Colliding Worlds: 1491-1600 Notes

The Native American Experience

• Diverse societies existed in the Americas, ranging from empires to kin-based bands.
• Migrants from Asia populated the Americas between 13,000 and 3000 B.C.E., with subsequent waves bringing ancestors of various groups.
• Maize cultivation, beginning around 6000 B.C.E., led to population growth and complex societies.

American Empires

• Aztecs and Incas built impressive empires with large capital cities, complex trade networks, and bureaucratic systems.
• Aztecs practiced ritual sacrifices to sustain the cosmos.
• Incas connected their empire with roads, storehouses, and administrative centers.

Chiefdoms and Confederacies

• Mississippian culture developed around A.D. 800, with Cahokia as a major urban center.
• Eastern Woodlands: Algonquian and Iroquoian speakers had distinct societies, with women tending crops and men hunting/fishing.
• Iroquois Confederacy: Five nations united for peace and power around 1500, forming a political confederacy with councils of sachems.

Patterns of Trade

• Extensive trade networks connected regions, exchanging food, materials, tools, and ritual items.
• Powerful leaders controlled wealth and redistributed it to maintain authority, such as Powhatan's chiefdom.

Sacred Power

• Native Americans were animists, believing the natural world had spiritual power.
• Women's power was linked to earth fertility, while male power was tied to hunting and war.

Western Europe: The Edge of the Old World

• Western Europe was a fragmented region with kingdoms, duchies, and republics.
• Hierarchy and Authority: Kings, nobles, and men governed society with power justified by the Church.
• Peasant Society: Most Europeans were farmworkers living in villages. Life was dictated by the seasons.

Expanding Trade Networks

• Italian city-states dominated Mediterranean trade, bringing luxuries from Asia to Europe.
• The Renaissance spurred arts and learning.
• Commerce favored kings over nobles. Monarchs allied with merchants and artisans.

Myths, Religions, and Holy Warriors

• Christianity became dominant after Roman Emperor Constantine converted in A.D. 312.
• The Crusades intensified Christian identity but also introduced trade routes and sugar.
• The Protestant Reformation, started by Martin Luther in 1517, triggered conflicts and divisions within Christendom.

West and Central Africa: Origins of the Atlantic Slave Trade

• West Africa: The Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires controlled trans-Saharan trade.
• Coastal Trade: New coastal trade with Europeans offered an alternative to trans-Saharan routes.

Exploration and Conquest

• Portuguese Expansion: Prince Henry sought maritime routes to West Africa, innovating ship design (caravel).
• African Slave Trade: Portuguese traders ousted Arab merchants in the slave trade and began using slaves on Atlantic islands.
• Sixteenth-Century Incursions: Spanish monarchs financed Columbus, leading to the "discovery" of America.
• Spanish Invasion: Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire by 1521, exploiting disease and alliances with subjugated peoples.