1.2: Native American Societies Before European Contact

Cultures of Central and South America

• Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas had organized societies, extensive trade, and created accurate calendars

  • Stable food supply

    • Mayas & Aztecs: maize/corn

    • Incas: potatoes

Cultures of North America

• Less complex social structures than those in Mexico & South America:

  • Men- hunted & made tools

  • Women- gathered plants, nuts, or grew crops (e.g. corn and beans)

    • Due to slow cultivation of corn northward from Mexico

• SW (New Mexico & Arizona) tribes Pueblo:

  • Lived in caves, under cliffs, & multistoried buildings

  • Maize cultivation from Mexico → economic growth & irrigation systems

    • More wealth = complex society & different social classes

  • Extreme drought & hostile natives → weakened tribes by Europeans arrival

• NW (Alaska & N. Cali) tribes Chinooks:

  • Lived in permanent longhouses/plank houses + totem poles to preserve stories

  • Rich diet- hunting, fishing, gathering nuts & berries

• Great Basin & Plains:

  • Nomadic tribes (i.e. Ute) mainly hunted buffalo → food, crafting tools, & clothing

    • Typically lived in tepees; easily transportable

  • Farmer tribes often settled by rivers and lived in earthen lodges

    • Hunted buffalo + grew corn, beans, & squash, while also trading

  • American Indians acquired horses in the 17th century from Spanish settlers

    • Lakota Sioux - follow buffalo herds

  • Migration was common; Apaches went south from Canada to Texas

• Mississippi River Valley tribes Natchez & Cahokia:

  • Woodland American Indians = rich diets from hunting, fishing, and agriculture

  • Lived in villages of adobe houses & made long canoes from Cypress trees

  • Permanent settlements in Miss. & Ohio River valleys

  • Cahokia = largest Midwest settlement (30k inhabitants)

• NE tribes:

  • Adena-Hopewell farming techniques exhausted soil quickly - moved to fresh land

  • Iroquois Confederation (16th century) - political union of five distinct tribes from NY

    • Powerful force through the American Revolution

• Atlantic Seaboard (NJ to FL) tribes:

  • Descendants of woodland mound builders: built timber & bark lodgings near rivers

  • Rivers + Atlantic Ocean = rich source of food

1.3: European Exploration in the Americas

The European Context for Exploration

• 15-16th century Renaissance → gunpowder, sailing compass, printing press (for maps)

• Queen Isabella & King Ferdinand united Spain under Christian faith and funded Columbus’s voyage

• Protestant Reformation: Many early 16th century Christians in N. European countries revolted against the Pope’s authority

  • Various versions of Christianity provided a motive for exploration & colonization

Expanding Trade

• Ottoman Turks + Muslims blocked the main land route for trade to Asia

  • Henry the Navigator used sea route sailing south, then east to Asia → Columbus sailed W. to try and find a shorter route to Asia

• 15th century Portugal enslaved people from W. Africa for sugar plantations

Dividing the Americas

• Line of demarcation: Pope drew a line to separate territories claimed by Spain and Portugal

  • Spain = land west of line; Portugal = east

• Treaty of Tordesillas: Portugal claimed Brazil & Spain the rest of the Americas

• England (sailor Cabot) first ventured to the Americas in 1497

  • Later in the 16th century they challenged Spanish shipping & attacked their ships while seizing their gold and silver

• France didn’t have a strong interest in claiming territory in the Americas until the 1600s

1.4 Columbian Exchange, Spanish Exploration, and Conquest

Christopher Columbus

• Columbus had taken 3 trips across the Atlantic → disappointing since he found little gold, few spices, and no path to Asia

The Columbian Exchange

• European learned about beans, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, & tobacco; they contracted syphilis

  • Changed the diets of people throughout Eurasia → population growth

• Native Americans learned about sugar cane, bluegrasses, pigs, horses, the wheel, and guns

  • The native population rapidly declined due to disease like smallpox and measles, which they had no immunity to

• The 3 Gs: God, Gold, and Glory helped cause this event

The Rise of Capitalism

• As the population grew in Europe and there were new resources for trading, capitalism emerged

  • Political power shifted to wealthy merchants

• Joint-stock companies emerged, which reduced individual risk and promoted economic growth

1.5 Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System

Spanish Exploration and Conquest

• Spanish journeys secured Spain’s initial supremacy in the Americas - had lots of gold & silver

  • e.g) Cortés’ conquest of the Aztecs & Pizarro’s conquest of the Incas

• Encomienda system: encomenderos were granted a portion of land, and the Natives who lived on the land, then became laborers in farms or in the mines

  • Downfall due to Catholics opposition to the system (Bartolomé de Las Casas) & Mestizos not being forced to work

• Spanish replaced Natives who died from disease with African slaves

  • Asiento system: colonists paid a tax to the Spanish king for each slave they imported to America

• Africans resisted slavery by running away, sabotaging work, or revolting

  • Preserved their culture in music, religion, and folkways

• First permanent settlement in NA was St. Augustine in 1565

  • First British permanent settlement in NA was Jamestown in 1607

Spanish Caste System

• Rigid class system, that was dominated by pure-blooded Spaniards & Native Americans + Africans at the bottom

1.6 Cultural Interactions in the Americas

European Treatment for Native Americans

Spanish Policy

• Bartolomé de las Casas: advocated for better treatment for Indians & pushed the New Laws of 1542, which ended Indian slavery and led to the downfall of the encomienda system

• Valladolid Debate over the role of Indians in Spanish colonies: Las Casas argued that they were morally equal to Indian, but de Sepúlveda argued they were less than human

English Policy

• English marriage with Natives was less common

• Initially, English and Indians coexisted & traded - Indian taught settlers how to grow corn and hunt

  • Indians traded furs for English good

• But, the English eventually seized their land and expelled the Natives

French Policy

• French viewed Natives as potential economic and military allies & built good relationships

• They had trading posts in the Great Lakes region & Mississippi river, where they exchanged French good for furs

Survival Strategies by Native Americans

• Native Americans protected their cultures by making alliances with one European power or another or they migrated west