Period 1 U.S history (1481-1607)

Native societies before contact

Native people had adapted to the environment in diverse ways

Southwest (Pueblo)

Developed irrigation systems to grow maize (corn)

Great Plains (Sioux, Comanche)

Native American tribes such as the Sioux and Comanche who were primarily known for buffalo hunting. They initially used Native techniques for hunting before mastering horse riding, which greatly enhanced their hunting capabilities and mobility

Mississippi Valley (Cahokia)

Mound builders with complex urban centers

Northeast (Iroquois)

Mixed agriculture, forest environments, confederations

European Exploration motives and technology

Motives: Three G’- Gold (wealth), Glory (power), and God (spread of Christianity)

New technologies that enabled the exploration were the cavarel (ship for long distance), a compass and an astrolabe

Early explorers ( Columbus, Cortes, Pizarro) were driven by expansion and conquest

The Columbian Exchange

Exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the old and New Worlds

Old World to New World

Horses, pigs, wheat, smallpox

New World to Old World

Maize, potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco

Effects of Columbian Exchange

Natives: massive population decline due to disease

Europe: improved diets and population growth

Africa: expansion of the transatlantic slave trade

Spanish Colonization

Encomienda Systems: Spanish settlers used Native labor in exchange for Christianizing them and was often abusive

Missions: Catholic institutions used to convert indigenous people

Casta system: social hierarchy based on race and birthplace ( e.g., Peninsulares, Mestizos, Natives, Africans)

Bartolome de Las Casas

Spanish priest who argued against mistreatment of natives

Native resistance responses

Armed conflict, preservation of culture, and migration to avoid colonizers

Cultural exchange

Intermarriage (mostly Spanish colonies) and Natives influenced European survival strategies like farming maize

Maize

Staple crop that supported complex societies in the Americas

Iroquois Confederacy

Alliance of Northeastern Native tribes with political unity

Three G’

Gold, Glory, God- motives for exploration