Native American Societies, the Renaissance, and the Age of Spanish Exploration

Mississippian Culture and Core Similarities Among Indigenous Americans

• Even though indigenous groups across North America were diverse, they shared several core similarities in their societal structures and beliefs.
• Mississippian culture, located in the Southeast region, was one of the most sophisticated Native American societies on the eve of European contact, flourishing from approximately August to June $1600$.
• This society was centered along the Mississippi River, which provided enormously rich soil for agriculture.
• Mississippian Indians were primarily farmers, and their major crop was maize, which is the term used for corn.
• Because they lived near the Mississippi River, the society was prone to flooding. To protect themselves, they built valued structures on mounds.
  • These mounds were not small; they were elevated $50$, $75$, or $100\,\text{feet}$ above the ground to stay above floodwaters.
  • Mounds served dual purposes: protection from floods and as burial sites.
• Burial mounds have been essentially helpful to archaeologists. They contain skeletons and physical artifacts that provide clues about when and where these people lived, their occupations, and their values.

Fundamental Religious Differences: Monotheism vs. Polytheism

• Religion played a crucial role in society for all Native American groups, regardless of whether they were from the Pacific Northwest, Southwest, Southeast, or Northeast.
• European societies were almost entirely monotheistic.
  • "Mono" refers to one.
  • Monotheism is the belief in one god, practiced by Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Europe.
• Native American societies were polytheistic.
  • "Poly" refers to many.
  • Polytheism involves the belief in dozens of gods. Examples include a sun god, a god for rain, and a god for plentiful buffalo herds.
• The most respected leaders in Native American communities were religious figures called shaman or medicine men.
  • These leaders were almost exclusively male.
  • Society believed these men possessed special abilities granted by the gods.
  • They acted as middlemen, capable of having meaningful conversations with the gods on behalf of the people.
• Religious ceremonies were a central part of the Native American experience.

Concepts of Land Ownership and Social Structure

• There was a stark contrast between European and Native American views on land.
• Europeans viewed land as a commodity, something to be bought and sold. Individuals owned specific tracts of land, typically measured in acres.
• Native Americans had no conception of private property.
  • Land was used communally rather than owned.
  • There were no legal documents designating ownership of specific tracts.
• Native American societies were highly egalitarian and generally were not divided along class lines like European societies.
  • The only exception to this hierarchy was the shaman and medicine men, who were considered a step above and served as de facto leaders.
  • Outside of religious leaders, everyone was viewed similarly, resembling what might be called communist or socialist models today because the idea of private property was alien to them.
• Environmental impacts were minimal because Native Americans only took what they needed and did not focus on material wealth or accumulation. They did not chop down entire forests or kill off buffalo herds, leaving the environment unplundered.

Gender Relations, Matrilineal Descent, and Female Agency

• European society was patrilineal, meaning descent and surnames were traced through the male line (father, grandfather, etc.).
• Native American societies were matrilineal, meaning descent was traced through the mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
• Native American women possessed significantly more authority, influence, and independence both at home and in the community compared to European women.
• Examples of female agency in Native American societies include:
  • Participation in religious ceremonies, which was not allowed for women in Christian or Jewish ceremonies at the time.
  • Full control over farming. In these societies, farming was a female pursuit, whereas in Europe, it was a male pursuit.
  • Authority over the "human impact" of the society. As the primary farmers, women determined whether a family stayed in one place or moved to a more fertile area.
  • Greater sexual independence. There were no social "hang-ups" regarding premarital sex for women, which contrasted with European societies where such freedom was only culturally permissible for men.

The European Renaissance: A Period of Cultural and Scientific Rebirth

• The $15th$ century ($1400s$) was a transformative time in Europe marked by the Renaissance, the birth of modern printing, and the beginning of global exploration.
• The term Renaissance means "rebirth" or a new beginning.
• Before the Renaissance, Europe had experienced roughly $800$ to $900\,\text{years}$ of decline or stagnation, often referred to as the era following the decline of Rome starting in the late $400s$.
• During this long period (approx. $400s$ to $1300s$), Europe was defined by:
  • Factionalism and the lack of a major empire.
  • Constant warfare, ignorance, and famine.
  • Pandemics, specifically the Black Death and the Bubonic Plague.
  • A lack of scientific, cultural, or artistic advancement.
  • Extremely low life expectancy, where individuals in their late teens or early twenties were considered to be nearing the end of their lives.
• By the $1200s$ and $1300s$, things slowly improved as populations grew immune to the Bubonic Plague and life expectancy rose slightly.
• The Renaissance took place from the $1300s$ to the early $1600s$ ($250$ to $300\,\text{years}$). It was a period of cultural, artistic, political, and economic rebirth.
• The era was defined by a love of learning and curiosity about the world. This led to the establishment of the first universities, such as:
  • The University of Bologna in Italy.
  • Oxford and Cambridge in Great Britain.
  • The University of Paris in France.
• Major advancements occurred in various fields:
  • Mathematics: More sophisticated mathematical systems developed.
  • Astronomy: The development of sophisticated telescopes allowed scientists to discover that the universe is heliocentric (sun-centered) rather than geocentric (earth-centered).
  • Art and Architecture: The creation of stunning paintings, cathedrals, and buildings, particularly in Italy.
  • Philosophy and Knowledge: The establishment of the first public libraries, which allowed knowledge to spread more democratically rather than being confined to the elite.

Technological Catalysts: The Printing Press and Improved Navigation

• Before the Renaissance, books were virtually non-existent because they had to be painstakingly hand-printed.
• In the $1400s$, Johann Gutenberg developed the printing press using movable type.
• The printing press was a "game changer" because books could now be mass-produced, and ideas could spread rapidly across populations.
• The first book produced by the printing press was the Bible.
• The availability of books incentivized literacy and allowed churches to bring more people into the religious fold through education.
• Scientific advancements and improved technology facilitated the Age of Discovery and Exploration in the $1400s$ and $1500s$.
• Europeans developed larger naval ships and more sophisticated navigation methods. These ships were capable of sailing across the entire Atlantic Ocean.
• While crude by modern standards, these navigation methods allowed Europeans to travel tens of thousands of miles, whereas previously, most people never traveled more than $25$ to $50\,\text{miles}$ from their birthplace.

Geopolitical and Economic Motivations for Exploration

• Exploration required massive funding that private citizens were unwilling to provide due to the high risk.
• A typical voyage to the Americas could take between $3$ and $8\,\text{months}$.
• Explorers needed at least two or three ships for safety, a crew of $50$ to $100\,\text{people}$ who required pay for a year, and extensive supplies.
• Governments funded explorers for four primary reasons:
  1. Profit and Resources: Governments sought a return on investment through gold, silver, furs, and timber. Europe was facing an energy crisis due to deforestation; the massive forests in the Americas provided wood for fuel and tall trees for ship masts.
  2. Prestige: National power was equated with global influence. Spain and Portugal, the first to explore, used colonies to impress and dominate other nations.
  3. Missionary Pursuits: Following the split in the Christian church in the early $1500s$ between Roman Catholics and Protestants, nations used exploration to spread their specific faith. Spain, for instance, sought to spread Roman Catholicism to the South American continent to rival Protestant nations like England.
  4. Westward Sea Route to Asia: Europeans wanted a faster way to reach East Asia (China) and Indonesia for trade. The overland route was dangerous due to the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East, and sailing around Africa took a full year.
• Europeans were particularly obsessed with Indonesia because it was a "mecca for spices" like nutmeg and cinnamon. These spices were used to mask the smell and taste of rotten, unrefrigerated meat.

The Rise of the Global Spanish Empire and Early Explorers

• Portugal and Spain were rivals in the exploration game, both located on the Iberian Peninsula.
• Early explorers like Prince Henry the Navigator and Vasco de Gama (funded by Portugal) mapped the southern and eastern reaches of Africa.
• Christopher Columbus, an Italian funded by Spain, sought a westward trade route to Asia. In October $1492$, he reached the Bahamas/Caribbean.
  • Columbus mistakenly believed he was in Indonesia and called the inhabitants "Indians."
  • While Vikings had reached Canada centuries earlier, Columbus is credited with sharing the "New World" with the rest of Europe.
• Other notable explorers include:
  • Ferdinand Magellan: The first to circumnavigate the globe.
  • Captain James Cook: An Englishman who later mapped out Alaska.
• The Spanish Empire became the first truly global empire, existing from the late $1400s$ to the early $1600s$.
• It was said that "the sun never set on the Spanish Empire" because Spain held colonies in virtually every one of the $24$ time zones.
• Spain became "filthy rich" by exploiting gold and silver deposits in Mexico and Peru (the former Incan Empire).
• Spain's legacy remains today; Spanish is the third most widely spoken language in the world ($2026$ context), and the Western Hemisphere remains majority Christian/Roman Catholic due to their influence.

Spanish Colonization and the Impact on Indigenous Populations

• Spain is remembered as an unusually cruel colonizer compared to the French or Dutch.
• Conquistadors: The Spanish word for "conqueror." They utilized superior military technology and warfare tactics to overpower indigenous groups.
  • Hernando Cortez conquered the Aztec Empire and its leader, Moctezuma, using cruel tactics that became a model for the rest of the Spanish Empire.
  • Francisco Pizarro similarly conquered the Incan Empire.
• Slavery: The Spanish enslaved Native Americans, forcing them to work in gold and silver mines and in sugar fields (particularly in the Caribbean).
  • While Spanish laws technically required humane treatment, these were impossible to enforce across the Atlantic Ocean, giving colonists "carte blanche" to be cruel.
• Cultural Annihilation: Anthropologists use this term to describe the destruction of indigenous culture, values, religion, dress, and gender norms. Native Americans were forced to convert from polytheism to Roman Catholicism.
• Disease: The most devastating impact was the transferal of approximately $12$ Eurasian diseases (such as smallpox).
  • Indigenous populations had no immunity.
  • These diseases killed approximately $80\,\text{million}$ Native Americans within the first $150\,\text{years}$ of contact.
  • Roughly $75\%$ of the indigenous population in North and South America was wiped out by disease.