1.1 and 1.2

Quick timeline (high‑level)

• Before 1492: Diverse Native American societies adapted to regional environments (e.g., Cahokia, Iroquois, Pueblo).

• 1492: Columbus arrives — beginning of sustained contact.

• 1494: Treaty of Tordesillas divides New World between Spain and Portugal.

• Early 1500s: Spanish conquests (Cortés in Mexico, Pizarro in Peru); encomienda system; plantations in Caribbean and Brazil; beginnings of African slave labor.

• Late 1500s–1607: English attempts (Roanoke), privateering, and colonization leading to Jamestown (1607).

1.1 — Native American societies before European contact (detailed)

Background and big picture

• Native societies were regionally diverse, politically varied (bands, tribes, chiefdoms, confederacies), and shaped by environment, available resources, and trade networks.

• Agriculture (especially maize) enabled population growth and more complex, sedentary societies in many regions.

Regional examples and characteristics

• Northeast / Atlantic Seaboard (Iroquois, Algonquian groups)

  • Mixed agriculture (corn, beans, squash) + hunting and fishing.

  • Extended kin networks, some matrilineal societies (Iroquois), and political cooperation (Iroquois Confederacy).

• Southeast / Mississippi River Valley (Cahokia, Mississippian cultures)

  • Large, sedentary chiefdoms with mound building (Cahokia, c. 900–1250 CE), complex trade networks, maize agriculture.

• Southwest (Ancestral Puebloans, Hopi, Zuni)

  • Irrigation, adobe pueblos, maize cultivation adapted to arid environment.

• Great Plains

  • Before horses: semi-sedentary agricultural groups and buffalo hunting with communal bison drives; after 16th–17th century horses (brought by Europeans) transformed mobility and hunting.

• Pacific Northwest

  • Complex hunter‑gatherer societies with abundant coastal resources, trade, and potlatch ceremonies.

Social, economic, and gender roles

• Economies: combination of agriculture, hunting, fishing, and regional trade; long-distance trade routes (e.g., Cahokia networks).

• Political organization ranged from small bands to large chiefdoms and confederacies.

• Gender roles varied by culture but often included women’s central role in agriculture (e.g., Iroquois), men in hunting/war; kinship systems (matrilineal vs patrilineal) shaped political authority.

Belief systems and technology

• Diverse spiritual cosmologies; ceremonial centers (mounds, kivas).

• Technologies adapted to environment: adobe, irrigation, stone and wood tools, and extensive ecological knowledge.

Key takeaway for 1.1

• Don’t treat “Native Americans” as monolithic—emphasize regional adaptation, political variety, and the central role of agriculture (especially maize) in producing complex societies.

1.2 — First contacts and consequences (Columbian Exchange, colonization, 1492–1607)

Overview and causes

• European exploration driven by motives summarized as “God, Glory, Gold” plus advances in navigation (caravel ships, compass), state centralization, and desire for new trade routes.

• Contact triggered the Columbian Exchange: bi-directional transfers of plants, animals, peoples, microbes, and ideas between Old and New Worlds.

The Columbian Exchange — concrete effects

• New World → Old World: maize, potatoes, tomatoes, cacao, tobacco — boosted Old World populations and diets (potato in Europe especially important).

• Old World → New World: horses, pigs, cattle, wheat, sugarcane, and deadly diseases (smallpox, measles, influenza).

• Disease impact: Old World diseases caused catastrophic mortality among Native populations (some regions lost 50–90% of population), disrupting societies and making conquest easier.

Spanish and Portuguese colonization patterns

• Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): papal/Spanish/Portuguese agreement dividing spheres of influence in the New World (Spain west, Portugal east), shaping colonization routes. (See: Britannica — Treaty of Tordesillas)

• Spanish empire model: conquest + extraction + conversion

  • Conquistadors (e.g., Hernán Cortés — Aztecs; Francisco Pizarro — Incas) used military force, alliances with local groups, and exploited disease-related depopulation.

  • Encomienda system: grants of Native labor to Spanish settlers tied to promises of Christianization — effectively coerced labor (see: Britannica — Encomienda).

  • Mission system: Catholic missions used to convert Native populations and integrate them into colonial economy.

• Portuguese model (Brazil): sugar plantations as early cash-crop economy; major early use of African slave labor due to labor shortage and plantation demands.

English, French, and Dutch approaches (early stages)

• English: later arrivals, private ventures (joint‑stock companies), mixed agricultural settlements (Jamestown 1607 begins English permanent colonization in North America). Early attempts (Roanoke) and privateering against Spanish treasure fleets.

• French: more focused on trade (especially fur trade) and alliances with Native groups; fewer colonists early on, emphasis on trade networks and intermarriage in some regions.

• Dutch: commercial colonization (New Netherland) emphasizing trade and mercantile interests.

Labor systems and the origins of the Atlantic slave trade

• Demographic collapse among Native peoples led colonizers to seek labor: first through coercive systems (encomienda, repartimiento) and then by importing enslaved Africans.

• Sugar plantations in Caribbean/Brazil drove early massive importation of African slaves in the 16th century and beyond; this set foundations for the Atlantic slave trade and racialized systems of labor.

Cultural and ecological consequences

• Creation of the Atlantic world: interconnected economic and ecological system linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

• Mixed-race populations and caste systems in Spanish America (mestizo, mulatto, etc.).

• Long-term shifts in diets, economies, and power — European states gained resources and wealth (precious metals, cash crops) fueling further expansion.

Key terms and definitions (must‑know)

• Columbian Exchange: bi-directional biological and cultural exchange after 1492. (Britannica: “Columbian exchange”)

• Encomienda: Spanish labor/tribute system tied to colonists' rights to Native labor. (Britannica: “Encomienda”)

• Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): division of New World between Spain and Portugal.

• Conquistador: Spanish conqueror (Cortés, Pizarro).

• Atlantic World: the interlinked economies, peoples, and environments of the Atlantic basin.

Compact comparison table

Important people & cases to memorize

• Cahokia (Mississippian city) — example of precontact urban complexity. (Britannica: Cahokia)

• Iroquois Confederacy — example of political alliance among tribes.

• Christopher Columbus (1492) — sustained contact begins.

• Hernán Cortés (conquest of Aztec) and Francisco Pizarro (conquest of Inca) — examples of conquests that build Spanish empire.

• Examples of colonial systems: encomienda, mission, plantation.