Period 1: 1491-1607 The Meeting of Three People

1.2 - Native American Societies Before European Contact

Southwest Societies

• Pueblos

  • Sometimes called Anasazi

  • Dependent on maize (corn)

  • Conflict with other tribes led to abandonment of their towns - weakened them for the arrival of Europeans

• Zunis and Hopis - Tribes located in western New Mexico

Great Basin and Great Planes

• Great Basin - area between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada Mountains; very environmentally diverse but has lack of natural resources

• “Desert Culture” - characterized by seasonal mobility due to hunters and foragers

  • Examples: the Shoshone, the Paiute, the Ute

• The Great Plains- area of land in US and Canada stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains

  • Plains Indians:

    • Mobile lifestyle- the Sioux, the Blackfoot, the Arapaho, the Cheyenne

    • Sedentary lifestyle- the Osage, the Wichita, the Omaha

East Societies

• Algonquians- language group around St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes.

  • Atlantic coast Algonquins- hunted, fished grew corn

  • Northern Algonquians- only hunting and fishing (due to colder climate)

• Iroquois League- located in present-day New York. Lived in permanent settlements where they hunted and fished, but mostly relied on agriculture (“three sisters” of crops- corn, beans, squash)

  • Consisted of Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cuyahoga, and Senecas

    • Later, the Tuscaroras joined

  • Typically a matrilineal society- inheritance and descent are passed through mother’s line

Pacific Northwest Societies

• Chinook - Located along Columbia River in present-day Washington and Oregon

  • Typically lived in settled communities and had a high degree of economic development + social stratification

1.3- European Exploration in Americas

Factors Contributing to European Exploration:

• (1) Crusades and Revival of Trade

  • Crusades- series of religious wars that shook stability of European feudal society with the goal of securing Christian control of the “Holy Land”

• (2) Black Death and Decline Feudalism

  • Black Death - outbreak of bubonic plague that reduced European population by 30-60 percent

    • Made food + land more plentiful for survivor

    • Played role in undermining feudal system

• (3) Impact of the Renaissance

  • The Renaissance- created curiosity about the world, inspiring people to explore + map new areas

  • Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press (1440s)- helped disseminate info + stimulate interest in new discoveries

• (4) Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation

  • Protestant Reformation- most important religious movement led by Martin Luther and John Calvin to break ties w/ Roman Catholic Church

  • England broke ties w/ Roman Church when the pope refused to grant divorce to King Henry VIII

  • Puritans- English protestant who believed English Protestant Reformation did not go far enough

  • Counter-Reformation - focused on renewed sense of spirituality w/ in Catholic Church

    • Led to the Jesuits- Catholic order devoted to spreading their gospel throughout the world

1.4- Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, and Conquest

• “Columbian Exchange” - introduction of new products + organisms on each side of the Atlantic

Impact of Exploration and Conquest on Europe

• Columbian exchange led to introduction of crops and livestock native to the Americas to Europe

  • Turkeys, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cocoa, and tomatoes

• Economically, Spain suffered = went into debt, and interests rates on this debt depressed Spanish economy

Technological Advances and New Economic Structures

• New technology encouraged exploration + transformed global economy- the compass, the astrolabe, the quadrants, and the hourglass

  • Portulanos- detailed maps that helped navigators find their way around the world

• Joint-stock company model (1550s) - shareholders control part of company in proportion to number of shares they own

  • Important for exploration and colonization of New World

Spanish Portuguese Models

• Prince Henry the Navigator- encouraged and guided Portugal to embark on search for new trade routes to Asia that would bypass the Italian city

  • Bartolomeu Dias- explorer who sailed around Cape of Good Hope in 1488

  • Vasco da Gama- explorer who reached India by 1498

• Christopher Columbus- Italian navigator who convinced Spanish monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand, to venture west, across the Atlantic, to reach East

  • Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria - Columbus’ three ships

• Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) - between Spain and Portugal that settled competing claims to newly explored lands outside of Europe

  • Granted Portugal Brazil in the Western Hemisphere and Africa

  • Granted Spain rest of lands of the Americas

• Ponce de Leon - Spanish explorer who reached Florida in 1513

  • St. Augustine, Florida- Spanish settlement that was the first permanent European settlement in the US

• Hernan Cortes- led Spanish conquistadors to defeat the Mexica (also known as the Aztecs)

• Francisco Pizzaro- led a Spanish expedition to defeat the Incas of South America

• Smallpox- main disease brought to New World by Europeans that wiped out between 50 to 90 percent of native people of the Americas between 1500 and 1650

  • Spanish policies focusing on subjugation of Native people also led to rapid decline in population

1.5- Labor, Slavery, and Caste in Spanish Colonial System

Spanish Exploitation of New World Resources

• Encomienda- exploitative system used by Spaniards to take advantage of forced labor of native Americans

  • Encomenderos- acted as feudal lords who had a free hand to manage their holdings, as long as the percentage of gold and silver was sent back to monarchy

  • Repartimiento- series of reforms issued by the Crown in regard to governance of Spain’s New World Colonies

Spain and African Slave Trade

• Concept of slavery changed in the 1500s- captured Africans were now considered slaves for life and so were the children of enslaved people.

• Maroons- Africans who had escaped from slavery in the New World and established independent communities (mostly in Caribbean and Brazil, but others throughout the New World).

  • Palmares- one of the most significant Maroon communities, established in Brazil in early 1600s w/ more than 30,000 residents. Conquered by the Portuguese in 1694.

Social Structure of Spanish America

• Spanish colonizers developed an elaborate caste system organized by social origin and race.

  • Reproduced by all European powers in New World colonies

  • Casta- used to describe the variety of mixed-race people in the new world

    • Includes peninsulares (born in Spain) and creoles (born in New World w/ Spanish parents)

    • Mestizos- just below Casta in social status, the children of Spanish men and Native women

    • Mulattos- below mestizos in social status, the children of Spanish men and African women

    • Native Americans and Africans were at the bottom of the social pyramid

1.6- Cultural Interactions Between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans

Interactions, Trade, and Cultural Adaptations in the New World

• Europeans and Native Americans often adopted some useful aspects from the other’s culture

• Many Native Americans adopted Christianity to fit their needs and circumstances

  • Some adopted Catholicism completely or incorporated other Spanish spiritual beliefs into traditional religious practices

Resistance by American Indians and Africans

• Juanillo’s Revolt (1597)- Spanish missionaries in St. Augustine tried to bring Guale people into the mission system, which caused a revolt ending in the deaths of several missionaries

• Juan de Onate- Spanish conquistador whose soldiers occupied land held by the Acoma Pueblo people

  • Ended in an altercation killing 15 Spanish occupiers and over 800 native people. The remaining Acoma people were enslaved

Debates around the Perception of American Indians

• “Pure Blood”- Spanish description of those without Jewish or Muslim ancestry.

  • Used by Spanish to justify their place at the top of the social hierarchy

• Miscegenation- the mixing of races

• Bartolomé de Las Casas- Spanish priest who roundly criticized Spanish actions as being “the most unpardonable offenses committed against God and mankind”

• Juan Gines de Sepulveda- Spanish theologian who challenged Las Casas and defended the treatment of the native people at the hands of the Spaniards.

1.7- Subject to Debate

• “Black Legend” - term used to describe anti-Spanish propaganda written by English, Italian, Dutch, and other European writers

  • English writers are thought to have been demonizing Spanish behavior in order to portray their own actions in a favorable light.