1.2-1.6 APUSH Active Recall Prompts

Talk about the first entrance into the Americas.

20K years ago through land bridge Beringia after water levels dip & land is exposed from Asia to Africa. During the Ice Age.

Paleo Natives enter Americas- hunt-gather, small tribes. Invent Clovis technology b/c they are Nomads and need to hunt wooly mammoths, mastodons, etc… they eventually learn how to farm Potatoes, Tomatoes, Corn, Beans & Squash + knowledge spreads = Agricultural Revolution. They can now farm and hunt/gather.

Talk about the Aztecs.

Tenochtitlán (now Mexico City). 200K person empire = larger than European cities of the time. Masters of irrigation, written language.

Complex class system- Aztec priests/Emperor’s family → farmers/artisans/soldiers → slaves.

Build roads crisscrossing empire to trade furs, gold, etc. Economic & human sacrifices common to please the Gods, ensure fertile fields & return on the sun = high death rates

Talk about the Mayans.

Yucatan Peninsula (now Cancun). 365-day calendar to predict eclipses. Mastered irrigation, calculation, and writing skills. Elites ruled society- funded by Peasants who paid taxes. Calculation & writing skills = transfer of goods/ideas = COMPLEXITY

Talk about the Southwest and Northwest people.

SW: Pueblo Natives- build clay houses (Hohokam- pueblos housed 15K in one place)/lived in cliffs (Anasazi). Both cultivated crops (corn from MX), sustained by complex irrigation systems. Anasazi build complex road system that connects their canyon to 70 other villages (100 mi long, some roads).

NW: Chinook people- live in longhouses with extended fam. Relied on river salmon for food.

Talk about the Great Basin and Plains tribes.

GB: Ute, Paiute, Shoshone. Present day UT/NV. Some tribes on outskirts have horses from Spanish.

GP: Sioux, Cheyenne, Pawnee, Arapaho. Nomadic- relied on buffalo for food. Intro of horses from Spanish allows them to travel larger distances to follow buffalo.

Talk about the Eastern Woodlands people.

50/50 hunt-gather and farming- moved often because of soil depletion from farming the same crop over and over. Men and women have distinct roles. Matrilineal society- live with wife’s/mother’s side. Mothers and UNCLES of children raise children. Iroquois Confederacy (alliance of 5 tribes) engaged in battle/war with Europeans that smaller tribes could not sustain.

Talk about the Eastern Moundbuilders.

OH River Valley. Build mounds/hills. Intricate trading network- Obsidian from Rockies, marine shells from Gulf of MX, flint from OH, Copper from Great Lakes. Hopewell & Adena tribes.

Talk about the Mississippian people.

Present day STL- built large city of 20K people called Cahokia. Grew the Three Sisters (squash, beans, corn) to sustain large population. This farming method allowed the peoples to settle permanently and develop robust culture. Upper class of nobles/priests supported by peasants/farmers. Unknown fall- maybe TB or population explosion.

Talk about the technological improvements.

Compass, gunpowder & printing press allow for more war, more voyages for exploration, and the spread of information with ease.

Talk about the Protestant Reformation.

Isabella and Ferdinand reclaim land stolen from Islamic invaders → fund C-Bus voyage to The New World → new beginnings for Roman Catholics in Europe. Fight for dominance over Europe and the New World between Protestants & Catholics → more fight for colonization. Protestants and Catholics both wanted to indoctrinate the Natives/New World with THEIR beliefs.

Talk about the Treaty of Tordesillas.

Once EU Exploration starts in the New Worlds, Portugal and Spain (rivals) split the world in half and claim their sections of the worls

Talk about Spain.

15th Century- Spain is lacking natural resources & suitable seaports for trade. 1492: Spain comes alive with energy after Ferdinand and Isabella marry → country under complete Catholic control for the first time in a while. Spain overtakes Canary Islands and sets up large sugar cane plantations & begin to enslave African peoples

Talk about Christopher Columbus.

1484- Columbus loses favor of Portugal’s King, who instead funds Vasco di Gama. Columbus then goes to Spain, gets 3 ships & funding → sails in 1492! to find what was then China. He underestimates the distance, and within 35 days reaches San Salvador. He believed that it was China, but it was unlike what others described it to be like. He makes two more voyages to Hispaniola and then Trinidad Tobago

Talk about the Columbian Exchange.

Def: transfer of ideas, plants, animals & diseases b/w Europeans and Natives.

Corn, tomatoes, potatoes (sweet too) → EU = increase amount food = increase # of European farmers. Syphilis from Natives also spreads to Europeans.

Natives get pox (both), influenza & measles from EU w/o natural immunity = increase # deaths

Gold now lines Catholic Churches; Franciscan missionaries force Catholicism onto Natives

Talk about Hernan Cortes.

From Spain, conquistador who hears about the Aztec from the Mayans. In search of power and glory, wealth secondly. Marches with 600 other conquistadors into the Aztec capital. Overthrows Moctezuma despite Aztec fighting- Cortes wins and overtakes b/c of advanced European technologies (gunpowder, etc)

Talk about the enslavement of Africans.

Conquistadores & pure blood Spaniards (peninsulares) keep power in New World b/c of racism and hold of Encomiendas (royal grants that legalize slavery basically). Encomienda System forces Natives to farm, raise animals & mine for only Spanish benefit (treated terribly) → Bartolome de las Casas convinces the King Ferdinand to end Native labor.

Asiento System put into place (enslavement/import of Africans to do labor for the kingdom) = Spanish American mines yield 10x gold and silver as rest of world

Talk about Francisco Pizzaro.

Leads Spanish military towards Peru/Inca Empire (2000 mi empire along Pacific Coast of SurAm). By the time Pizzaro and his 168 men and 67 horses reach empire, ½ of Inca population has died because of trade contact with Europeans

Talk about Enslaved African Labor.

Asiento System. Portugal/Spain dominate early slave trade. “Middle passage” = journey from Af → Americas. Africans resisted slavery by running away, destroying tools, revolting. Africans kept culture alive thru music, religion, folkways

Talk about the Spanish Caste System.

HIGHEST: peninsulares (pure-blood Spaniard born in EU) → criollo (Spaniard born in New World) → mestizo (Spaniard-NA) → mulatto (Spaniard-African) → zambo (African-NA)

How did the French treat Natives?

Saw them as trading partners. Did not force Natives into slave labor. Viewed Natives as potential allies & kept peace with Natives in hopes of one day controlling their land. Additionally aided in Native War with the Huron People.

How did the British treat Natives?

Peaceful, trade-focused relationship **AT FIRST. English saw Natives as “savage” and inferior → drove Natives out of their homelands.