Early Human Migration and the Colonization of the Americas

Defining "Primitive" and its Connotations

• Conceptual Definition: The term "primitive" is explored through its emotional and cultural implications.

• Inquiry into Meaning: Defining what it means for something to be considered primitive requires examining whether the term carries a negative or positive connotation.

• Emotional Connection: The word often evokes specific emotional responses depending on the context of its use.

• Examples: The discussion prompts identifying examples of "primitive" culture and evaluating the inherent biases in such labels.

Migration Patterns of Early Humans

• Human Lineage Origins: The transcript identifies "Adam" ($168$) and "Eve" as focal points in early human history.

• Y Chromosome Markers (measured in thousands of years ago):

  • $M 91 \dots 60$

  • $M 60 \dots 50$

  • $M 168 \dots 50$

  • $YAP \dots 50$

  • $M 174 \dots 50$

  • $M 130 \dots 50$

  • $M 96 \dots 45$

  • $M 89 \dots 45$

  • $M 9 \dots 40$

  • $M 45 \dots 35$

  • $M 175 \dots 35$

  • $M 173 \dots 30$

  • $M 20 \dots 30$

  • $M 69 \dots 30$

  • $M 170 \dots 25$

  • $M 201 \dots 20$

  • M 242: $20$

  • M 2: $20$

  • M 3: $10$

  • M 172: $10$

  • M 17: $10$

  • M 122: $10$

  • M 4: $10$

  • LLY 22: $10$

• mtDNA Markers (measured in thousands of years ago):

  • L1: > 100

  • L 2: $80$

  • L 3: $70$

  • M: $60$

  • M1: $60$

  • N, B, C, F, R: $50$

  • D: $45$

  • pre-HV, U, K, JT: $40$

  • Z, HV, H, N1, I, X, W, A: $30$

  • V: $15$

• Geographic Context: Markers are distributed across Africa, Europe, Asia, the Arctic Ocean, and eventually the Americas and Australia. The shoreline at the last glacial maximum is noted as occurring $20,000 \text{ years ago}$.

Early Migration and Settlement in the Americas

• Ice Age Land Bridge: Around $12,000 \text{ BCE}$, a land bridge connected Siberia and Alaska, facilitating human migration into the Americas.

• Climate Change and Extinction: By $9000 \text{ BCE}$, climate shifts led to the extinction of megafauna, such as the mammoth, which were a primary food source for nomadic peoples.

• Nomadic vs. Sedentary Lifestyles: Some tribes remained nomadic (following Buffalo), while others transitioned to farming.

• The Archaic Period: By approximately $8000 \text{ BCE}$, settlers in the "cradle" of the Americas (the Mexico region) developed agricultural techniques.

• The "Three Sisters": The staple crops cultivated were Corn, Beans, and Squash.

Major Empires of the Americas

• The Maya: Flourished from approximately $2000 \text{ BCE}$ to $900 \text{ CE}$. Their decline in the Yucatan and Central America is attributed to devastating droughts.

• The Aztec: Existed from approximately $1345 \text{ CE}$ to $1521 \text{ CE}$ in Central Mexico.

• The Inca: Ruled in South America from approximately $1438 \text{ CE}$ to $1533 \text{ CE}$.

• Cultural Diversity: These empires were not the sole cultures; the land was populated by smaller kingdoms, large tribes, and confederacies that acted as both allies and enemies to these major powers.

Tenochtitlan: The Aztec Capital

• Population and Scale: The city had over $200,000$ inhabitants, making it $3 \times$ larger than Seville, the largest city in Spain at the time.

• Architecture: It featured impressive architectural designs.

• Fall of the City: Hernán Cortés, leading $500$ Spanish soldiers and thousands of indigenous allies, overthrew the capital. The city was destroyed, the ruling family displaced, and the remaining natives were forced into becoming vassals of the Spanish.

European Discovery and the Renaissance

• Motivations for Exploration: Explorations were driven by a need for new trade routes and were facilitated by the Renaissance ($1300\text{s} – 1600\text{s}$).

• The Renaissance Impact: This era saw a rebirth of knowledge and sciences. The European elite were rediscovering and reading classical cultures.

• The Role of Africa and China: These regions were critical to the global context of exploration and the eventual "discovery" of the Americas.

• Christopher Columbus: His actions set the European colonization of the Americas in motion.

• Trade Shifts: Between $1450 \text{ and } 1750$, new trade patterns influenced the rise and fall of global powers. Spain and Portugal emerged as the dominant explorational powers.

• West African Colonization: Trade and colonization attempts with West Africa began in the $1400\text{s}$.

The Reconquista

• Definition: The Reconquista was the multi-century effort to reconquer the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rule.

• Targets: The "Moors" or Muslims from Northern Africa who had invaded in $711 \text{ CE}$ during a Visigothic civil war.

• Key Dates:

  • 1085: Alfonso VI of Castile retook Toledo, marking the start of the "Holy War" phase.

  • 1249: Portugal completed its war against Muslim invaders.

  • 1492: Spain completed the Reconquista with the takeover of Granada.

• Religious Governance: Under Muslim rule, Christians and Jews were managed differently than they were under the later united Catholic Spanish rule.

• Political Unification: The $1469$ marriage of Princess Isabel of Castile and Prince Ferdinand of Aragon paved the way for final victory in Granada.

Global Trade and Perspectives

• Search for Water Routes: Spain and Portugal sought all-water routes to China to bypass land-based trade barriers.

• Shift in Viewpoints: Interactions with Sub-Saharan African cultures changed European perspectives on the world.

• Main Trade Flows ($1400 – 1800$): Trade routes connected Europe, West Africa, the Caribbean, North America, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, East Africa, India, and China. Major colonial trade ports included Manila and Aceh.

Christopher Columbus’s First Voyage ($1492$)

• Financing: Columbus persuaded the Spanish monarchy to fund his voyage by challenging existing Greek geographic theories. He argued that if the Greeks were wrong about Sub-Saharan civilizations, they might also be wrong about the circumference of the Earth.

• Encountered Groups:

  • The Taino: Described as peaceful farmers.

  • The Caribs: Described as warriors.

• Established Patterns: Columbus set the precedent for seeking real wealth and established the methods for dealing with native populations.

• Philosophical and Ethical Conflicts: Columbus grappled with the issue of profit versus the conversion of "friendly" natives to Christianity versus their enslavement.

Division of the "New World"

• Treaty of Tordesillas ($1494$): Arranged by Pope Alexander VI to divide colonial claims between Spain and Portugal.

• Treaty of Saragossa ($1529$): Negotiated to define boundaries once the two powers met on the opposite side of the globe.

• English Claims: In $1497$, King Henry VII granted John Cabot the right to seek lands in the west, east, and north, leading to claims in Newfoundland.

• Amerigo Vespucci: His $1499$ exploration of South America proved that the landmass was a new continent rather than Asia. The continent was subsequently named "America" in his honor.

Chronology of Key Explorers

• 1000 CE: Leif Ericson (Norway)

• 1492: Christopher Columbus (Spain)

• 1497: John Cabot (England)

• 1499: Amerigo Vespucci (Spain)

• 1513: Vasco de Balboa (Spain) – First European to reach the Pacific from the New World via the Isthmus of Panama.

• 1513 – 1521: Ponce de León (Spain) – Explored Florida; died in $1521$ from an Indian arrow while seeking the "fountain of youth."

• 1519: Ferdinand Magellan (Portugal) – Led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe via the Straits of Magellan.

• 1519: Hernán Cortés (Spain) – Conquered the Aztec Empire.

• 1524: Giovanni da Verrazzano (France) – Explored the North American coast from the Carolinas to Newfoundland, including New York Harbor.

• 1534: Jacques Cartier (France) – Explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River to Montreal.

Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico

• Aztec Expansion: King Moctezuma II had expanded the empire through military force, creating internal enemies.

• The March to Tenochtitlán ($1519$): Cortés marshaled Indian allies who disliked Moctezuma’s military dictatorship.

• Conflict and Hostage-Taking: The Spanish attempt to use Moctezuma as a leverage hostage failed, resulting in his death and a disastrous retreat for the Spanish.

• Regrouping: The Spanish retreated to their Tlaxcalan allies to recover.

• La Malinche: Provided essential translation services between Spanish and Nahuatl.

• Final Defeat ($1521$): Cortés returned to Tenochtitlán and defeated the Aztecs. The collapse resulted from a combination of disease (unwittingly introduced by the Spanish), religious confusion, and Spanish military power aided by indigenous allies.

New Spain and the Colonial System

• The Three Gs: Colonization was motivated by "God, Glory, and Gold."

• Economic Reality: While they sought gold, the Spanish primarily found silver, particularly in South American regions.

• Military Infrastructure: The Spanish built forts to protect silver-laden ships from pirates and privateers.

• The Requerimiento ($1513$): A declaration by the Spanish monarchy claiming a divinely ordained right to take possession of the New World and to subjugate its inhabitants.

• Inca Adaptation: Some Incan subjects were more accepting of Spanish rule because it mirrored the existing structures of the Incan rulers.

• Demographic Disaster: Immunity was the greatest challenge for the natives; within $130 \text{ years}$ of contact, $95\%$ of the Native population had died.

• Philosophical Justification: The transcript cites Thucydides: "The strong do as they will and the weak suffer what they must."

The Columbian Exchange

• Scope: A massive transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds.

• Demographic Impact: Diseases like smallpox, typhus, and influenza were devastating due to the natives' lack of prior exposure.

• Biological Advantage: Plants and animals introduced by Europeans often assisted the colonizers while simultaneously harming the ecosystem and the livelihoods of the colonized.

The French Colonial Model

• Early Challenges: Initial French efforts were met with failure due to a lack of knowledge in geography, botany, and anthropology.

• Strategy for Success: The French learned that survival depended on strong relationships with native populations.

• Geographic Focus: Canada, specifically along the St. Lawrence River.

• Economic Basis: The fur trade, primarily beaver pelts.

• Trading Dynamics: Unlike the Spanish, the French did not start as trappers but relied on the natives to provide furs. This pulled both groups into a complex global economy and embroiled the French in local tribal conflicts.

• Samuel de Champlain: Established a post at Quebec in $1606$. His men often lived among the Indians, sometimes becoming members of the tribes.

Native American Conflicts

• Mourning Wars: Constant warfare existed between the Algonquian and the Iroquois.

• The Five Nations (Great League of Peace): Comprised of the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca, located from New York to Lower Canada.

• Impact of Colonization: European firearms, steel, and supplies increased the lethality and violence of these traditional conflicts.

• The Beaver Wars ($1648 – 1660\text{s}$): A turning point where indigenous populations could no longer replace losses from warfare, allowing European colonization to expand more rapidly.

Mercantilism

• Definition: An economic system prevalent from the $16\text{th to the } 18\text{th century}$ where governments managed their economies to augment state power.

• Core Tenets:

  • Exports must exceed imports.

  • Wealth is accumulated through bullion (gold and silver).

  • Wealth is viewed as finite (a zero-sum game).

The Dutch Approach: New Netherland

• Henry Hudson: Sailed the Hudson River, claiming land for the Dutch.

• Economic Strategy: Focused on the fur trade. Unlike the Spanish, conversion of natives was not a primary goal.

• Political Economy: Dominated by middle-class merchants, leading to a focus on toleration and moderation to ensure profit.

• Inclusivity: They allowed various groups, including Quakers and Jews, to help settle the colony to maximize potential profit.

• Trade Realities: Investors saw higher profits from the Caribbean, South American, and African slave trades than from the New Netherland timber and fur trades.

• Destabilization: Despite their focus on business, Dutch trade with tribes created a power imbalance. They became involved in "mourning wars" between the Mahican and Mohawk tribes.

The English Experience

• Delayed Entry: England was late to colonization due to domestic issues: navigation development, European wars, the Protestant Reformation, and the unification of the United Kingdom.

• The Irish Influence: Brutality used in the subjugation of Ireland established the colonial techniques later employed in America.

• Privateering: Queen Elizabeth I supported privateers. Sir Francis Drake played a key role as Vice Admiral in the $1588$ defeat of the Spanish Armada, which led to the decline of the Spanish Empire.

• Religion: The English had a strong zeal to export Protestant Christianity.

The Roanoke Colony

• First Attempt: In $1584$, Walter Raleigh organized an outpost under a royal charter requiring him to rule "heathen" lands in exchange for $\frac{1}{5}$ of all gold and silver mined, with a $7\text{-year}$ deadline.

• Original Purpose: A resupply base for privateers against the Spanish.

• $1585$ Failure: The militant inhabitants lacked farming skills and diplomatic tact, alienating the natives and causing the base to be abandoned.

• $1588$ Attempt: $110$ men, women, and children were sent to establish a permanent colony. They remained dependent on resupply ships.

• The "Lost Colony": In $1590$, a resupply ship found the island abandoned. Settlers may have moved inland with the Croatoan Indians or toward Chesapeake Bay, but the crew did not search for them.

Chronology of English Colonial Settlements

• 1607: Virginia

• 1620: Plymouth Settlement

• 1626: New York

• 1630: Massachusetts Bay

• 1633: Maryland

• 1636: Rhode Island

• 1636: Connecticut

• 1638: New Hampshire

• 1638: Delaware

• 1653: North Carolina

• 1663: South Carolina

• 1664: New Jersey

• 1682: Pennsylvania

• 1732: Georgia

Questions & Discussion

• Why did the Spanish, Dutch, French, and English treat Native peoples differently?

• Why was England so late to colonization despite being among the "first" founders?

• What is the goal of mercantilism, and what is the colony's specific place within that economic philosophy?

• Why did England and France hire Italian mariners like John Cabot ($1497$) and Giovanni da Verrazzano ($1524$)? Why were their findings considered disappointments by their respective employers?

• Why did the Spanish establish outposts specifically in Florida?

• Why did Pedro Menéndez de Avilés capture the French Huguenot Fort Caroline in $1565$?