Converging Cultures
Big Ideas: South and Central American natives had advanced and well established cultures. The native tribes of North America were numerous and diverse. A tribe s culture and way of life was heavily influenced by the natural resources of the region they occupied.
Research indicates that the first humans arrived in North America 10,000 to 30,000 years ago. Early Civilizations: The Olmecs of southern Mexico were among the earliest American civilizations. The Mayans and Aztecs of central America built impressive temples and pyramids. Their agricultural tech spread to other regions.
Native American Diversity Eastern woodland natives combined hunting, fishing, and farming. Most spoke Algonquian or Iroquoian languages. Cherokee were the largest group to occupy the Southeast along with the Choctaw, Natchez, and Creek. Women did most of the farming while men hunted.
In the Southwest, the Apache roamed the land as nomads, and hunted a variety of animals while the Navajo relied mainly on farming. Sioux lived on the Great Plains and hunted buffalo.
Fishing was the primary food source for tribes living along the Pacific coastline. The abundance of salmon meant that the coastal peoples could build permanent settlements, while tribes like the Yakima relied on hunting and gathering techniques to survive.
Reading Check How did climate and food sources help shape Native American lifestyles? Answer Native Americans living in areas with long growing seasons, fertile crops, or abundant fishing tended to remain in the same area; those living in harsher climates hunted wildlife, and some became nomadic in order to hunt herds.
Big Ideas: The discovery of the New World by Europeans destroyed native civilizations. Their numbers were eventually replaced with slaves. By colonizing the Americas, European countries created empires over vast distances. Distance kept the colonies detached from the mother country and made them difficult to manage.
The Great Crusades (1095-1291) brought Europeans into contact with sources of wealth, silk, and spices. This demonstrated the profitability of exploration. The voyages of Columbus Admiral of the Ocean Seas In 1492 Columbus left Spain in an effort to chart a new, faster route to India across the Atlantic Ocean.
After five weeks at sea, Columbus and crew made landfall on an island in what is now called The Bahamas. He believed he had reached Asian islands called at the time The East Indies. Columbus made 3 additional voyages with greater numbers of men and ships. As I saw that they were very friendly to us, and perceived that they could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force, I presented them with some red caps, and strings of beads to wear upon the neck, and many other trifles of small value, wherewith they were much delighted, and became wonderfully attached to us. It appears to me, that the people are ingenious, and would be good servants and I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians, as they appear to have no religion. They very quickly learn such words as are spoken to them. If it please our Lord, I intend at my return to carry home six of them to your Highnesses, that they may learn our language.
Columbus died a rich man in 1506, but others continued to explore the New World. Continuing Expeditions. Other Europeans traveled to the new land in hopes of striking it rich. Many of these people were lesser nobles who knew they would get no where by staying home.
Spain was eager to use the newly discovered lands to create an empire. In order to avoid conflict between Spain and Portugal, Pope Alexander VI (a Spaniard) ordered that the new world be divided amongst the two kingdoms. This became known as The Treaty of Tordesillas. The treaty gave Spain control of nearly all of the New World.
Using their superior weapons and armor, the Spanish conquered the native peoples. Hernán Cortés defeated the Aztecs of Mexico in 1521. Francisco Pizzaro conquered the Inca in Peru in 1532. Juan Ponce de León claimed Florida in 1513.
Cultural Changes With the natives defeated, Europeans began colonizing the new territory. Europeans introduced livestock, wheat, rice, coffee, and horses to the natives. The natives introduced the Europeans to potatoes, chocolate, tobacco, corn, squash, and pumpkins.
The trade of goods between old and new worlds is known as The Columbian Exchange.
Disease The most devastating effect of European exploration was the introduction of smallpox, mumps, measles, and other diseases to which the natives had no immunity. By the time Cortez conquered Tenochtitlan, over the ½ the people were already dead. Native populations declined by nearly 90% by 1592.
Reading Check Why did millions of Native Americans die after contact with the Europeans? Answer Many died because they had no immunity to European diseases; others were killed while battling the Europeans.
1. Why do Americans refer to Columbus as the guy who discovered America if people were already living there? 2. Is it fair or not to blame European explorers for spreading diseases across the New World? Why?
Big Ideas: God and money were the two main reasons Europeans had for colonizing in N. America. European governments saw colonization as a means to get rid of the unwanted, expand influence, and procure raw materials.
Early French and English Settlements After Columbus, other European nations were eager to get in the game and expand their empires as well. England sent John Cabot on expeditions in 1497 & 1498. France sent Jacques Cartier Giovanni de Verrazano in the early 15OOs.
Samuel de Champlain founded the outpost of New France in 1608. The colony was funded by investors who sought profits in the fur trade. Quebec was made the capitol of New France. It was populated with mostly fur trappers and a few missionaries. It was rough and only 9 of the 32 inhabitants survived the first winter.
Champlain befriended the Huron Indians and helped them in their battles with the Iroquois. This would lead to 150 years of hostility between the French and the Iroquois Indians. French explorers also navigated the Mississippi River down to the Gulf of Mexico. They named this new territory Louisiana. They created farms and plantations and brought in slaves to do much of the difficult work.
James Town was the first long lasting English settlement (Virginia- 1607)Life in Jamestown Jamestown was funded by a joint-stock company made up of investors who pooled their money together to pay for the enormous cost of founding a settlement. The investors hoped to make a profit by shipping raw materials to England to be turned into goods that they could sell in-country and back to the colonists. $$$
Colonization was more difficult than anyone imagined. They had no experience with farming and built their fort in a swamp. Most people did not survive even five years in Jamestown. Between 1609-10, 80% of the inhabitants died. By 1614 tobacco was being successfully grown and the colony began to improve and grow.
The Plymouth Colony While many settlers arrived in the hopes of economic success, others left England in order to worship freely they were called Pilgrims. Unlike in Jamestown the Pilgrims were traveling as a community. Their destination was Virginia, but due to foul weather they ended up far north at Cape Cod. There was no existing colonies nearby and disease had killed off 90% of the natives that had occupied the area.
Knowing that they were not in Virginia as expected, the Pilgrims decided to form their own government. The rules and regulations were laid out in The Mayflower Compact. Creating the Mayflower Compact
The Pilgrims relied heavily on the kindness of natives like Squanto who helped teach the newcomers how to survive. Perhaps they would ve had more room for food onboard ship if William Mullins had not brought 126 pairs of shoes with him. However, the first winter was very tough and many died. In November of 1621 only ½ the men and 4 of the women were left to celebrate the first Thanksgiving.
Big Ideas: There were three types of colonies: New England Puritans: fishing & timber Middle Quakers: farming & light industry Southern Plantation owners: tobacco & rice Because the colonies were far from their homelands, they had to learn to govern themselves.
New England colonists made their living off the bounty of the ocean and forest. They sold fish, whale oil, and lumber. The weak soil prevented New Englanders from growing any cash crops. They relied on subsistence farming to provide food for their families to eat.
The Middle Colonies In 1609 Henry Hudson settled the colony of New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. The Dutch encouraged immigration and New Amsterdam grew to become a very competitive port city. King James didn t like the competition and captured the region for England.
William Penn founded Pennsylvania in 1681. Penn wanted a place his fellow Quakers could go to escape persecution. Unlike New England, the Middle Colonies had good soil and made money growing and selling wheat and flour.
The Southern Colonies In 1630 Maryland was founded as a proprietary colony. It was owned by Lord Baltimore. Since he owned the colony he could govern however he wished, and granted religious freedom to all Christians in the colony.
The southern economy was based on cash crops that could be grown and sold. They had plenty of land but not enough workers. They looked to indentured servants to do the labor. These were people who sold their labor in exchange in order to get to the colonies.
The problem with indentured servants is that they are eventually set free, and want land of their own. As a result wealthy planters relied on an increasing number of slave workers.