Chapter 1: New World Beginnings (c.

33,000 BCE - CE 1783)

The Shaping of North America Several billion years ago, the Earth formed 225 million years ago (MYA), all land made up one supercontinent called Pangaea Shifting continents: Broke apart Pangaea ~350 MYA, formed the Appalachians 135 to 25 MYA, formed the Rockies, Sierra Nevadas, Cascades, and Coast Ranges Overall geography of present-day North America: Canadian Shield in the northeast Coastal plain with river valleys in the east that gently rises into the Appalachians Midcontinental basin, bordered by the Appalachians and the Rockies, with the Mississippi Valley at its lowest point Great Basin bordered by the Rockies and the Sierra Navadas and Cascades Coast Ranges meet the Pacific 2 MYA, the Great Ice Age covered North America with ice as far south as PA, OH, and the Dakotas 10,000 years ago, the Great Ice Age ended, with the following effects: Lowered the Canadian Shield, scraped away its topsoil, and formed lakes, ex. the Great Lakes Meltwater formed Lake Bonneville, which became the inland sea the Great Salt Lake because of diminishing rainfall The freezing of water during the Great Ice Age lowered the water level, exposing the Bering land bridge that connected Eurasia and the Americas So for the next 250,000 years, nomadic Asian hunters were able to follow herds of game across the bridge and into the Americas 10,000 years ago, the glaciers melted and the land bridge was flooded The immigrants split into tribes and developed over 2,000 languages The most advanced these cultures were the Inca in Peru, the Maya in Central America, and the Aztecs in Mexico 5000 BCE, hunger-gatherers in highland Mexico bred wild grass into corn Cultivation of corn spread slowly from there, turning nomadic tribes into settled villages 120 BCE, corn-planting reached and heavily influenced the Pueblos in the Southwest There was a strong negative correlation between time of introduction of corn-planting and advancedness of society 1000 CE, the Mound builders in the Ohio River Valley, and Mississipians in the lower Midwest, and the Anasazi in the Southwest were planting corn, but were declining by 1300 CE 1000 CE, the Creeks, Choctaw, and Cherokee developed three sister farming, in which beans grew on cornstalks while squash covered the planting mounds to retain moisture 1500 CE, the Iroquois in the northeast formed the Iroquois Confederacy, a strong military alliance that lasted over 100 years But most native Americans were living in small, scattered, and impermanent settlements

Peopling the Americas

The Earliest Americans

 More settled, agricultural groups were often matriarchal due to the division of labor Native Americans did not have the technology, numbers, or desire to aggressively manipulate nature Indirect Discoverers of the New World Around 1000 CE, the first discoverers of America were the Norse, but their settlements and discovery were soon forgotten because they did not have a strong government backing them 1300s, the Christian Crusades failed in their attempt to win the Holy Land from the Muslims, but introduced Europe to exotic goods, ex. silk, medicines, perfumes, draperies, sugar, and spices But these goods were extremely expensive because they had to be transported a long, inefficient, and arduous way So, people wanted to find an easier way to transport extra-European goods

1295, Italian Marco Polo returned from China with fabulous and exotic tales Europeans Enter America ~1450, the Portuguese invented the caravel and discovered a way back up the west coast of Africa, whereas before they were trapped by the winds and currents The Mediterranean shore of Africa had been known to Europeans since antiquity, and African gold crossed the Sahara on the way to Europe, but Sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahara Desert were remote and mysterious Arabs had been trading African slaves for centuries and had been helping to cause the decline of African cultures When the Portuguese arrived, they set up trading posts for gold and slaves, but their consumption of slaves was enormous compared to that of the Arabs, and the large supply of slave labor influenced the development of the plantation economy 1488, Portuguese Bartholomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope 1498, Portuguese Vasco da Gama reached India and brought back a tantalizing sample of jewels and spices Late 1400s, the kingdom of Spain united because of the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile and the subsequent expulsion of the Muslim Moors The new Spain wanted to outdo the Portuguese in India, and the Portuguese now controlled the eastwards route to India, so Spain headed westward Columbus Additional factors that contributed to the discovery of America: Comes Upon 1300s, the Renaissance started and brought a spirit of optimism and adventure a New World ~1450, the printing press was invented and facilitated the spread of knowledge The mariner's compass made travel less uncertain So Christopher Columbus got Spain to fund a voyage to find a westward passage to India, but October 12, 1492 sighted an island in the Bahamas; was a successful failure Eventually, a global economic system would develop involving Europe, Africa, and North and South America, with Europe providing the markets, capital, and technology, Africa the labor, and the Americas the raw materials, esp. precious metals and farmland When Worlds New World plants, ex. tobacco, maize, beans, tomatoes, and potatoes revolutionized the international economy and European and African diet Collide Columbus brought cattle, pigs, and horses, of which the horses spread as far as Canada, and

some native American tribes, ex. the Apaches, Sioux, and Blackfoot, adopted them and became mobile hunter societies He also brought sugar cane seedlings that grew well in the Caribbean climate, so soon a large sugar industry developed in the New World powered by African slave labor, and a sugar revolution in the European diet occurred The Europeans also brought smallpox, yellow fever, and malaria, which became the top killer of native Americans The native Americans introduced the Europeans to syphilis The Spanish 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas gave most of the New World to Spain and some to Portugal Conquistador 1500s, Spain did the most exploring and colonizing, with conquistadores (conquerers) es pushing into the Caribbean and the mainland, motivated by religion, gold, and glory But the booty, when there was one, was divided very unevenly Background: 1492, the Moorish city of Granada fell after a ten-year siege, and the Moors were successfully expelled from Spain The Reconquista had bred an obsession with status and honor, religious zealotry, intolerance, and contempt for manual labor and commerce 1513, Vasco Nunez Balboa claimed for Spain all lands touched by the Pacific Ocean 1519-1522, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first to circumnavigate the Earth, though Magellan died on the way Conquistadores in North America: 1513 and 1531, Juan Ponce de Leon explored Florida searching for gold 1540-1542, Francisco Coronado explored Arizona and New Mexico seeking golden cities (pueblos) and discovered the Grand Canyon and the large population of bison 1539-1542, Hernando de Soto explored from Florida westward and discovered and crossed the Mississippi River 1532 in South America, Francisco Pizarro crushed the Incas in Peru Effects of New World silver: By 1600, Spain was flooded with silver mostly from the rich mines in Potosi in Bolivia Mid-1500s to 1600s, a price revolution that greatly increased consumer costs Increasing supply of money possibly fueled the growth of capitalism Founded the modern commercial banking system Stimulated commerce and manufacturing in France and Holland Paid for increased trade with Asia The West Indies in the Caribbean were a launchpad for conquistadores on their way to the Americas, and practiced encomienda in which native Americans were given to colonists if they promised to try to Christianize them; essentially slavery But the crown tightened control over the New World, so by the 1550s colonial administrators replaced the conquistadores Mestizos were the offspring of Europeans, specifically Spanish conquistadores and native American women The Conquest 1519, Hernan Cortes left Cuba and picked up a Mayan-speaking Spanish castaway and a of Mexico Mayan-, Nahuatl- (language of the Aztec rulers), and Spanish-speaking Indian slaved named

Malinche The ambassadors sent by Aztec chieftain Moctezuma returned and told him of the Spaniards' novel horse-riding and lust for gold, and he believed that Cortes was the god Quetzalcoatl The capital city of Tenochtitlan was centered on an island in a lake, surrounded by floating gardens, spread over 10 square miles, and inhabited by 300,000 people At first, Moctezuma was hospitable towards Cortes, but Cortes' gold lust exhausted his welcome, so June 30, 1520, the noche triste (sad night), the Aztecs drove the Spaniards from the city So Cortes held Tenochtitlan under siege, and August 13, 1521 it surrendered, partially because of a smallpox epidemic The Spanish would rule the empire for the next three hundred years, Mexico City was built on top of Tenochtitlan's ruins, and the native population plummeted Heavily influenced Mexican culture by intermarrying and bringing Spanish culture

The Spanish colonial empire grew rapidly, with cities, cathedrals, publishing, and universities The Spread of But other powers were looking to cramp Spain's style: Spanish 1497-98, England sent Italian Giovanni Caboto (anglicized as John Cabot) to explore the America northeastern coast of North America 1524, France sent Italian Giovanni da Verrazano to explore the eastern seaboard 1534, French Jacques Cartier travelled up the St. Lawrence River 1680s, France sent Robert de La Salle down the Mississippi River So the Spanish fortified and settled their borders, ex. 1565 built St. Augustine in Florida 1598 Don Juan de Onate led an expedition into the Rio Grande valley and abused the Pueblo people, ex. the 1599 Battle of Acoma; 1609 proclaimed the area to be the province of New Mexico In New Mexico, found little gold or furs but many souls to be converted, so the Roman Catholic mission became central, until the 1680 Pope's Rebellion in which Pueblo rebels destroyed the Catholic churches, killed clergymen, and rebuilt their religious chambers ~1716, the Spanish established settlements and missions in Texas, ex. the Alamo at San Antonio 1542 Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo explored the coast of California, but did not find much of interest 1769, Spanish missionaries under Father Junipero Serra set up a string of missions along the Californian coast and zealously converted the native Americans Although the Spanish did kill, enslave, infect, and plunder, they also founded an enormous empire and introduced their culture to many native societies Instead of incorporating the native Americans as the Spanish did, the English would shun and isolate them Summary The Americas were populated by Asian immigrants who split into a myriad of cultures with varying degrees of advancedness and agriculture The main factor that pushed exploration was the desire for cheaper exotic goods Spain became the first colonial power because of the mindset of its people and its newly found, united power The discovery of the New World heavily influenced the global economy through trade and

the influx of silver Spanish colonizing was characterized by killing, enslaving, infecting, Christianizing, and plundering, but also by empire-building and cultural diffusion