Chapter 6: Settling of the Western Hemisphere (1491-1607)

Important Keyword:
  • Columbian Exchange: exchange of crops, animals, diseases, and ideas between Europe and colonies of the Western Hemisphere that developed in the aftermath of the voyages of Columbus.

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Key Timeline
  • 2500 BCE: Migration of Asians to the Americas across the Bering Strait begins.
  • 1492: Voyage of Columbus to the Americas
  • 1519: Cortes enters Mexico
  • 1520–1530: Smallpox wipes out many Native American tribes in South and Central America.
  • 1542: Spanish explorers travel through the southwestern United States

Native America

  • North and South America had many peoples, from hunter-gatherers to city-based empires.
  • South America   * In Mexico, Aztecs carved out an empire centered on their magnificent city of Tenochtitlan, crisscrossed with canals and adorned with great temples and palaces.   * In Peru, the Inca Empire stretched south to parts of what is now Chile and Argentina, and north to portions of modern Colombia.
  • North America   * The Mississippian culture originated in the Mississippi River Valley and spread to the Midwest and Southeast.     * It developed cities and mounds from 800 to 1600 A.D.   * In Illinois, the Cahokia is at its peak in the 1200s may have been home to 20,000 people.
  • In the southwest, the Puebloans built villages and towns, sometimes in the faces of cliffs for greater protection.
  • Woodland Indians: The first English settlers in North America.   * They lived on the bounty of the eastern forests, hunting and gathering their food.   * Two of the major language groups:     * Algonquian     * Iroquioian

The Europeans Arrival

  • The Renaissance revived interest in Europe's Classical Greek and Roman heritage, inspiring new worldviews.
  • The Scientific Revolution inspired a new experimental approach to learning about the natural world, giving people the power to change it.
  • The Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation began a period of religious upheaval that resulted in religious fervor and intense religious conflict that dominated European international relations for over a century.
  • The Portuguese developed the caravel, a sailing ship capable of long ocean voyages.
  • Improved navigational aids, such as the astrolabe and compass, made such voyages more practicable.
  • The Crusades reintroduced Europeans to Asian markets, increasing demand for spices and other Asian goods.
  • European merchants, blocked from these goods by Islamic powers in the Middle East, sought alternative routes to Asia.

Colombus

  • In the mid-1400s, Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator funded explorations to the Azores and Africa.
  • After Henry's death, Portuguese mariners reached the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.
  • In 1489, Vasco da Gama led an expedition around the Cape of Good Hope and sailed on to India.   * Da Gama was the first to connect Europe to Asian markets.
  • Christopher Columbus believed he could reach China by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean and opening a trade route for East Asian treasures to enter Europe.   * Columbus thought the world was smaller than it was, which fueled his enthusiasm for this voyage.   * Columbus first sought sponsorship from the Portuguese, but they turned him down.   * Columbus turned to Spain's newly united King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.     * These monarchs gave Columbus enough money to equip and crew three small ships.
  • After a long voyage, Columbus sighted land on October 12, 1492.   * Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas, which he named San Salvador.   * Columbus called the natives "Indians" because he thought he had reached the East Indies.   * Columbus died believing he reached Asia's outer regions.
  • Beginning with Columbus, the Spanish colonists forced Native Americans to work for them.   * Encomienda forced Native Americans onto Spanish plantations for dubious "protection." Refusing was punishable by death.   * European diseases inadvertently killed more Native Americans
  • Columbian Exchange: The flow of products across the Atlantic that permanently altered both continents.
  • Another exchange was initiated in the 1500s. European colonizers ran out of Native American labor due to new cash crops like sugar.
  • Beginning in the 1540s, colonists sold African slaves, creating the great African diaspora in the Americas.

Cortes in Mexico

  • The people whom Columbus first encountered lived in relatively simple societies.   * The Spanish were intrigued by their small gold holdings and wanted to find their source.   * Spanish explorers discovered wealthy Native American states on Mexico's mainland.
  • In 1519, Hernando Cortes led a small army of 500 men from Cuba to Mexico.   * Here he encountered representatives of the great Aztec Empire.   * Some Aztecs considered Cortes a god.   * Cortes reached Tenochtitlan through ruthless diplomacy and force.   * Montezuma, the Aztec ruler, hosted him here. Relations between the Spanish and Aztecs soon soured.   * Montezuma was killed and Cortes and his army were expelled in the violence.   * Cortes rebuilt his forces and gathered Aztec-hating tribes.   * He conquered Tenochtitlan in 1521, ending the Aztec Empire.
  • Cortes was one of the first and greatest Spanish conquistadors to conquer Mexico, Central America, and Peru.   * The conquistadors turned the Native Americans into a vast empire that sent gold and silver back to Spain.

\ Chapter 7: Colonial America (1607–1650)