Early Contact and Colonization Notes

Chapter 6: Early Contact with the New World (1491-1607) and Colonization of North America (1607-1754)

Native Americans in Pre-Columbian North America

The pre-Columbian era refers to the period before Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. Native Americans, distinct from native-born Americans (anyone born in the United States), populated North America during this time. Most historians believe Native Americans descended from migrants who traveled from Asia to North America in multiple waves, possibly from as early as 40,000 years ago to as recently as 15,000 years ago. During this period, the planet was colder and sea levels were lower. The ancestors of Native Americans could walk across a land bridge from Siberia to Alaska. As the planet warmed, sea levels rose, submerging the bridge and forming the Bering Strait. These people migrated south, populating both North and South America.

At the time of Columbus's arrival, between 1 million and 5 million Native Americans lived in modern Canada and the United States, and another 20 million populated Mexico. Native American societies ranged from nomadic hunter-gatherers to organized urban empires. In 1500, the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was more populous than any city in Europe. The Aztecs and Maya were known for advances in astronomy, architecture, and art. The territory that would become the United States was home to urban cultures, such as the Pueblo people of the desert southwest and the Chinook people of the Pacific Northwest.

Smaller Atlantic coast tribes like the Iroquois and Algonquian were the first Native Americans to encounter Europeans. Columbus, believing he had reached the East Indies, called them “Indians.”

Maize Cultivation

The domestication and cultivation of maize, or corn, started thousands of years ago in Mexico. This crop was a staple for indigenous people. Its cultivation spread to much of North America, enabling stable economies and organized societies to prosper throughout Mesoamerica and the Southwest region of the United States. Maize production also encouraged advancements in irrigation and other agricultural practices.

Native American Impact on the Environment

Native American societies transformed the landscape through the strategic use of fire, encouraging the growth of useful plants and attracting game animals. Early European immigrants noted that the areas they were settling resembled parkland, reflecting the cultivation of the local environment by Native Americans.

Early Colonialization of the New World (1491-1607)

Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492. While not the first European to reach North America (the Norse had arrived earlier), his arrival marked the beginning of the Contact Period. This period involved sustained contact between Europe and the Americas, along with the Columbian Exchange, which introduced a widespread exchange of plants, animals, foods, communicable diseases, and ideas. Columbus's arrival occurred when Europe had the resources and technology to establish colonies far from home. A colony is a territory settled and controlled by a foreign power.

Spanish Colonization

During the next century, Spain was the major colonial power in the Americas. The Spanish founded coastal towns in Central and South America and in the West Indies. The conquistadors collected and exported the area's wealth. Under Spain's encomienda system, colonists were granted authority over a number of natives. The colonist was obliged to protect and convert the natives to Catholicism in exchange for their labor. This system was essentially a form of slavery.

Spanish and Portuguese colonization led to a racial caste system: Europeans, Mestizos (mixed European and Native blood), Zambos (mixed African and Native American heritage), and Africans at the bottom. Spain's navy, the Spanish Armada, initially prevented other European powers from establishing a foothold in the New World. However, the English navy defeated the Armada in 1588, facilitating French and English colonization.

Impact of Disease

Europeans generally triumphed in conflicts with Native Americans, not primarily due to superior technology, but largely due to disease. Native Americans lacked immunity to European microbes. Epidemics like smallpox devastated Native American settlements, sometimes killing $95\%$ of the population before direct European contact.

Competition for Global Dominance

Other European nations were motivated by wealth, resources, religious conversion, and geopolitics. Vast expanses of undeveloped North America and fertile soils opened up potential for agricultural profits and mineral extraction. Navigation improvements like the sextant made sailing across the Atlantic safer and more efficient. Intercontinental trade became more organized with joint-stock companies like the British East India Company, the Dutch East India Company, and later, the Virginia Company.

Increased trade and development led to debates about the treatment of Native Americans. Thinkers like Juan de Sepúlveda and Bartolomé de Las Casas proposed different approaches, ranging from peace and tolerance to dominance and enslavement. Belief in European superiority was widespread.

Some Native Americans resisted European influence, while others accepted it. Intermarriage was common between Spanish and French settlers and the natives. Many Indians converted to Christianity, especially in Meso-America through the Spanish mission system. Explorers, such as Juan de Oñate, sought to create Christian converts by any means necessary, including violence.

Colonization spread, and the use of African slaves became common, especially in the Caribbean and Brazil for plantations. African slaves adapted by blending the language and religion of their masters with their traditions. Religions like voodoo emerged, blending Christianity and tribal animism. Slaves sang African songs and created art reminiscent of their homeland. Some, like the Maroon people, escaped slavery and formed cultural enclaves. Slave uprisings, such as the Haitian Revolution, occurred.

English Colonization

Unlike other colonizers, the English sent large numbers of men and women to agriculturally fertile areas in the East. Intermarriage with Indians and Africans was rare, resulting in rigid social classes with no new ethnic groups.

England first attempted to settle North America in 1587 with Sir Walter Raleigh's Roanoke Island colony, which disappeared by 1590, becoming known as the Lost Colony. The English tried again in 1607, settling Jamestown, which was funded by the Virginia Company. The settlers were ill-suited to the new environment and more interested in searching for gold than planting crops. Captain John Smith decreed, "he who will not work shall not eat." After Smith was injured and returned to England, the Powhatan Confederacy stopped supplying Jamestown with food. During the winter of 1609-1610,