The Americas, Europe, and Africa Before 1492 (Flashcards)

Page 1

  • Globalization accelerates as Europeans discover riches of the East; Silk Road becomes costly and dangerous, prompting search for Atlantic maritime routes.
  • Crusades (1095-1291 CE) create demand for East goods (spices, silk, porcelain, sugar) and foster adventurous trade; Europeans also trade furs, timber, and Slavic people (early form of slave trade).
  • Europeans encounter a large, diverse New World while seeking Asia; initially call inhabitants "Indians".
  • West Africa enters stage as slave trade expands; Africans and Native peoples become essential to Atlantic World dynamics.

Page 2

  • 1.1 The Americas: key ideas
  • Migration into the Americas likely via a land bridge (Beringia) around 9{,}000-15{,}000 years ago; later coastal and overland routes across the Americas.
  • First inhabitants develop diverse cultures from the Arctic to the Andes; agriculture emerges, enabling permanent settlements.
  • Mesoamerica centers: Olmec (mother culture) with maize domestication (~5000 ext{ BCE}), trade networks, and the only known North American writing system (influence on Maya/Aztec).
  • Teotihuacan (near modern Mexico City) becomes a major urban center with the Pyramid of the Sun and Moon; engaged in long-distance trade.
  • The Maya (2000 BCE–900 CE) contribute calendar systems, writing, and mathematics; built city-states (Copán, Tikal, Chichén Itzá); decline around 900 CE due to drought.

Page 3

  • Olmec civilization (c. 1200-400 ext{ BCE}) on the Gulf Coast; major art/architecture, jade, obsidian, cacao; established long-distance trade and elite class; worshipped rain and maize gods; raised the first major Mesoamerican trade network.
  • Maya: continued architectural, mathematical, and writing innovations; built extensive city networks and observatories; (note: decline due to environmental factors cited).
  • Key: Olmec laid cultural foundations for later Mesoamerican civilizations; complex trade diffused cultural practices.

Page 4

  • The Maya prospered until around 900 CE; Teotihuacan influenced Maya in trade and culture.
  • The Aztec rise: Tenochtitlán founded on an island in Lake Texcoco (est. 1325); by 1519, a colossal city with advanced urban planning, markets, water systems, and temples.
  • Aztecs practice extensive human sacrifice as part of their cosmology (sun god; daily rituals).
  • Chinampas (“floating gardens”) maximize agricultural output; sophisticated tribute system and urban organization.

Page 5

  • Aztec urban life described: causeways linking the city to the mainland; public buildings, baths, and social structure; ritual sacrifice central to religious life.
  • Glyphs and codices documented Aztec/Mesoamerican history; Maya codices later destroyed by bishop Landa in 1562, destroying much pre-Columbian writing.
  • The Florentine Codex records Aztec prophecies and omens about Spanish arrival (signs interpreted as portents of disaster).

Page 6

  • The Aztec pantheon and religion tied to natural forces; ritual human sacrifice used to sustain the sun and agriculture.
  • In the Inca Empire: the name means “lord” in Quechua; road network spans ~2{,}500 miles; runners (chasquis) maintain rapid communication; no writing system; quipu used for records.
  • Inca social structure: ruling elite exploit labor (mita); large storehouses; agriculture includes maize, beans, squash, quinoa, and potatoes; sun god Inti worshipped; gold seen as the sun’s sweat.
  • Inca city Machu Picchu (c. 1450) used for religious/ceremonial purposes; built with precisely fitted stones; UNESCO World Heritage Site (1983).

Page 7

  • Inca governance emphasized centralized authority and infrastructure; roads engineered for armies and administration; quipu kept records without writing.
  • Inca religion centered on Inti; minimal human sacrifice compared with Maya/Aztec; when necessary, public sacrifices occurred.
  • Machu Picchu highlighted as an architectural masterpiece illustrating Incan capabilities.

Page 8

  • North American Native Americans: more dispersed, fewer centralized states than Mesoamerica; many adapted through hunting/gathering and farming; plains peoples later adopt horses after European contact.
  • Pueblo groups in the Southwest: Mogollon, Hohokam, Anasazi; Anasazi cliff dwellings and multi-story pueblos connected by roads to Chaco Canyon; drought contributes to abandonment by ~13{,}00 CE.
  • Cahokia (Mississippi River near present-day St. Louis) as a major Native urban center (~1100 CE) with 10,000+ residents and 120 mounds; trade hub that declined after 1300 CE due to resource limits.
  • Eastern Woodlands: Iroquois, Lenape, Muscogee, Cherokee; women often held influence; matriarchal elements; governance based on tribes/elders; warfare common among tribes; Europeans disrupt these patterns post-contact.

Page 9

  • Native peoples of the Eastern Woodlands: gender roles varied; women often cultivated crops and influenced decisions; men hunted/protected; land ownership typically communal rather than private.
  • Clash of European land-use concepts with Native communal land use leads to conflicts over ownership and utilization.

Page 10

  • 1.2 Europe on the Brink of Change: medieval Europe after the fall of Rome (476 CE) until the Renaissance.
  • Feudal Europe: lords, knights, serfs; land held communally early, then rented; Church owns land, collects tithes and rents; high serf mortality and harsh living conditions; limited literacy.
  • The Catholic Church remains the central authority; Latin unifies diverse regions; clergy preserve knowledge during the Middle Ages.
  • The Crusades (1095-1291) expand contact with the East; increased trade and exchange of goods and ideas; also heighten Christian-Muslim tensions.

Page 11

  • The Great Schism (1054) splits Christianity into Western (Roman Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) branches; both maintain hierarchical structures.
  • The Black Death (1340s) devastates Europe, killing roughly one-third of the population; long-term social and economic impacts help set the stage for later change.
  • Islam’s expansion into Europe via Iberia influences learning and trade; Córdoba becomes an academic and trade center; later Christian Reconquista pushes Muslims south.
  • The Crusades, Islam, and Christian powers shape Europe’s rising interest in new trade routes to Asia.

Page 12

  • The Crusades and trade reshape European economies; feudal structures gradually give way to early modern states as commerce grows.
  • The Church’s power remains formidable; literacy and scholarship concentrated in religious institutions.
  • The rise of centralized monarchies in Iberia (Spain and Portugal) sets the stage for exploration.

Page 13

  • The Reconquista completes in 1492 with Christian unification on the Iberian Peninsula; anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish policies culminate in expulsions.
  • The Iberians fund and sponsor overseas exploration; maritime technology and navigational skills improve; desire to access wealth and spread Christianity fuels expansion.

Page 14

  • Islam–Christianity conflicts and cross-cultural exchange shape Mediterranean and Atlantic worlds.
  • Jerusalem and the Crusades exemplify religious zeal, economic motives, and cultural interactions that influence later exploration.

Page 15

  • The Iberian Peninsula becomes the launching point for Atlantic exploration; Portugal (Henry the Navigator) pioneers Atlantic coast exploration and cartography; Spain (Isabella and Ferdinand) unites kingdoms and sponsors Columbus.
  • The Crusades inspire curiosity about Asia and wealth; direct sea routes to East spice markets become a priority over land routes.
  • The Silk Road and Venetian/Genoese traders push Europeans to pursue new routes to Asia and the East.

Page 16

  • 1492: Ferdinand and Isabella complete the Reconquista and expel unconverted Jews; Columbus secures funding to reach Asia by sailing west.
  • Columbus’s voyage (3 caravels) lands in the Bahamas; he names the first landing San Salvador and claims new lands for Spain.
  • European exploration intensifies as states sponsor voyages and seek wealth, religious expansion, and global influence.

Page 17

  • 1.3 West Africa and the Role of Slavery: geography stretches from Mauritania to the Congo; varied environments and river systems; most West Africans lived in villages and valued extended family networks.
  • Slavery exists in Africa prior to 1492 in various forms (debt servitude, warfare capture, domestic servitude).
  • Islam expands in West Africa, influencing governance and trade; early slave trade originates in North Africa and along the Sahara.

Page 18

  • The major West African empires: Ghana (wealth from trans-Saharan trade), Mali (Mansa Musa’s wealth and pilgrimage; Timbuktu as a center of education and trade), Songhai (east of Mali; later eclipses Mali).
  • Slavery in Africa precedes European involvement; Arab and Berber traders play a major role in early slave networks.
  • Slavery in West Africa is not yet race-based in the pre-contact sense; forms of servitude exist within tribal and regional contexts.

Page 19

  • The trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean slave trades predate the Atlantic slave trade; enslaved people transported to North Africa and the Mediterranean.
  • The major European slave trade begins with Portugal’s exploration of the West African coast; by 1444, enslaved people are taken to Madeira and other Atlantic islands.
  • The Atlantic slave trade expands rapidly as new colonies in the Americas demand labor; racialized, hereditary slavery becomes entrenched in the New World.

Page 20

  • The Americas’ sugar and plantation economies drive permanent, inherited slavery; Africa supplies a large supply of enslaved people with racialized status.
  • Europeans initially relied on indigenous labor and indentured servitude; African slavery grows due to higher mortality of indigenous labor and the need for a permanent labor force.
  • The “Beginnings of Racial Slavery” marks a transition where race becomes a defining factor in bondage and labor systems.

Page 21

  • Slavery’s evolution in the Atlantic world: race-based slavery becomes permanent; European colonists rely on African labor to support sugar, tobacco, cotton, and later other crops.
  • Slavery’s institutionalization shapes social, economic, and political systems in the Americas and Africa.

Page 22

  • Key Terms (selected):
  • Beringia; Black Death; chasquis; chattel slavery; chinampas; Crusades; feudal society; Inquisition; Koran; matriarchy; mita; polygyny; quipu; Reconquista; serf.

Page 23

  • Review Questions (selected highlights):
  • 1. Anasazi; 2. Maya; 3. Inca; 4. Differences between Aztec/Inca/Maya and North American Native peoples; 5. The Crusades; 6. Venice’s wealth from East trade; 7. 1492 expulsions; 8. How feudal society operated; 9. Columbus’s reasoning and problems; 10. Timbuktu; 11. Slavery forms in Africa.

Page 24

  • Critical Thinking Prompts (selected):
    1. Inca control methods—likely most effective and why; 13. Compare Olmec, Aztec, Maya, Inca, and North American natives; 14. Lasting effects of the Crusades; cross-cultural opportunities; 15. Was race tied to slavery before European exploration; how did that change? 16. Differences between African slavery and New World slavery; compare with European serfdom.