Colliding worlds my notes
Chapter 1: Colliding Worlds, 1450-1600
How did the political, economic, and religious systems of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans compare, and how did things change as a result of contacts among them?
The Native American Experience - Native Americans had encounters with multiple expeditioners from Europe where trade for pearls and food occurred where they stood on equal terms. Over 60 million people spread out across North America when the Europeans arrived.
The First Americans - There were three waves of migration that all came from Asia starting around the last ice age where they crossed a 100 mile wide land bridge between Alaska and Russia then people came by water brought ancestors of the navajos. A wealthy culture was created through the growth of agriculture in the Mexican/Peru area.
American Empires - The populations of Aztec and Incas dominated the land. Population boomed as the wealth of trading and of these cities swept across the lands of Mexico city.
Chiefdoms and Confederacies - Although no empires as large as the Aztec or Inca arose north of Mexico, the spread of maize agriculture around A.D. 1000 transformed life across much of North America.
The Mississippi Valley - Around A.D. 1000, the spread of maize farming to the Mississippi River Valley led to the rise of the Mississippian culture, marked by large cities like Cahokia with complex societies, moundbuilding, and sun-worshipping rulers. Though Cahokia declined by 1350, Mississippian culture remained strong and was still present across the Southeast when Europeans arrived in the 1500s.
Eastern Woodlands - The tribes that roamed this area had a very traditional way of life where the men hunted and fished while the women were at home, this was ruined along with the bison population due to the immigration of Europeans. Often one man who was the chief of the tribe where power ranged from local to thousands of people.
The Great Lakes - Algonquian-speaking people explored the great lake area as the fish hunted or to trade or partake in important meetings.
The Great Plains and Rockies - The introduction of horses by the Spanish transformed the lives of Plains and Great Basin Indians, allowing groups like the Comanches and Sioux to become powerful nomadic hunters and warriors who dominated vast territories. While some tribes remained settled agricultural communities, others embraced mobility, using horses to hunt, trade, and expand their influence across the region.
The Arid Southwest - Developed advanced technology for example how to irrigate land efficiently, citizens later had to vacate due to droughts.
The Pacific Coast - Diverse culture throughout the Pacific coast but these groups choose to be Independent societies.
Patterns of Trade - Trade spread thousands of miles and allowed Indians to share resources, artifacts and decorative goods. Leaders and chiefs of tribes would control a major part of the wealth and then distribute it to show that they are generous while also showing strength in leadership.
Sacred Power - Native Americans believe that spiritual powers lay in the real world which made them animists. These spiritual p[owers affected women and men differently, they affected men while hunting or fishing, the men did not want to upset the spirits whereas with the women these spirits linked their bodies with the earth where they helped sustain the things given by earth around them.
Western Europe: The Edge of the Old World - In 1450, western europe was divided, poor, ran down by the black death and other diseases, this all goes to the conclusion that they would not be dominating the world any time soon.
Hierarchy and Authority - Power came from the top where these kings and even local nobles had peasants who did all of their work. The man was always the head of the house and justified by the church of christianity. They also controlled their kids where the man chose who the girls married and made the boys for him throughout their teens to twenties. Often the head of houses estate was given to the oldest male, this was known as primogeniture.
Peasant Society - Farm land was given to peasants by the lord, these peasants were the poor class and farmworkers of Europe. These were long days and different seasons called for different crops to be planted and more tiring work. Many peasant children died before the age of 20 due to the lack of food and sicknesses, these peasants would be the majority of immigrants to America.
Expanding Trade Networks - Before contact with the Americas, Arab and Asian traders dominated global trade, while Italian city-states like Venice grew rich by tapping into these networks and sparking the Renaissance. As trade spread across Europe, wealthy merchants gained power, especially in cities, while kings used this growing economy to strengthen their control over nobles. Monarchs supported trade and manufacturing in exchange for taxes and loans, helping to centralize their power.
Myths, Religions, and Holy Warriors - Similar to the Native Americans Europeans originally believed in spiritual powers that boost their agriculture and other things. Chirtsainty then began to spread into the Roman empire.
The Rise of Christianity - Christianity began as a small religion based on belief in one God and Jesus as divine, but after the Roman emperor Constantine converted in 312 A.D., it became the empire’s official religion and grew to deeply influence European life, politics, and beliefs for centuries.
The Crusades - Christian armies fought against Muslims who spread the faith of ISlam across Africa, Asia and parts of Europe. Though the Crusades did not have much success they did succeed in keeping Europe Christian while also finding new trade routes in Asia where the Europeans discovered sugar.
The Reformation - A German man named Martin Luther started a reform that condemned the following: that they should be turning to the bible rather than their church which pointed out the corruption in these churches. A man in Geneva named John Calvin had the opposite idea, he thought that God gave certain men privileges before their bodies and the rest are eternal damnation.
West and Central Africa: Origins of the Atlantic Slave Trade - Africa is where homo sapiens originated, they were very isolated but this would change in after the 1400.
Empires, Kingdoms, and Ministates - West Africa developed along three climatic zones: Sahel, savanna, and tropical rainforest, and was shaped by Sudanic civilizations that domesticated crops and animals, developed metalworking, and built stratified, monotheistic societies. From this foundation arose powerful empires like Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, which thrived on gold trade and military strength, while smaller southern ministates engaged in regional trade and competition despite ecological challenges.
Trans-Saharan and Coastal Trade - The trade along the west africa coast was very expensive but the Europeans provided a better alternative. Similar to Europe and America there were men and women who were using the spiritual forces for good or evil.
The Spirit World - Different cities learned different religions from merchants or had their own religions.
Exploration and Conquest - Portugal started the oversea expansion of Europe around 1400.
Portuguese Expansion - The Portuguese challenged with finding a better way to access the Africa trade created the caravel which was a better handling vessel that allowed them to sail far into the Atlantic. Italian and Iberian merchants blocked from eastern trade routes by the Ottomans turned to the Atlantic where they explored African coasts and islands where they developed sugar plantations and established trading posts. Portuguese explorers like Bartolomeu Dias and Vaso da Gama eventually reached India by sea, helping Portugal dominate Asian trade and marking the rise of European global power.
The AFrican Slave Trade - Slavery was widespred across Africa, these africans became key commodities for exchange etc. Rulers of tribes even had slaves for example Sunni Ali had 12 tribes of slaves that worked in agriculture who were seized by inroads. Estimated that over 9 millions Africans were sold in the trans atlantic slave trade.
Sixteenth-Century Incursions - Spanish funded explorations to look for land in the west while young rulers completed the reconquista which was a century long campaign by the Spanish to drive muslims out and make it more catholic.
Columbus and the Caribbean - Columbus first believed that the Atlantic was a 10000 mile wide ocean between Europe and Asia, after 6 years of asking the Spanish to invest in his western voyage. After 6 weeks of traveling the Atlantic from Spain Columbus and his 3 ships landed in the Bahamas which he thought was Asia and called the island the West Indies. EVen though Columbus brought back no gold, Spanish funded 3 more trips, brought more settlers but he died in 1506 where no one really noticed. America is named after Amerigo Vespucci who explored south america in the 1500s and called it nuevo mundo.
The Spanish Invasion - After not finding any gold the Spanish searched the mainland where they named and found Florida and also crossed the Panama canal and were the first Europeans to see the Pacific ocean. Hernan Cortes in 1519 took an army of 600 men into the Yucatan peninsula where they took up Indian allies and challenged the ruler Moctezuma. Mectezuma received Spanish with open arms but the cortes took the ruler captive and captured the whole city, their army cut the supply of food and water to the city causing the people of Tenochtitlan to suffer deeply. Cortes and his army managed to destroy the Aztec army by 1521. Disease was a big factor in their control, these Europeans had immunity but the Indians didn't so the smallpox epidemic destroyed the city killing thousands. Francisco Pizarro did the same feat in Peru where he was able to become the emperor of the Inca with a little military and power.
Cabral and Brazil - WHen the Portuguese were looking for a sailing route south of the African south tip they stumbled upon Brazil. The Portuguese built sugar plantations in the lowlands to secure their claim where Natives supplied labor which was later filled by African slaves.