AP US History Unit 1

Native American Diversity

The natives of the American continent comprised diverse societies shaped by their environments. They were not a monolithic group.

  • Coastal regions: Fishing villages.
  • Great Basin/Plains: Nomadic hunter-gatherers (e.g., the Ute).
  • Other groups: Magnificent cities and massive empires.

Pueblo People

Located in present-day Utah and Colorado, the Pueblo people were farmers.

  • Crops: Beans, squash, and maize.
  • Advanced irrigation systems: Diverted river water for crops.
  • Urban centers: Small, made of hardened clay bricks.
  • Cliff dwellings: Magnificent structures.

Great Basin and Great Plains People

These nomadic groups were hunter-gatherers.

  • Lifestyle: Wandered the Great Plains, hunting buffalo.
  • Organization: Small, egalitarian kinship bands.
  • Example: The Ute people.

Pacific Coast People

Developed permanent settlements due to abundant resources.

  • California (e.g., Chumash): Villages sustaining nearly a thousand people; regional trade networks.
  • Pacific Northwest (e.g., Chinook): Extensive plank houses for families and kinship groups.

Iroquois People

Farmers in the Northeast.

  • Crops: Amazing crops.
  • Housing: Longhouses constructed from timber.

Mississippi River Valley People

Farmers due to rich soil; participated in trade.

  • Cahokia: A civilization of approximately 40,000 people with a centralized government led by powerful chieftains.

General Observations

  • Native American societies were distinct and complex, shaped by their environment.
  • Vast trading networks stretched from South America through North America.

European Arrival

European Kingdoms' Transformation

From the 1300s to 1400s, European kingdoms underwent political unification, developing stronger, centralized states governed by monarchs.

  • Growing wealthy upper class: Desired luxury goods from Asia.
  • Problem: Muslims controlled land-based trade routes.
  • Solution: Seek sea-based routes for trade.

Portuguese Exploration

Portugal was the first European mover, establishing a trading post empire around Africa and gaining a foothold in the Indian Ocean trade network.

  • Maritime technology: Updated astronomical charts, astrolabe.
  • Ship designs: Smaller, faster, nimble, devoted to trade.
  • Borrowed technology: Lateen sail and stern-post rudder for accurate navigation.

Spanish Exploration

Spain joined the maritime game after the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors.

  • Motivations: Spread Catholic Christianity and seek economic opportunities.

Christopher Columbus

Sought sponsorship to sail west to find new wealth in Asian markets.

  • Sponsorship: Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.
  • 1492: Sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean and encountered the Americas.

Columbian Exchange

Columbus's landing was a turning point, leading to massive ecological changes.

  • Definition: The transfer of people, animals, plants, and diseases between the East and West.
  • Food:
    • From the Americas to Europe: Potatoes, tomatoes, maize.
    • From Europe to the Americas: Wheat, rice, soybeans.
  • Animals:
    • From the Americas to Europe: Turkeys.
    • From Europe to the Americas: Cattle, pigs, horses.
  • Resources: Gold and silver from the Americas to Europe.
  • People: Europeans to the Americas and enslaved Africans to the Americas.
  • Disease:
    • Smallpox from Europe decimated native populations, who had no immunity.
    • Syphilis (allegedly) from the natives to Europeans.

Economic Shift in Europe

Wealth from the Americas induced a societal and economic shift in European states.

  • Shift from feudalism to capitalism: An economic system based on private ownership and free exchange.
  • Rise of joint-stock companies: Limited liability organizations where investors pooled money to fund ventures.

Spanish Colonization

Encomienda System

Upon gaining a foothold, the Spanish realized agriculture was lucrative and introduced the encomienda system.

  • Definition: Spaniards forced natives to work on plantations and extract gold/silver.
  • Problems:
    • Difficulty keeping natives subservient and enslaved.
    • Native deaths from smallpox.
  • Solution: Importation of African slave laborers.
    • Africans were less likely to escape and had more immunity to European diseases.

Casta System

As Spain dominated Central and South America, they introduced a new social class system based on racial ancestry.

  • Peninsulares: Spaniards born in Spain.
  • Criollos/Creoles: Spaniards born in the Americas.
  • Castas:
    • Mestizos: Spanish and Native American blood.
    • Mulatos: Spanish and African blood.
    • Africans.
    • Native Americans.

European-Native Relations

Europeans generally looked down on the natives, viewing them as good for exploitation, military alliances, forced labor, and Christian conversion.

  • Cultural Adoption: Each group adopted practices from the other.
    • Natives taught the English how to hunt and cultivate maize.
    • Natives adopted iron tools and weapons from the English.
  • Difficult Relationship: Relations were largely difficult and brutal.

Justifying Treatment of Natives and Africans

Europeans developed belief systems to justify their treatment of natives and Africans.

  • Natives:
    • Some Spaniards believed natives were ontologically less than human (e.g., Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda).
    • Bartolomé de las Casas defended the humanity of the natives and persuaded the king to pass laws ending native slavery (later repealed).
  • Africans:
    • Used the Bible (Noah's curse on Ham's son Canaan) to justify the enslavement of Africans.
    • Black skin was seen as the mark of Ham, destined for slavery.