Americas, Europe & Africa before and after 1492: Core Review Notes

Mesoamerican Civilizations

  • Olmec (earliest Mesoamericans)

    • Polytheistic; gods held male & female traits; required blood sacrifice

    • Maize domestication by 5000\ \text{BCE} formed dietary base

    • Innovations: mathematics, monumental architecture, accurate solar/lunar calendar guiding agriculture

  • Maya / Teotihuacan

    • Teotihuacan (near modern Mexico City) peaked \approx 500\ \text{CE}; population >100{,}000

    • Specialized labor enabled temple-pyramid construction (Pyramid of the Sun \approx 200\ \text{ft}; Moon \approx 150\ \text{ft})

    • Evidence of human sacrifice; major trade hub across Mesoamerica

  • Aztec

    • Capital Tenochtitlán (founded 1325; conquered 1521) amazed Spaniards with wealth & tribute network

    • Emperor Moctezuma ruled when Hernán Cortés arrived 1519

North American Southwest & Pueblo Cultures

  • Pueblo peoples (Spanish term “town/village”): Mogollon, Hohokam, Anasazi

  • Mogollon (Mimbres Valley, 150\ \text{BCE}–1450\ \text{CE})

    • Black-on-white bowl art with geometric & wildlife motifs

  • Hohokam (high desert, present-day Arizona)

    • Red-on-buff pottery; turquoise jewelry; extensive irrigation canals

  • Anasazi (“ancient ones,” New Mexico/Colorado high desert)

    • Cliff dwellings accessed by ladders/ropes for defense

Eastern Woodlands & Other Native Regions

  • Small, diverse societies; many depopulated by diseases spread from earlier Spanish contact

  • Rich in land, timber, fur; lacked dense gold-rich empires sought by Europeans

  • Major groups: Iroquois, Algonquin, Powhatan, Cahokia (peak \approx 1100), etc.

  • Land viewed communally; contrasted sharply with European private-property concept

Europe on the Eve of Expansion

  • Feudal system: lords own land; knights provide military service; serfs work land for protection

  • Catholic Church dominates; collects 10\% tithe & rents, owning vast lands

  • Land = primary source of wealth in Christian worldview

West Africa & Slavery Before Atlantic Trade

  • Varied servitude systems: famine, debt, protection could create bondage similar to European serfdom

  • Chattel slavery existed (e.g., Nile Valley) & trans-Saharan routes supplied Rome

Key Pre-1492 Timeline Highlights

  • Humans cross Bering land bridge 13{,}000–7{,}000\ \text{BCE}

  • Maize domesticated \approx 5000\ \text{BCE}

  • Maya flourish 2000\ \text{BCE}–900\ \text{CE}

  • Cahokia peak \approx 1100 (near St. Louis)

  • Black Death in Europe 1346

  • Aztec Empire 1325–1521; Inca 1400–1532

  • Columbus reaches Bahamas 1492

Early European Exploration & Spanish Conquest

  • Portugal pioneers Atlantic routes; Spain quickly follows

  • Columbus’s 1492 voyage triggers flood of conquistadors seeking wealth

  • Spanish success via military force & alliances; Ferdinand & Isabella drive imperial expansion, sparking Spanish Golden Age

Religious Upheaval & Imperial Rivalries

  • Protestant Reformation (Luther, Calvin) challenges Catholic dominance, 16^{th} century

  • Spain leads Catholic resistance; undeclared wars with Protestant England

  • By 1600 Protestantism firmly rooted in N. Europe

  • Rival powers (England, France, Dutch Republic) establish modest N. American colonies; fur trade & Native alliances weaken Spanish monopoly

Labor Systems, Mercantilism & Columbian Exchange

  • Colonies exist to enrich mother countries (mercantilism)

  • Spanish encomienda forces Native labor; large-scale African slavery begins

  • Columbian Exchange reshapes worlds:

    • To Old World: maize, potato, tobacco, cacao, tomato

    • To New World: cattle, horses, wheat, sugarcane, diseases (smallpox, measles)

  • Epidemics decimate Native populations; Native resistance limits European reach