• 156 Distinct Ethnic groups

Native Americans pre-contact

• Maize (corn) was a significant food source in present-day Mexico

• SW US-created systems of irrigation

• NW US - Natives hunted, fished, and foraged

• Great Basin and Plains - predominantly hunting

  • lack of natural resources- mobile lifestyles

• NE US, Mississippi River Valley - a mix of agriculture and hunting, permanent settlements

Why England colonized Americas late

• Initially allied with Spain so didn’t want to compete

• Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church, setting off decades-long religious conflict in the nation

• The early 1600s -- 3 European powers make claims in 3 different parts of North America

  • 1607 - English at Jamestown

  • 1608 - French at Quebec

  • 1610 - Spanish at Santa Fe

European Exploration 1400-1600

• Effects

  • European reach and settle Americas

  • Growth of trade and capitalism

  • Disease

  • Introduction of the institution of slavery

  • Columbian exchange

Encomienda System

• Mexico and Peru

• Spain’s king granted natives to Spaniards

• Forced to farm or work in the mines

• Fruits of labor went to the Spanish, who were supposed to “care” for the natives

• Asiento system- required colonists to pay a tax to the Spanish king on each enslaved person they imported to the Americas

Caste system

• Peninsulares - Born in Spain

• Creoles - Parents born in Spain, person born in Mexico

• Mestizos - Mix of Spanish and Native, Mulattos - mix of African and Spanish

• Slaves and Natives