Worlds in Motion 1450–1550: Native Americans and European Conquest

Worlds in Motion1450–1550:Native Americans and European Conquest

Main Themes

New Worlds for All

Native American Life Before Euros

Columbus and “The New World”

Power Dynamics from The Start

Early British Settlement

Worlds in Motion1450-1550

Overview The World of the Indian Peoples The Worlds of Christopher Columbus Worlds in Collision The Biological Consequences of

Conquest Onto the Mainland

Worlds in Motion1450-1550

The World of the Indian Peoples The Archaic Indians The Indians of the Eastern Woodlands The Indians of the Plains The Indians of the Deserts The Indians of the Pacific Coast The Great Civilizations of the Americas

The World of the Indian Peoples

The Archaic Indians Native American societies spread across the Western

Hemisphere between 10,000 BCE – 3,000 BCE 1st N.A. crossed Bering Strait @ 16,000 years ago Clovis peoples: hunter-gatherers

Native Americans developed broad cultural diversity Adapted to different environments, climates, and

developed distinctive cultures Great variety: over 300 languages, more diversity of

language than other regions of world

History of Human Migration

The First AmericansWhen did first Americans arrive? How?

Bering Strait

Beringian Corridor

Coastal Route

Both?

At different times?

clovis tip – dated to 9000 BCE

Clovis points (Clovis, NM)

Were the makers of these the first Americans?

Moving from Alaska to tip of S.A. in 1500 years?

Following big game?

Clovis Point Found with Bison

But what about thesePre-Clovis sites?

Location of Dated North American Pre-Clovis Sites –14000 – 40000 years old

Topper Site video PBS “Time Team America” Video link Questions to answer:

Goals of the archeologists studying the Topper site?

Methods/tools archeologists use? What questions have been answered at Topper

with firm evidence? What is the evidence? Which questions are still up in the air or

controversial? Criticisms of the show?

Variety of major Native American cultural areas

Different Types of North American Amerindian Cultures Hunter-Gatherers – in the Arctic and Great

Basin (present-day NV, UT) Limited-Scale Tribal Societies – Canadian

Subarctic, Algonquians, NW Coastal people, and others

Full-Scale Tribal Societies – Plains, Prairie, Southeast, and Eastern Woodland Indians

Complex Societies – Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian

The World of the Indian Peoples Native American Economic Complexes:

Four Geographic-Cultural Domains in North America: Eastern Woodlands: horticulture and hunting

Mississippian mound builders City center: Cahokia

Iroquois Algonquians

Plains: maize and buffalo hunting Buffalo hunters

The World of the Indian Peoples

Deserts: maize horticultureAnasazi pueblos villages

Chaco Canyon Mesa Verde: Link to online photos

Pacific Coast: fishing and hunting The Great Civilizations of Mesoamerica

Mayas and Toltecs

Mesa Verde, Spruce Tree House, Winter

Life at Mesa Verde

Mayan Pyramids Chichen ItzePyramid

Indicates a hierarchicalsociety

Rituals and Rulers

Priests and Ritual Blood-letting – portal to spiritual world

Mayan Codex

Mayan Bowl & Lid

Mayan Flints

Mayan Seated Figures – Copan Site

Mayan Gold Jaguar Jewelry

Aztec and Inca Empires,1300-1550

Pre-Spanish Invasion

Effects of Isolation in the Americas Lacked contact with other cultures – no

means of acquiring new technologies or ideas

Late to start agriculture, so social developments arose later too

Lacked immunity to diseases Lacked large mammals for work or food

Ancient Societies of MesoAmerica

AztecsMayans

Olmec

The Aztec Empire Founding myth stated that

people were led to Lake Texcoco by the god Huitzilopochtli (Southern Hummingbird

There they saw an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a snake – a positive omen

They built their city on islands in the lake

Aztec society only existed for 200 years before Spanish invasion, but ruled over 10-20 million people

City in the Lake – Tenochtitlan

City built in Lake Texcoco Chinampas agriculture – floating gardens, plenty of

water, very productive & nutritious crops Lake provided protection from invaders 200,000 inhabitants – supported by subject peoples

Map of Chinampas farming methods

Mayan Writing – The Codices Pictographic writing system Carved on stone and written on tree bark

paper books, called codices (plural) or a codex (singular)

Thousands of these books existed, documenting history, astronomy, philosophy

Only FOUR of these books remain – the rest were burned by the Spanish conquistadors and priests

Mayan Dresden Codex Codices give accounts of:

Calendar of Rulers

History

Rulers and war

Territorial battles and conquests

Gods and divination rituals

Healing rituals

Mayan Social Hierarchy

Aztec Imperial Beliefs Aztec Empire established by Motecuzoma in

1468 Based on cosmic mission theory – sun and

earth needed human sacrificial victims to gain energy; w/o them, earth would go dark

Theory justified imperial growth and expansion

High demand for sacrifice = need for slaves Also kept commoners and subject peoples

under control – fear and domination

Like the Mayans,the Aztecs recordedhistory and beliefs in Codices

Only a few exist

This image is from the Florentine Codex,Page I, F, 6r. Human sacrifice

Aztec War

Images from theFlorentineCodex

Tlatelolco. The remains of 41 sacrificial victims. 30 infants and       the rest youths and adults found at the foot of the stairway of       the Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl temple.

Aztec Social Classes Kings &

Nobles

Priests, Warriors, Merchants

Artisans,Farmers,Slaves

Social Classes and Roles Class of Lords – Tecuhtli – successful

generals, officials, priests – not hereditary Warrior meritocracy – commoners could

rise through military skill Education for all Aztec children Merchant class – Pochteca – closed caste Artisan class – Tolteca Commoners – Macehualtin – had civil rights Slave class – Tlatlacotin

The Incan Empire

Developed later than Aztecs

3000 miles long Built upon the

work of earlier societies and Andean cultures

Building the Incan Empire In 100 years, Inca created one of the largest

empires in human history Two legendary rulers:

Pachacuti – 1438-1471 CE Topa Inca Yupanqui – 1471-1493 CE

Incorporation of conquered peoples – announced attacks, used force only if persuasion failed

Resettlement and incorporation – non-discrimination against incorporated people – became Inca

Consolidating Empire Common trade

language Road and bridge

system through mountains connected all parts of empire

A message could be carried from one end to the other in 12 days

Machu Picchu

Incan Class SystemSapa Inca – Ruler

2 Noble Classes: Inca Caste & Curacas (Sapa Inca’s Family) (Govt. Officials)

Commoner Class

(Worked fields and paid tribute to higher classes)

Incan Building methods Many buildings still stand Rocks fit together so well, there was no

need for mortar

Machu Picchu

360 degree site tour

Rediscovered in 1911

1200 people could have lived there, butbelieved to be retreat for rulers

1400s-1600s

European Exploration and Colonization

Euro. Colonization and the World Economy In less than 50 years, from Columbus’

first voyage to the mid-1500s, the Americas were incorporated and became a major part of a new global economy

This new global economy was based on labor and environmental exploitation

The core of the new economy was Europe Other regions and peoples were forced

into dependency, servitude, and slavery

Worlds in MotionEuropean Exploration and Colonization Changes in Europe Led to Increased

Exploration, Trade, Conquest Spanish and Portuguese Were Leaders Early Exploration and Colonization Set Up Model of Colonization Followed by

Other European Powers Columbian Exchange: People, Goods,

Disease Issues of Power, Domination, and Control

from the Outset of Europeans in Americas

Major Themes – British Colonization Early British colonization of Americas was

minor blip in a much more extensive history and process of European colonization

British modeled themselves after Spanish and Portuguese – imperial competition

British adopted and adapted Spanish and Port. modes of dealing with Native Americans and Africans

Growth of British power over time

Age of Exploration Major Questions:

Why did Europeans with their history of fragmentation and internal problems, begin to look towards expansion abroad?

What were European motives? Who were the major European colonial powers? How did they accomplish overseas expansion? What effects did expansion have on European

societies? What effects did expansion have on colonized or

enslaved peoples?

Motives Question: What were European motives for

expansion? Economic – search for profits: silks, spices and

other goods that could benefit the Crown and merchant classes

Religious – Spanish Reconquista – take colonial possessions before Muslims could gain influence

Econ. & Religious – undercut or bypass Muslim world

Racial – through contact with other peoples, Europeans formulated ideas of racial superiority – combined ideas of cultural, scientific, religious, economic, and physical superiority

Means How did Europeans expand beyond Europe?

Creation of stable governments/monarchies Spanish example – unification of different small

kingdoms into one Battle against Muslims (Reconquista) helped unify

Spanish Crown (Ferdinand & Isabella) Monarchs gained wealth, wanted to spend it on

new things: new trade routes, exploration, expansion

New technologies or used borrowed technologies – Portolini (navigation maps), compass, astrolabe, knowledge of wind patterns

Portuguese Maritime Empire Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460)

Wanted to find a mythical Christian Kingdom in Africa to ally against Muslims

Acquire new trade opportunities Extend the influence of Christianity

India and Vasco da Gama Original goal of da Gama’s mission was to

destroy the Muslim monopoly over the Spice Trade (economic)

1497 sailed around Cape of Good Hope in Africa Success = military superiority & seamanship

Global Exploration 1415 – 1522 C.E.

Flow of Commerce in Portuguese World 1600

Portuguese Atlantic System Beginnings of plantation complex:

Staple crops – grown for export to Europe Sugar plantations in Mediterranean, then off

African coast, then Brazil Use of slave labor: native populations, but,

particularly African slaves Slave forts on African coast – slaves captured

inland and taken to forts, then sold to Port. Other European powers soon competed for

slave labor

Lure of Discovery: Spain Spanish Success = naval superiority, military

strength & religious zeal Spanish Model:

crown maintained control over colonies most colonists were male (intermarried) wealth based on exploitation of native population

and slaves (not African) system of encomienda (labor system of service to

the local Spanish governors) – brutal exploitation 1592 Slave Laws – Catholic Church convinced

Crown to outlaw the use of the Native population as slaves

Link for History Channel information on Christopher Columbus

Columbus’ First Voyage

Spanish Exporation: Caribbean, North, and Central Americas

Links Related Links for European Exploration:

http://www.nps.gov/seac/outline/07-exploration/index.htm

PBS Link for Guns Germs & Steel

The Columbian Exchange: exchange of crops and germs between Europe and the Americas – primarily benefited Europe, while harming native American societies

Link to National Geographic Columbian Exchange

Columbian Exchange

Worlds in Motion1450-1550

Worlds in Collision: Columbus in “The New World”

Thoughts on film? New World for Native Americans?:

Effects on Native Populations Encomienda system – tribute paid in labor to

benefit Spanish Demographic collapse – by early 1500s only

1,000 Tainos left on Hispaniola Smallpox and other diseases brought through

Columbian Exchange Loss of families, villages, cultures Search for labor in Caribbean = African slaves Central and South America = native

populations much larger, more gold, silver wealth

Onto the Mainland The First Florida Ventures, 1513, 1521

Juan Ponce de León What did the Calusa take away from their encounter with

the Spanish? The Conquest of Mexico, 1519

The Aztec Empire before conquest City capital: Tenochtitlán (pop. 200,000) Ruler: Moctezuma

Hernán Cortés’s bloody conquest The Establishment of a Spanish Empire

Center The transformation of Tenochtitlán to Mexico City

Expansion Takeover of the Incan Empire in Peru Borderlands outposts in present-day New Mexico

Other European Colonial Powers Competition with Spain for power, wealth,

military strength

France (1534-1635) North America – 1534 Cartier (fur trade) Caribbean – Haiti – SUGAR (became most important)

English First Attempts Roanoke, NC (Sir Walter Raleigh), 1585: Link to PBS

, Time Team America episode on Roanoke Island East India Company, 1591 (India)

French Exploration in Americas

English in North America

Dutch Overseas Empire Dutch East India Company, 1602

designed to breakup Portuguese monopoly 1621 Dutch West India Company (WIC) –

Caribbean & North America New Amsterdam (New York) – Fur Trade Curacao (Caribbean – slave trade, pirating,

cacao trade) Trade with Native Americans in North America:

Created problems for French & English and a mini arms race among Native Americans in the Northeast for furs. In exchange for beaver pelts – guns, gun powder, steel headed tomahawks & alcohol

Dutch Atlantic Empire

European Colonies by 1700

European Labor Systems Colonization & Empires based on exploitation

of native and African populations Spanish system = encomienda labor system =

mining and agriculture by natives (slaves/serfs) Portuguese, French, and English = enslavement of

Africans Creation of plantations in Caribbean, No. and So.

Americas to grow staple crops: sugar, coffee, tobacco, cotton

Racial system of slavery eventually developed – Europeans rationalized only blacks could be slaves