religions is the idea that the hunted animal is a willing sacrifice provided by the gods (spirits). To ensure a successful hunt, these nomadic peoples performed sacred rites of gratitude before-
hand. Once a buffalo herd was spotted, the hunters would set fires to drive the stampeding animals over cliffs, often killing far more than they could harvest and consume.

What did the Hopewell leave behind that left a pretty big impression specifically on the ground

They left behind enormous earthworks and elaborate burial mounds shaped like snakes, birds, and other animals, several of which were nearly a quarter mile long.

What did the Hopewell and Adena trade

they exchanged exquisite carvings, metalwork, pearls, seashells, copper ornaments, bear claws, and jewelry.

What are some defining characteristics of the Cahokia?

The Cahokians constructed an enormous farming settlement with monumental public buildings, spacious ceremonial plazas, and more than eighty flat-topped earthen mounds with thatch-roofed temples on top. The largest of the mounds, called Monks Mound, was ten stories tall, encompassed fourteen acres, and required 22 million cubic feet of soil.

How large was the Cahokia nation?

At the height of its influence, Cahokia had a population of 15,000 people on some 3,200 acres, making it the largest city north of Mexico.

Where did the Cahokia people go after Cahokia fell?

They spread out and split among three regional groups distinguished by their different languages: the Algonquian, the Iroquoian, and the Muskogean.

How big was the typical Algonquian village?

Their villages typically ranged in size from 500 to 2,000 people.

How did the Algonquians get their food?

The Algonquians foraged for wild food (nuts, berries, and fruits) and practiced agriculture to some extent.

What were some tribes that lived in the eastern woodland region?

the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Natchez, Apalachee, and Timucua.

What did the rulers centralizing power underneath them say about why they were doing that?

this process of centralizing political power was justified in part by claims that European kings ruled by divine right rather than by popular mandate: since God appointed them, only God, not the people, could hold them responsible for their actions.

what actions were spurred on during the renaissance?

challenging prevailing beliefs as well as the absolute authority of rulers and churchmen. They discussed controversial new ideas, engaged in scientific research, and unleashed their artistic creativity. In the process, they fastened on a new phrase—"to discover"—which first appeared in 1553. Voyages of exploration became "voyages of discovery.

What were discoveries in the 15th and 16th centuries

The fifteenth and sixteenth cen-turies also brought the invention of gunpowder, cannons, and firearms—and the printing press.

What are some of the reasons that allowed/ spurred Europeans to travel to the Americas?

The forced exile of Muslims and Jews was one of many factors that enabled Europe's global explorations at the end of the fifteenth century. Other factors urbanization, world trade, the rise of centralized nations, advances in knowledge, technology, and firepower—all combined with natural human curiosity, greed, and religious zeal to spur efforts to find alternative routes to the Indies.

what were the boats names of the first journey of Christopher Columbus

Santa Maria, Pinta, Nina

How did Columbus describe the natives?

Columbus described them as "well-built, with good bodies, and handsome features"— brown-skinned, with straight black hair. He marveled that they could "easily be made Christians" and "would make fine servants," boasting that "with fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." He promised to bring six "natives" back to Spain for "his highnesses." Thus began the typical European bias toward the Indians, the belief that they were inferior peoples worthy of being exploited and enslaved.

What was the unreasonable quota that Christopher Columbus set on the natives of the Caribbean

He decreed that those over age fourteen must bring him at least a thimbleful of gold dust every three months.

What did Columbus do that forced the Spanish to start importing slaves into the Caribbean and Haiti?

Columbus, reported a Spanish priest, was so eager to please Ferdinand and Isabella "that he committed irreparable crimes against the Indians." During fifty years of Spanish control, the Indians on Hispaniola virtually disappeared. In their place, the Spanish began importing enslaved Africans.

What did the treaty of Tordesillas do?

it divided the non-Christian world, giving most of the Western Hemisphere to Spain, with Africa and what would become Brazil granted to Portugal. In practice, this meant that while Spain developed its American empire in the sixteenth century, Portugal provided it with most ofits enslaved African laborers.

Overview of how America was named?

Columbus proved to be a much better ship captain
than a colonizer and a governor. His first business venture in the New World was as a slave trader. When he returned to Spain from his second voyage with hundreds ofcaptive Indians, Queen Isabella, who detested slavery, vvas horrified. "Who is this Columbus who dares to give out myvassals [Indians] as slaves?" incident set in motion a series of investigations into Columbus's behavior. The queen sent a Spanish royal commissioner, Francis Bobadilla, to Hispaniola. The first things he saw were the corpses of six Spanish settlers hanging from a gallows; more colonists were to be hanged the next day. Bobadilla was so shocked that he canceled the executions and announced that he was supplanting Columbus as governor. When Columbus objected, Bobadilla had him jailed for two months before shipping the explorer, now nearly blind and crippled by arthritis, back to Spain in chains in 1500. To the end of his life, in 1506, Columbus insisted that he had discovered the outlying parts of Asia. By one of history's greatest ironies, this led Europeans to name the New World not for Columbus but for another Italian sailor- explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. In 1499, with the support of Portugal's monarchy, Vespucci sailed across the Atlantic, landing first at Brazil and then sailing along 3,000 miles of the South American coastline in search of a passage to Asia. In the end, Vespucci decided that South America was so large and so densely populated that it must be a new continent. In 1507, a German mapmaker paid tribute to Vespucci's navigational skills by labeling the New World using the feminine Latin variant of the explorer's first name: America.

Professional Explorers review

News of the remarkable voyages of Columbus and Vespucci stimulated other expeditions. Ihe first explorer to sight the North American continent was John Cabot, an Italian sponsored by King Henry VII of England. Cabot's landfall in 1497 at what the king called"the new founde lande," in present-day Canada, gave England the basis for a later claim to all of North America. On a return voyage, however, Cabot and his four ships disappeared. Their grim fate as well as the English monarchy's preoccupation with religious strife, suppressing a massive rebellion by Irish Catholics, and conducting a war with France prevented it from following up on Cabot's discoveries for one hundred years. English were unaware that Norsemen ("Vikings") from Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) had in fact been the first Europeans to "discover" and colonize areas of North America. As early as the tenth century, Norsemen had landed on the rocky, fogbound shore of Greenland, a huge island off the northeast coast of North America. They established farming settlements that were active for hundreds of years until prolonged cold weather forced them back to Scandinavia.

Roman Catholic church system

The pope led a sprawling religious empire governed by a hierarchy of cardinals, bishops, priests, monks, and nuns.

What did the efforts of Converting natives show about the state of Christianity in the 1600s

The often brutal efforts of the Spanish to convert native peoples in the Western Hemisphere to Roman Catholicism illustrated the murderous intensity with which European Christians embraced religious life in the sixteenth
century.

Protestant Reformation

A religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church, a reformation based on the belief that everybody should be able to read the doctrines and texts of God through the bible, and should be able to criticize any of the churches behavior if that complaint is rooted in biblical beliefs. He believed that indulgences were wrong and that no one has the right to offer you salvation and freedom other than God himself stating that "by faith alone are you saved!". Protestantism as whole is based on the idea that monarchical hierarchies isn't how rules should be governed and that belief should be outside a governing body and shouldn't be controlled by them (inspiring the idea of limited government)

What is the treaty of Augsburg?

A settlement between Lutherans and Catholics did not come until 1555, when the Treaty of Augsburg allowed each German prince to determine the official religion of his subjects.

Summary of John Calvin

The passage describes the significant role of John Calvin in the Protestant Reformation, comparing his influence to that of Martin Luther. While Luther initiated the revolt against Catholicism, Calvin expanded and deepened the movement by establishing a strict and controlled Protestant society in Geneva. Calvin emphasized humanity's inherent sinfulness and the idea of predestination, where God had already determined who would be saved or damned, regardless of their actions.
Calvin's rule in Geneva was marked by strict religious and social control, turning the city into a theocracy. He enforced rigid moral standards, outlawed activities like dancing and card-playing, and imposed censorship. He also dealt harshly with opposition, having many people executed or exiled, including his own family members. The text highlights Calvin's uncompromising nature and his role in shaping Protestant absolutism, contrasting his analytical and calculating approach to Luther's more volatile and controversial style.

Calvinism

Calvinism, despite its strictness, rapidly expanded across France, Scotland, the Netherlands, and even parts of Lutheran Germany. Calvinism became foundational for several Protestant denominations, including the German and Dutch Reformed Churches, the Presbyterians in Scotland, and the Huguenots in France, and significantly influenced American Protestantism. Calvin, like Luther, believed that Christians did not need hierarchical religious figures to dictate their faith, advocating instead for congregational autonomy. His ideas, especially on predestination and theocratic governance, profoundly shaped Puritan New England, where settlers saw themselves as chosen by God to establish a new religious and social order. Despite his significant impact, Calvin, who died in 1564, felt his reformation efforts were incomplete and requested an unmarked grave, reflecting his somber view of his life's work

The counter reformation

the Catholic Church's strong opposition to the rise of Protestantism through the Counter-Reformation, which reaffirmed Catholic doctrines and addressed concerns about clerical abuses. In Spain, the monarchy established the Inquisition to eliminate Protestants and heretics, while Ignatius de Loyola founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1534 to reinvigorate Catholicism through missionary work and education. Despite these efforts, the Reformation led to a permanent division within Christianity, transforming into a political movement and a catalyst for social change, civil conflict, and imperial wars. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, Catholics and Protestants engaged in severe persecution and violence against each other, exemplified by events like the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572, where thousands of Huguenots were killed. Religious tensions contributed to many major international conflicts in early modern Europe, turning them into religious wars between Catholic and Protestant nations.

The reformation in england

The Reformation in England took a distinctive path, resulting in the formation of the Church of England (Anglican Church), which combined elements of Calvinism with English Catholicism. In early modern England, the Catholic Church and the government were closely intertwined, with the monarchy enforcing religious attendance and taxes to support the church. English rulers also exercised control over church officials, including archbishops, bishops, and parish clergy, who were often directed to preach in favor of government policies. An English king famously noted that "people are governed by the pulpit more than the sword in time of peace," highlighting the church's role in maintaining social order.

King Henry VIII

The English Reformation began largely due to King Henry VIII's desire for a male heir. Initially a strong supporter of the Catholic Church, Henry was even awarded the title "Defender of the Faith" by the pope for opposing Martin Luther's ideas. However, his allegiance to the Church changed when his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, which had produced only a daughter, Mary, and no male heir, drove him to seek an annulment. Henry had become infatuated with Anne Boleyn and was desperate for a son to secure his dynasty. When the pope, influenced by Catherine's nephew, Charles V of Spain, refused to grant the annulment, Henry severed England's long-standing ties with the Catholic Church in 1533. He then had the Archbishop of Canterbury annul his marriage, allowing him to marry Anne. In response, the pope excommunicated Henry, leading him to establish the Church of England through the Act of Supremacy in 1534, which declared the king as its head.
Following the break from Rome, Henry initiated significant religious reforms. He banned Catholic symbols, mandated that the Bible be translated and published in English, and confiscated the vast properties of the Catholic Church in England. However, his quest for a male heir remained unfulfilled when Anne Boleyn gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, rather than a son. Disappointed, Henry accused Anne of adultery, had her executed, and declared Elizabeth illegitimate. Despite being sidelined as a potential heir, Elizabeth would later become one of England's greatest monarchs, known for her intelligence and effective rule as Queen Elizabeth I.

The Reign of Queen Elizabeth

After Henry VIII's death in 1547, his nine-year-old son, Edward VI, succeeded him and pushed further reforms in the Church of England, allowing priests to marry and conducting services in English. However, when Edward became gravely ill in 1553, he named his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, as his successor. Nine days after Edward's death, his Catholic half-sister, Mary, overthrew Lady Jane, later executing her. Queen Mary, who married Philip of Spain, reinstated Catholicism in England, earning the nickname "Bloody Mary" for her persecution of Protestants, many of whom were burned at the stake or exiled.
Mary died in 1558, and her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII, became queen at the age of twenty-five. Elizabeth reigned for forty-five years, during which she faced political, religious, economic, and military challenges. Despite these difficulties, she emerged as one of history's greatest rulers. Under her rule, the Church of England returned to Protestantism while maintaining some elements of Catholic tradition, marking a significant period of religious and political stability in England.

Spanish in the Carribean

Spain entered the Americas through the Caribbean Sea, first establishing a trading post on Hispaniola. They then colonized Puerto Rico (1508), Jamaica (1509), and Cuba (1511-1514). Their primary motives were to serve God, the king, and to seek wealth. As their colonies expanded, Spain established an administrative structure and named the region New Spain.

Spanish invaders

As Hernán Cortés and his soldiers approached Tenochtitlán in Mexico, they were struck by its size and sophistication. The city, with around 200,000 inhabitants, was laid out in a grid on an island in a lake, featuring canals, causeways, and grand pyramids. Despite being vastly outnumbered, the Spanish had superior weaponry, armor, and warhorses, supported by thousands of Indian allies.
Upon entering Tenochtitlán, the Spanish used deceit to gain access. The Aztec emperor, Montezuma II, mistook Cortés for the god Quetzalcoatl and welcomed him with lavish gifts. Cortés quickly took Montezuma hostage while allowing him to continue as a figurehead. Cortés destroyed many religious statues and forced Montezuma to end ritual sacrifices. A rebellion broke out in spring 1520, led by disgruntled Mexica priests. Montezuma was killed—possibly by stoning or other means. The Spanish retreated but later returned with reinforcements and laid siege to Tenochtitlán, cutting off supplies and exploiting a devastating smallpox epidemic.
The siege ended in August 1521, with the city in ruins and many dead. Cortés became the governor general of New Spain, replacing Aztec leaders with Spanish officials and beginning the construction of a grand Catholic cathedral from Montezuma's palace. This conquest set the stage for further Spanish expansion, including Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in 1531, extending Spanish control across South America. By the time Cortés returned to Europe and died in 1547, Spain had established a vast empire in the New World.

New Spain

The Spanish established provinces in North America primarily as protective buffers rather than for commercial gain, aiming to defend their empire from French, English, and Russian encroachment. By the late sixteenth century, their approach shifted from looting to enslaving native peoples. Spain implemented the encomienda system, granting large landholdings and control over local populations to favored soldiers and officials. In return, the Spanish were supposed to Christianize and protect the indigenous people while demanding tribute in goods and labor. This system created a stark divide between wealthy encomenderos and impoverished Indians. The Spanish enforced their dominance with brutality, exemplified by officials like Nufio de Guzman, who used violent measures against both rebellious natives and disobedient colonists.

A Catholic Empire

During the sixteenth century, Spain embarked on an extensive mission to convert the indigenous peoples of New Spain to Catholicism. Hundreds of priests, believing that force was necessary for conversion, established over 300 monasteries and missions. Catholicism became a key tool of Spanish imperialism and a dominant institution in the Americas.
Some officials criticized the harsh methods used to convert and control the Indians, including the encomienda system. Bartolomé de Las Casas, a Catholic priest, was particularly vocal against the brutal treatment of the indigenous people. Disturbed by the violence, including torture and mutilation, inflicted on the natives, Las Casas dedicated his life to advocating for their better treatment. He relinquished his land and campaigned for peaceful conversion methods, earning him the title "Protector of the Indians."
Despite his efforts and some success in persuading the monarchy and the Catholic Church to issue new guidelines for the treatment of Indians, the use of violence persisted. Las Casas faced hostility from colonists and was eventually expelled from Hispaniola. Upon returning to Spain, he lamented the continued suffering of the indigenous people and predicted divine retribution for Spain's injustices against them. He died in 1566, having spent fifty years fighting for indigenous rights.

Food sent to Europe from Americas

The white potato, although commonly called
"Irish potato," is actually native to South America. Explorers brought it back to Europe, where it thrived, as did corn and beans. Other Western Hemisphere food plants included peanuts, squash, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, pineapples, avocados, cacao (the source of chocolate),
and chicle (for chewing gum).

Food brought from Europe to Americas

Europeans in turn introduced rice, wheat, bar-
ley, oats, grapevines, and sugarcane to the Americas.

Diseases brought over through Columbian exchange and later triangular slave trade

The most significant impact of the Columbian Exchange was the spread of infectious diseases from Europeans and enslaved Africans to Native Americans. Diseases such as smallpox, typhus, malaria, mumps, chickenpox, and measles devastated indigenous populations. Within seventy-five years of Columbus's voyage, these diseases killed 80 to 90 percent of Native Americans, marking the largest loss of human life in history. Smallpox was particularly deadly, killing about a third of the Indian population in central Mexico alone. The death of Native American leaders, who were often the first to encounter the Spanish, weakened indigenous resistance. Europeans, misinterpreting these epidemics as divine punishment for resisting Christianity, further compounded the tragedy.

The Spanish IN north America

During the sixteenth century, Spain was the dominant European power in the Americas, as no other European nation established more than a temporary presence. Spanish explorers arrived first and discovered regions that quickly yielded significant profits. Meanwhile, France and England were distracted by political and religious conflicts, allowing Catholic Spain, with its strong national and religious unity, to dominate both Europe and the New World.

Hispanic America

For much of the colonial period, Spain governed a vast area of what is now the United States, stretching from the Southwest and California to Florida—an expanse larger than western Europe. Spanish culture left a lasting impact on American life, evident in Hispanic place-names such as San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Fe, San Antonio, Pensacola, and St. Augustine. This influence also extended to art, architecture, literature, music, law, and food.

St. Augustine

In 1513, Juan Ponce de León explored Florida, seeking gold and slaves. Over the following decades, Spanish explorers mapped much of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts and briefly settled on the Carolina coast. In 1539, Hernando de Soto led an expedition through the southeastern United States, from Florida to the Mississippi River, looting and destroying Native American villages. After de Soto's death in 1542, his surviving men returned to Mexico.
In response to French colonization attempts in Florida, Spain established St. Augustine in 1565, marking it as the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States. The Spanish, under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, attacked the French Huguenot settlement of Fort Caroline, killing all men over fifteen and sparing only women and young boys. When French survivors from a shipwrecked fleet were found, they were forced to convert to Catholicism or face execution, resulting in the deaths of 245 individuals.

The Spanish Southwest

The Spanish established permanent settlements in what are now New Mexico, Texas, and California, but these were often poorly populated, inadequately supplied, and neglected by colonial officials. In New Spain, there were no civil liberties or rights such as freedom of speech, religion, or movement. Colonists had no local elections or self-government, with military officers, bureaucrats, landowners, and priests appointed by the king regulating every aspect of colonial life and controlling settlers' movements.

New Mexico

In 1595, Juan de Oñate, a wealthy Spanish with connections to Cortés and Montezuma II, received a land grant for the territory north of Mexico, including what is now New Mexico. In 1598, he led a group of 250 colonists, along with livestock and supplies, northward across the harsh desert to establish the colony of New Mexico, the farthest outpost of New Spain. The Spanish referred to the local Pueblo Indians, such as the Hopis and Zunis, by this name due to their village-like, multistoried homes. Despite their peaceful nature and advanced agricultural practices, the Pueblos often faced raids from the Apache.
Spanish colonial goals included finding valuable resources and converting the Native Americans to Catholicism. Oñate promised Pueblos eternal bliss in exchange for their conversion and obedience. However, New Mexico lacked significant gold or silver, and the Spanish settlers struggled with inadequate food supplies, relying on long caravan journeys for resupply. Oñate imposed tribute payments on the Pueblos, requiring them to provide cloth and corn annually.

Catholic Missions

When it became clear that New Mexico lacked significant gold, the Spanish shifted their focus to religious conversion. Priests forced Native Americans to build missions, work fields, and perform various tasks for them, including cooking and cleaning, often using whips to enforce attendance and labor. After about ten years, missions were secularized, and their lands were redistributed to converted Indians, who then received Spanish citizenship and the obligation to pay taxes.
Some Indians welcomed the Spanish, viewing them as powerful allies, while others rebelled. In December 1598, the Acoma Pueblo revolted, killing eleven soldiers and two servants. In retaliation, Spanish forces destroyed the pueblo, killing 500 men and 300 women and children, and enslaving the survivors. Twenty-four Pueblo men had their feet cut off as a warning to others, and children were taken to missions to be indoctrinated in Christianity.

Pueblo Revolt

In 1608, the Spanish government made New Mexico a royal province and established Santa Fe as its capital, making it the first permanent seat of government in what is now the United States. By 1630, the region had fifty Catholic churches and monasteries and about 3,000 Spaniards. Missionaries claimed that 86,000 Pueblo Indians had converted to Christianity, but in reality, resentment among the Pueblos grew as the Spanish imposed their ways and stripped the natives of their traditional lifestyles. This resentment culminated in 1680 when Popé, an Indian spiritual leader, led a massive rebellion. The Pueblo warriors destroyed Catholic churches, killed 21 priests and 400 settlers, and forced the remaining 2,400 Spaniards to flee, reclaiming their lands. This revolt was the most significant defeat of European forces by Native Americans in the New World, and it took the Spanish twelve years and four military campaigns to regain control over New Mexico.

Horses and the Great Plains

One significant outcome of the Pueblo Revolt was that it allowed Indian rebels to acquire Spanish horses, which had previously been illegal for them to own or ride. The Pueblos began trading horses with neighboring tribes like the Navajos and Apaches, and by 1690, horses had spread to Texas and across the Great Plains. Before horses, Plains Indians hunted on foot and used dogs as pack animals, but horses, thriving on the grasslands, revolutionized their mobility and power. Horses could carry much more weight than dogs and made Indians more effective hunters and warriors. They became highly valuable, serving as currency and a symbol of wealth and status. A warrior's status was often determined by the number of horses he owned, which also influenced how many wives he could support and the goods he could trade. By the late 1600s, horse-mounted Indians were formidable fighters, enabling them to resist Spanish domination and sustain their cultures for the next 300 years.

Groups of Horse using native Americans

The Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, and
Sioux reinvented themselves as horse-centered cultures.

Buffalo Hunting

The introduction of horses transformed the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, and Sioux into horse-centered, nomadic buffalo hunters. These tribes left their traditional woodland villages and relied heavily on the buffalo, using every part of the animal for food, clothing, tools, and shelter. The importance of buffalo hides led to the practice of polygamy among hunters, as more wives meant more hides could be processed. This increased the value of wives and sparked raids for brides. While horses brought prosperity and mobility, they also increased conflicts and overhunting, leading to a decline in buffalo herds. Horses also competed with buffalo for prairie grass, further straining resources. Additionally, the mobility provided by horses facilitated the spread of infectious diseases. Despite these challenges, the arrival of horses improved the quality of life for many Plains Indians. By 1800, the Plains were described as a "delightful country," though marred by constant warfare.

The Spanish empire in decline

The Spanish Empire, once the most extensive in the world, began to decline after overreaching during the one and a half centuries following 1492. While it spanned southern Europe, the Netherlands, much of the Western Hemisphere, and parts of Asia, the empire's involvement in religious wars during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries led to massive casualties, intense anti-Spanish sentiments among the English and Dutch, and eventual bankruptcy of the Spanish government. The vast size and complexity of the empire also overtaxed its resources.
New Spain developed into a society with a rigid class structure, mirroring that of Spain. It was an extractive empire, focused on removing resources like gold, silver, and copper, while enslaving indigenous peoples and converting them to Christianity. Unlike other colonial powers, Spain did not encourage large-scale settlement in New Spain.
Spain's colonial system was disastrous for the peoples of Africa and the Americas. For three centuries after Columbus's arrival, Spanish explorers, conquistadors, and priests imposed Catholicism and a brutal system of economic exploitation on native populations. Bartolomé de Las Casas, a Spanish priest, condemned the treatment of indigenous peoples, describing them as being treated like "piles of dung in the middle of the road." Ultimately, Spain's pursuit of empire, driven by a desire for "God, Glory, and Gold," led to decadence and decline not only for Spain but also for much of Europe.

Challenges to Spanish Empire

Catholic Spain's successful conquests in the Western Hemisphere prompted other European nations—Portugal, France, England, and the Netherlands—to embark on their own explorations and exploitation of the New World. Among these, France quickly became a significant rival. French pirates targeted Spanish treasure ships returning from Mexico, Peru, and the Caribbean, while French explorers began their ventures in North America. In 1524, the French king commissioned Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano to cross the Atlantic. Verrazano first sighted land at what is likely Cape Fear, North Carolina, and explored the coast up to Maine. However, during a subsequent voyage in 1528, Verrazano was killed by Caribbean Indians.

New France

Jacques Cartier's voyages in the 1530s marked the first serious French attempts at colonizing North America. Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River, reaching as far as present-day Montreal and spending winters at Quebec. A brief French colony was established near Quebec in 1541-1542, but France's focus shifted due to religious civil wars. It wasn't until after 1600, with the efforts of Samuel de Champlain, known as the "Father of New France," that French colonization in Canada gained momentum. Champlain led twenty-seven expeditions from France to Canada over thirty-seven years without losing a single ship.

Dutch Rebellion

In the mid-1500s, the Dutch and English posed growing threats to Spanish power in the New World. The Netherlands, then consisting of seventeen provinces, was under Spanish rule but had largely turned Protestant, embracing Calvinism. This religious divide fueled a series of Dutch rebellions against Spanish Catholic rule, leading to a prolonged and bloody conflict. Queen Elizabeth of England supported the Dutch by sending 8,000 soldiers. The Dutch revolt was a complex civil war with various uprisings across different provinces. Although seven provinces united to form the Dutch Republic, Spain did not officially recognize the Netherlands' independence until 1648.

The Armada

The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 marked a turning point in European history. For years, England's Queen Elizabeth had encouraged privateers to attack Spanish ships, leading Spain's King Philip II to plan an invasion of England with the massive Armada, consisting of 132 warships, 8,000 sailors, and 18,000 soldiers. However, the Spanish fleet was no match for the faster English ships. After a two-week battle, a powerful storm—dubbed the "Protestant wind"—swept the Spanish fleet into the North Sea, resulting in catastrophic losses. This victory solidified England's naval supremacy, bolstered the Protestant cause, and paved the way for English colonization of the Americas. The defeat also established Queen Elizabeth as a national hero, symbolizing England's rise from a beleaguered nation to a burgeoning global empire.

English exploration of america

English efforts to colonize America began in 1584 when Queen Elizabeth commissioned Sir Walter Raleigh to explore the North American coast. Raleigh's expedition discovered the Outer Banks of North Carolina and established a colony on Roanoke Island, naming the area Virginia in honor of the "Virgin Queen." In 1587, Raleigh sponsored another expedition led by Governor John White, which included women and children, including White's granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America. However, when White returned in 1590 after a delay due to the war with Spain, he found the Roanoke colony abandoned, with the mysterious word "CROATOAN" carved on a post. The fate of the "Lost Colony" remains uncertain, with evidence suggesting they may have succumbed to drought or been killed by Indians or Spaniards. By the time Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, no English settlements remained in North America, although the groundwork had been laid for future English, French, and Dutch colonial empires.

Humans have migrated to the Americas
by 22,000 B.C.E.

5000 B.C.E. - The agricultural revolution begins in Mexico
600-1300 C.E.- The city of Cahokia flourishes in North America
1325 - The Mexica (Aztec) Empire is founded in Central Mexico
1492 - Columbus makes his first voyage of discovery to the Americas
1503 - Spaniards bring the first African slaves to the Americas
1517 - Martin Luther launches the Protestant Reformation
1519 - Cortés begins the Spanish conquest of Mexico
1531 - Pizarro subdues the Inca Empire in South America for Spain
1565 - Spaniards build settlement at St. Augustine, the first
permanent European outpost in the present-day United States
1584-1587: Raleigh's Roanoke Island venture
1588 - The English navy defeats the Spanish Armada
1680 - Pueblo Revolt