Chapter 2

  • Christopher Columbus commissioned by Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain

    • received friendly greeting from the Taino village in the Caribbean

    • claimed he reached Japan

  • new ethnic groups

  • shifted balance of trade and commerce

  • conquest, disease, and death for many Indians

  • understand differences between Spain, France, and England’s arrivals

2.1 Explain the reasons behind the voyages of Columbus and describe early Spanish encounters with the peoples of the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America.

Columbus, the Columbian Exchange, and Early Conquests

  • Taino had no iron; no sharp blades made of iron

    • conquest would be easy

    • “good and intelligent servants”

    • search for gold

Christopher Columbus’s Exploration through Four Voyages

  • took Taino as captives to teach Spanish and guide to gold

  • sailed to Cuba but didn’t find leader (cacique) or gold

    • sailed to Hispaniola (Haiti and Dom. Rep.)

    • left crew to search for gold and returned to Spain

  • Columbus exaggerated the amount of gold he found to impress court of Spain

    • got 17 ships and 1,200 men

  • natives had killed his men in Hispaniola

    • chief had offered protection, but rebelled when realized they wanted slaves

    • natives became less friendly overall due to word

    • many natives died of forced labor or from swords

    • not much gold

  • Columbus was less vicious than his successors

Exploration and Naming of a Continent

  • short lived Norse settlement on Newfoundland between 900-1000

    • many who crosses the Pacific or the Atlantic pre-Columbus were quickly forgotten

  • Spain was the leader of early exploration

    • Portugal quickly followed to not lose claims to new land

    • 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal draw a line by the pope of land in South America

      • Brazil is Portuguese-speaking; everywhere else is Spanish

  • Spain authorized Amerigo Vespucci to sail more south among Brazil’s coast

    • reported land was larger than previously believed

    • convinced it was a new continent; not Asia

    • called it America in his honor

The Impact of European Arms and Disease

  • Spanish governors ignored Spain’s order to treat natives with respect and not enslave them

    • Nicolas de Ovando brought Spanish settlers and viciously attacked Tainos

      • in response to rebellion, ordered knifed natives’ bodies to be displayed

    • convened a meeting of 80 chiefs and then locked the doors and burned them all, ending the last independent chiefdoms of Hispaniola

  • unintentional European diseases (smallpox, measles)

    • more than by sword

    • one million to one thousand to none in a century

  • about 70-100 million population pre Columbus to 4.5 million

  • only Indian descendants were of mixed race on the islands

    • 40% Spanish men had native wives

The Making of an Ocean World — The Atlantic and the Columbian Exchange

  • well-publicized travels of Marco Polo popularized the Silk Roads

    • The Travels of Marco Polo

    • Columbus just sailed straight across, not concerned with sticking close to land

  • Vasco Nunez de Balboa reached the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and viewed Pacific

  • Ferdinand Magellan journeyed to South America and Philippines in 1519-20 (died)

    • his people came back as the first to circumnavigate the globe in 1522

  • Spanish priest and navigator Andres de Urdaneta established trade from Manila, Philippines to Acapulco, Mexico in 1565

    • Spanish ships brought silver mined in Americas to Manila

    • Manila brought porcelain, spices, furniture, silk, and fabric from Asia to New Spain

    • silver becomes worldwide currency

    • Filipinos anchored in Morro Bay, CA, becoming first Asians to settle in US

  • England, France, and Holland also got major roles in new trade during 1500s

    • intensified tensions between European states, according to Sir Walter Raleigh

  • Columbian Exchange = the transatlantic exchange of plants, animals, and diseases that occurred after the first European contact with the Americas

    • mestizos = people of mixed Amerindian, European, African, and occasionally Asian bloodlines

  • changed eating habits

    • from America, corn, beans, peanuts, potatoes, cassava, sweet potatoes, avocados, pineapples, tomatoes, chilies, vanilla, cocoa

    • for America, rice, wheat, barley, oats, new fruits and vegetables

    • healthier and lived longer in Old World

      • population increased

The Conquest of the Aztec and Inca Empires

  • Hernan Cortes sailed from Cuba to Mexico in 1519, conquering Tenochtitlan and renaming it Mexico City

    • Aztecs thought he was their lost god (Quetzalcoatl) at first

    • Cortes took emperor hostage but allowed facade of rule

  • July 1520 the Aztecs turned on Cortes

    • Cortes got help from Aztec haters (didn’t like being used for sacrifices) nearby to defeat them

  • Cortes ordered massive Catholic cathedral above main Aztec temple

    • symbolized defeat of “infidels” and victory of European Catholic Christianity

    • Mexico City becomes capital of Spain within one generation

  • 1532 Francisco Pizarro defeat the Inca empire in Peru

    • Viceroyalty of Peru = the second Spanish administrative unit based in the Inca city of Lima and separate from Mexico-based New Spain, governing most of what is today South America

    • main purpose was to supply gold and silver

    • 45,000 slaves in Bolivia

  • reasons for swiftness of Spanish conquest

    • weak Aztec resistance (fueled by visions of their own defeat)

    • Incas were shocked because Cortes had come in the name of friendship

    • Spanish horses, swords, guns, strategies, and armor was terrifying

  • smallpox was the biggest advantage

  • Cortes though Spain should be united by Catholicism

    • “Without settlement there is no good conquest”

      • repartimiento = a Spanish policy that required the conquered people of the Americas to work in the service of someone of Spanish descent who in return would teach them the core of Christianity

      • encomienda = in Spanish colonies, the grant to a Spanish settler of a certain number of American Indian subjects, who would pay him tribute in goods and labor

    • same system spreads throughout the Spanish-controlled Americas (from NM and CA to the tip of South America)

  • transformed Spain from a weak feudal economy to prosperous and moving towards modern capitalism

    • Spanish authorities created rigid caste system

Bartolome de las Casas and the Voices of Protest

  • participated in the conquest of Cuba in 1512 and was rewarded with a large ranch with Indian slaves (encomienda), but his conscience bothered him

    • gave up land and slaves in 1514, and began preaching and writing against oppression of Amerindians for 50 years

  • begged Spanish crown to stop the conquistadores

  • left important records of life and customs

    • marriage wasn’t binding

    • they were being worked to death

  • 1550 engaged in a debate at the Spanish court with another priest (Juan Gines de Sepulveda) who defended Spain’s right of conquest

2.1 Explain how the Protestant Reformation and the development of the nation-state changed Europe and European ideas about how best to settle and govern America.

A Divided Europe: The Impact of the Protestant Reformation

  • Spanish explorer brought the same quest for unity to the Americas as Columbus did

    • religious unity in Europe would disappear

  • < 30 years after Columbus; Protestant Reformation shaped attitudes toward the Americas on both sides of the Atlantic

The Birth of Protestantism

  • 1517 Martin Luther posts 95 Theses on door of Wittenberg church

    • people were questioning the Church’s interpretation of the Bible

    • Protestant Reformation = the process that began with Martin Luther’s efforts to reform the Catholic Church’s practices in the early 1500s and that eventually led followers of Luther, Calvin, and others to completely break from the Catholic Church

  • many Germans and the nobility were drawn to the Lutheran cause

  • Protestantism was a rejection of the authority of the pope and bishops

    • individual reading of the Bible, especially writings of St. Paul (faith > effort)

    • Calvinists: Bible-focused sermon > Lutherans’ Catholic-like Mass

  • fueled by the technology of printing

    • 10 million books printed

Religion and the Nation-State

  • nation-state = a relatively new development in Europe during the 1300s and 1400s in which nations became the major political organizations, replacing both the smaller kingdoms and city-states

    • real power rested in local territories (Frederick, Elector/Duke of Saxony, had power to ensure Luther’s safety despite Holy Roman empire’s hostility)

    • distance and great travel gave local Catholic bishops within the Church great independence

  • the idea of being a part of a nation was taking on new importance

    • 1400s: Kings in France, Sweden, Scotland, and England

    • 1492 Spain

  • no one believed in religious freedom; all wanted theirs to be main

    • led to > century of religious wars in Ireland and Scotland to France, Germany, and Hungary

    • Peace of Augsburg (1555) and Treaty of Westphalia (1648) ended warfare between Catholics and Protestants in Europe

      • ruler would decide faith and foreign armies wouldn’t intervene in religious affairs

  • Protestant nations didn’t want Catholic ones to dominate colonies

    • Catholic nations didn’t want Protestant colonies

    • divisions fueled by Reformation led search for asylum

2.3 Analyze early Spanish exploration of America north of Mexico.

Exploration and Encounter in North America: The Spanish

  • exploration in North America was secondary to South America

    • most people wanted to go through to Asia instead of explore America

Ponce de Leon in Florida, 1513—1521

  • led first known European expeditions to Puerto Rico and FL

  • 1513 arrived in FL (thought island), seeking a “Fountain of Youth”

    • accompanied by free Africans

    • first meeting of Europeans, Africans, and the native peoples of the Americas in the future US

  • not welcomed by native FLs

    • poison arrow; died

Exploring Texas by Accident: Cabeza de Vaca, 1528—1536

  • 1528 Panfilo de Narvaez explored FL but it was a disaster

    • starved, attacked, ill → survivors built new boats and left

    • aimed for New Spain (Mexico) but landed in Galveston, TX

  • Amerindians provided food and shelter but grew hostile after disease

    • four people decided to walk to Mexico City, which took 8 years

    • assumed there must be lots of copper

    • built a nice reputation (didn’t kill; actually cured disease)

    • inspired further exploration that was more violent for riches

Exploring the Southwest: Esteban, de Niza, and Coronado, 1539—1542

  • stories of seven large cities on the Rio Grande correlated with legends of the seven Christian bishops in Spanish legends

    • the fact the cities were meant to be rich furthered exploration

  • 1539 Marcos de Niza asked Esteban (1/4 survivors) to scout for him

    • dressed to seem godlike and reported lots of wealth; killed by the Zuni Pueblo of Hawikuh

    • De Niza started the search for the Seven Cities of Cibola

  • 1540 Francisco Vazquez de Coronado explored AZ

    • attacked Zuni Pueblo of Hawikuh for food

    • Pueblo realized best way to keep Spanish away was to tell them the wealth was further forwards

    • met Teya Indians but didn’t find gold of European-style cities

    • returned with nothing to show for their efforts

Exploring the Mississippi River Valley: The de Soto Expedition, 1539—1542

  • Hernando de Soto was given a royal charter to settle La Florida and beyond

    • 500-600 Spaniards and 100 captive Amerindians and Africans

  • 1540 from northern FL to GA and Carolinas

    • took a Creek princess captive as a guide over the Appalachia

  • Spaniards tried to make gift-giving natives into slaves, but word quickly spread

    • reported well-populated lands; later explorers found far fewer

    • massive impact was depopulation due to disease

  • 1541 crossed Mississippi River

    • destroyed a native town that refused to help with crossing back

  • when he died, his men sank his body into the river to hide his death from natives

    • built rafts and drifted down river

    • half of the original group survived

Exploring California: The Cabrillo Voyage, 1542—1543

  • 1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo went to discover the coast of Spain and reach China

    • called sand Diego Bay, CA, a “good country where you can make a settlement”

    • friendly Amerindians, beautiful valleys, savannas, high mts, smoke (indicated large native pop.)

  • continued north to the Russian River in northern CA

    • overlooked San Francisco Bay due to fog

    • realized fine harbor in Monterey Bay (future cap of Spanish and Mexican CA)

    • didn’t find China nor gold

Early Settlements in Florida: Fort Caroline and St. Augustine, 1562—1565

  • the first settlements in North America reflected the growing divisions in Europe

    • Catholic Spain competing with France’s division between Catholicism and Protestantism, and Protestant Holland and England

  • France had large Protestant minority and strong Catholic majority

  • 1562 Gaspard de Coligny commissioned expeditions to FL

    • wanted to secure lands for France & create safe haven for Protestants

    • 1562 and 1564 brought people to live in Fort Caroline (Jacksonville)

  • Spanish considered it a major threat to their control of the Americas

    • Pedro Menendez de Aviles established cities in Fl and ousted the French Protestants

  • 1565 Menendez founded St. Augustine (oldest European city still inhabited)

    • began friendly trade with the Timuca in northern FL

    • sought to convert them to Catholicism

    • Menendez attacked Fort Caroline, killing all

  • Spain’s first colonies reflected the ideas of the Reconquista

    • religious and national unity were the same thing

    • the key to expanding American empire was conquest

  • Europe used a system of primogeniture (oldest got land)

    • youngest found glory as a soldier (conquest)

  • unlike Mexico and Peru, FL colonies just wanted distance & independence

    • avoid hierarchical society in Mexico

    • corn; cities and farms prospered

  • Spanish FL had a black militia and included slaved and freed Africans

  • intermarriage and casual sex

    • new bloodlines; new races

  • people settled in St. Augustine

    • ships wrecked, escape legal problems, military commitments, or families; Jews, French, Flemish, and German immigrants escaping religious persecution

  • Spanish sent missionaries to interior of FL and GA to made alliances

    • despite disease, trade and negotiating persisted

    • about 80 mission centers

  • FL remained a Spanish colony (some British rule 1763-84) until 1821 (US)

Settling New Mexico: 1598

  • NM exploration paused after Coronado’s return until 1598 (new governor)

    • Spain considered Francis Drake’s journey around the Pacific a threat

  • Don Juan de Onate appointed governor of NM and told to spread Christianity to natives

    • banks of Rio Grande; El Paso del Norte

  • assumed lack of hostility from Pueblo chiefs meant allegiance to Spain and Christianity

    • divided NM into administrative districts with each a priest

    • when Acoma Pueblo attacked, they were attacked and burned

    • when Jumano Indians resisted, they were hanged and burned

  • Onate replaced by Don Pedro de Peralta, who moved cap north; Santa Fe 1610

    • oldest public building still standing in US

    • gold → farming

    • built Churches at the center of each Pueblo; tension still continued

2.4 Analyze early French exploration and claims in North America.

Exploration and Encounter in North America: The French

  • King Francis I of France commissioned Giovanni da Verrazano to explore Atlantic coast for route to Asia

    • then French interest focused on northern America

    • St. Lawrence River Valley

    • no French settlements after destruction of Fort Caroline in 1565

  • eventually created colonies in Chicago & Detroit to St. Louis & New Orleans

First French Visit to the Atlantic Coast of the United States — Verrazano, 1524

  • thought the natives in North Carolina were Chinese

  • became first European to sail into New York Harbor

    • continued north to Maine and Newfoundland and Canada

Jacques Cartier Seeks a Sea Route to Asia, 1534

  • didn’t find sea route either, but laid basis for French claims in Canada

    • began trade in furs

  • explored St. Lawrence until he got to Quebec and Montreal, beginning trade

    • stayed too long; cold killed half his men

2.5 Explain motivations of English Explorers, privateers, and reasons for settlements.

Exploration and Encounter in North America: The English

  • Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) was commissioned by England

    • probably died; no evidence

England’s Reformation Shapes the Country

  • Henry VIII disbanded from Roman Catholic Church to divorce Catherine

  • Parliament ended papal authority in England in 1534

    • declared Henry “the only Supreme Head in earth of the Church of England”

  • after his death, there were 3 major religious groups

    • Anglicans = within the Church of England, one group of Protestants who wanted to establish a church that was led by the English monarchy

    • growing minority of Protestants (Puritans) wanted more radical religious change

    • Roman Catholics who didn’t want to break with Rome

  • his son Edward moved towards Protestantism

    • Edward’s half-sister Mary moved towards Catholicism when he died

    • Elizabeth I went back to embracing Protestantism

  • Elizabeth I embraced Protestantism to make her birth legitimate and assume the throne

    • Act of Uniformity 1559 = Parliament declared her “Supreme Governor” of the Church of England

      • worship follows the Book of Common Prayer, which preserves Catholic rituals within Protestant theology

    • persecuted those who wouldn’t break from Catholic Church

  • England became major power in Europe and world

    • became rivals with Spain’s Catholic revival

    • defeated Spain’s “surprise attack” with navy

Elizabethan Explorers and Pirates

  • warfare and piracy became dominant role of English in the Americas

    • building settlements was unimportant

    • attacked Spanish ships for gold

  • Francis Drake = most famous privateer (pirate) commissioned by gov

    • gov kept 1/5 of what pirates found; cheaper than raising a large navy

    • laid foundation for England’s sea power

  • Drake confirmed the contours of America for the English

    • Pacific, Africa, London

    • burned St. Augustine

    • defeated Spanish Armada

    • richened England; weakened (harassed) Spain

Walter Raleigh and the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke

  • 1584 authorized to settle a permanent English colony in North America

    • found Roanoke Island and met Algonquian people

    • thought the English were trying to dominate them; battle

    • survivors went back to England w/ Raleigh; colony abandoned