Chapter One

Exploration, Discovery, and

Settlement. 1492-1700
 Introduction
• The first people to settle America could have
arrived as many as 40,000 years ago, using a
land bridge that connected Siberia and
Alaska. When Columbus discovered them,
they numbered in the 50 to 75 millions.
Cultures of North America
 Small Societies
• Most Native Americans lived in semi-
permanent settlements, with a small
population usually less than 300.
• The women grew corn, beans, and tobacco.
• The Sioux and the Pawnee followed the
buffalo
 Larger Societies
• The Pueblos in the Southwest lived in
multistoried buildings, and developed irrigation
• East of the Mississippi River, the Woodland Native
Americans prospered with a rich food supply
• Mound-Building cultures included the Adena,
Hopewell, and Mississippian
• Permanent settlements were supported by
hunting, fishing, and agriculture
• Cahokia had as many as 30,000 inhabitants
Cultures of Central and South America
 Introduction
• As many as 25 million people lived in Central
and South America
• Between AD 300 and 800, the Mayas erected
their cities in the Yucatan Peninsula
• Later came the Aztecs and the Incas, in Mexico
and Peru
Europe Moves Towards Expansion
 Introduction
• Until the late 1400’s, when Columbus made
his journey, Europeans and Asians had no clue
about America, which is why no voyage was
previously made
 Improvements In Technology
• The Renaissance, which occurred in the late
1400’s to early 1500’s, was part of what made
Columbus and the other explorers make their
journeys.
• The Europeans began to use gunpowder, from
the Chinese, and the compass, from the Arabs.
• There were also major improvements in
shipbuilding and mapmaking.
• This spread of knowledge and improvements in
technology in part lead to Columbus’s voyage
 Religious Conflict
• The Roman Catholic Church was threatened by
the Ottoman Turks, and the Protestant revolt
against the Pope
• When Isabella and Ferdinand united their
Christian kingdoms, the Moors of Granada were
defeated, and the Roman Catholic Church gained
power
• In the early 1500’s, Christians in Germany,
England, France, and Holland were revolting
against the Pope. This lead to a series of religious
wars.
 Expanding Trade
• In the past, the trade route had passed
through Venice, to Constantinople, to the
capital of China, until the Ottoman Turks
seized Constantinople. This prompted the
Columbus Voyage
• Prince Henry eventually succeeded in making
a long sea route around South Africa
• Portuguese Vasco de Gama was the first
person to reach India this way
 Developing Nation-States
• Monarchs in Europe were gaining power, and
building ‘nation-states’ in Spain, Portugal,
France, England, and the Netherlands
• The basic idea of a nation-state is that most of
the people are the same, and feel the same
way about the government
• The monarchs tried to use their power to find
riches and make the Roman Catholic Church
more powerful
Early Explorations
 Columbus
• Columbus searched for funding for 8 years
• Isabella and Ferdinand finally bought him
three ships for which to sail with
• He landed in the Bahamas on October 12th
• He died in 1506
 Columbus’s Legacy
• Many people viewed Columbus as a failure
• However, it’s undisputable that he brought
about the first permanent interaction
between Europeans and the Native Americans
 Exchanges
• Native Americans gave the Europeans beans,
corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes, and
tobacco, and syphilis
• Europeans brought sugar cane, bluegrasses,
pigs, horses, the wheel, iron implements, and
guns
• They also brought smallpox and measles
• Mortality rate of over 90%
 Dividing the New World
• Spain and Portugal turned to the Pope to try
to divide the new land
• In 1493, the Pope made the boundary through
America, giving all land to the west to Spain,
and all land to the east to Portugal
• In 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas moved the
line a few degrees to the west
Spanish Exploration and Conquest
• Spanish Conquistadores:
– Vasco Nunez de Balboa
• Journeyed across the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific
Ocean
– Ferdinand Magellan
• Circumnavigated the world
– Hernan Cortes
• Conquests of the Aztecs in Mexico
– Francisco Pizzaro
• Conquests of the Incas in Peru
• Gold supply was increased over 500%
 Encomienda and Asiento
• Encomienda
– The kind of Spain would give grants of land and
Indians to individual Spaniards. These Indians had
to farm or work in the mines
• Asiento
– The Spanish were required to pay a tax to their
king on each slave they imported from Africa
 English Claims
• In 1497, John Cabot (Italian under English
contract) explored the coast of Newfoundland
• In the 1570’s and 80’s, under Queen Elizabeth
I, English challenged Spanish shipping
• Sir Francis Drake
– Attacked Spanish ships and seized gold and silver
• Sir Walter Raleigh
– Failed to establish a settlement at Roanoke in
1587
 French Claims
• Giovanni de Verrazano (Italian, under French
contract) was the first interest shown by the
French, in 1524
• He explored the east coast
• Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence
River extensively
• The first permanent French settlement was
established by Samuel de Champlain in 1608
in Quebec
 Extended French Claims
• Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette
– Explored the upper Mississippi River in 1673
– Robert de la Salle explored the Mississippi Basin,
which he named Louisiana, in 1682
 Dutch Claims
• Henry Hudson (English, under Dutch contract)(
was hired to find a northwest passage.
• In 1609, he sailed up a great river, later named
after him, and established Dutch claims to the
area around it, later known as New
Amsterdam
• The Dutch West India Company took control
of the above mentioned region
Early English Settlements
 Introduction
• In 1588, the English defeated the Spanish
Armada, which cleared the path for them to
immigrate.
• Also, a large number of homeless poor took the
opportunity to come to America
• Joint Stock Companies pooled the savings of
people of moderate means and supported
trading venues for profit
• English Colonies attracted much attention after
the beginning of the 17th century
 Jamestown
• King James I of England created the Virginia
Company, a Joint Stock Company that created
Jamestown, the first English settlement, in
1607
 Early Problems of Jamestown
• Problems included…
– Indian attacks
– Famine
– Disease
• Dysentery
• Malaria
– Settlement mistakes
• Located in a swamp
– Settlers not used to physical labor
 Tobacco Prosperity
• John Smith
– Leader of the colony
• John Rolfe
– Started the tobacco industry
– Married to Pocahontas
• The tobacco industry brought much money to the
colonies
• Tobacco plantations were manned by indentured
servants
– Worked in exchange for free transport to the company
 Transition to a Royal Colony
• Eventually, the Virginia Company went
bankrupt in 1624, and the charter got pulled.
The colony was then under the direct control
of King James I, thereby making it a Royal
Colony
 Puritan Colonies
• Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay were founded
by English Protestants, who believed in
Predestination
• King Henry VII founded the Church of England, or
the Anglican Church, which was protestant
• Some people wanted to change ceremonies and
hierarchy. These people were known as puritans.
• Big surprise, James sees them as a threat to his
Fascism, and has them jailed.
 Plymouth Colony
• The Separatists didn’t like the idea of
reforming the Church of England, and wanted
a church free from royal control. The
Separatists, or Pilgrims, left England, and went
to Holland
• In 1620, Pilgrims went to Virginia aboard the
Mayflower
• Most of them wanted money. Very few were
looking for freedom.
 Early Hardships
• Half of the Pilgrims were killed during the first
winter
• After the winter, the Naïve (*Cough*, Native)
Americans helped them survive
• The first Thanksgiving was held in 1621
• Captain Miles Standish and Governor William
Bradford helped the colony grow
• Fish, furs, and lumber became staple goods
 Massachusetts Bay Colony
• A group of Puritans, who were not Separatists,
managed to get a royal charter for a new
colony, the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• John Winthrop founded Boston and several
other towns
• The Great Migration
– A civil war in England in the 1630’s drove more
than 15,000 more people to the Massachusetts
Bay Colony
Early Political Institutions
 Majority Rule in Plymouth
• The Mayflower Compact dictated that the
Pilgrims would make decisions by the will of
the majority
 Representative Government at
Jamestown
• The Virginia Company, to try to bump up the
population in Jamestown, promised the same
rights as in England
• In 1619, the House of Burgesses was formed
– First representative assembly
 Representative Government in
Massachusetts
• Limited but important democratic actions
• All free men who were members of the
Puritan Church had the right to vote
Limited Nature of Colonial Democracy
• A large part of the colony was not given the right
to vote
• Only male property owners could vote
• Females and landless had fewer rights
• Indentures servants and slaves had no rights
• Colonial governors ruled with unlimited powers
• Slavery and mistreatment of Native Americans
was widespread
Spanish Settlements in North America
 Florida and New Mexico
• Florida
– In 1565, the Spanish established a settlement at
St. Augustine
– Many failed attempts due to Indian resistance
preceded this settlement
• New Mexico
– Santa Fe was established in 1609, but the Spanish
tried to convert the Indians, and the Pueblos
eventually kicked them out in 1680
 Texas and California
• Texas
– After the Pueblo established dominance in New
Mexico, the Spanish fled to Texas, and the population
of their colonies grew as they tried to keep the French
out
• California
– The Spanish colonized San Diego (1769) and San
Francisco (1776) in response to Russian colonization in
the north.
– Father Junipero Serra founded nine Franciscan
Missions along the Californian coast
European Treatment of Native
Americans
 Introduction
• Spanish
– Conquer, rule, and intermarry
• Aztec, Maya, Inca
• English
– Occupied the land, and forced the tribes to move to
the inlands
• French
– Treated Indians as economic and militaristic allies
• Long term effects of European Colonization
– Destruction of a large amount of the population
– Permanent legacy of subjugation
 Spanish Policy
• Killed millions of Native Americans
– Warfare, enslavement, and diseases
– Survivors were married to Spanish settlers
• Africans were used for slave labor
• The Spaniards developed a rigid class system,
which they dominated
 English Policy
• The English and Native Americans coexisted,
traded, and shared ideas
• Peaceful relationships soon failed, and war
followed
 French Policy
• French maintained good relations with the
Indians in the St. Lawrence Valley and the
Great Lakes
• French soldiers assisted the Huron people in
fighting the Iroquois, to dominate the fur
trade
• French had few people, farms, or towns, and
therefore posed little threat.