1.1 Early Americas and European Contact

American History I

Early American Peoples

Arrival of Human Population

• 15,000-12,000 years ago, humans were Stone Age hunters
• During the Ice Age, ice covered much of the Northern Hemisphere causing water levels to decrease. Land was exposed that connected North America to Asia allowing early hunter/gatherers to cross into North America following herds.
• Known as Beringia
• 8,000 BC people had began to disperse throughout the Americas

Native American Societies

• Over time, various complex societies form in the Americas and developed unique cultures.
• Culture: Beliefs, norms, traditions, and values of a group of people
• Culture
• No private land ownership
• Close dependence on the environment

First Cultures Began in Mesoamerica

Quick Quiz:

Remember Mesopotamia??

What does “Mesopotamia” mean?

So…

What does “Mesoamerica” mean??

Olmec

• At its height in 1,200 BC
• Tropical forests along the Gulf of Mexico
• Trade evidenced by their art themes seen in other Mesoamerican cultures
• Created a calendar and hieroglyphic writing
• Large Stone Sculptures
• Suggests strong priest class
• 14 stone heads survive carved from 40 ton stones
• Possibly portraits of rulers
• No wheeled vehicles or draft animals to move them
• Smaller sculptures of jade figures and gods
• Culture collapsed by 400 BC
• Considered the “Mother Culture” of Mesoamerica

Maya

• 300 BC - 900 AD
• Flourished on Yucatan Peninsula
• Tikal (major city) in modern day Guatemala
• Slash and burn farming and raised crop beds allowed them to grow food to sustain their people
• Independent city-states ruled by hereditary rulers
• Often at war
• Used captive soldiers as slaves
• Used nobles as human sacrifices
• Temples, pyramids, calendars

Mayan Artificial Cranial Deformation

• It is believed the Mayans would place boards on a baby’s head or secure them in a cradle to force the skull plates to form in alternative positions.
• This permanently changed the shape of the skull for the individual’s entire life
• It is thought to represent a higher social class (priest, leader) and was done to both baby girls and baby boys.

Mayan Culture

• Used Hieroglyphics (Pictures to represent words)
• Destroyed by the Spanish
• Wrote on folded bark
• Only four remain
• Calendar: long count and accurate
• Based on their calculations, the world began in 3114 BC
• Their calendar ended on December 21, 2012
• Accurate to 365 days

Aztec

• Around 1,200 AD, groups moved into the Valley of Mexico
• Capital City: Tenochtitlan
• Modern day Mexico City
• Built in the middle of Lake Texcoco
• Rulers controlled through conquests and alliances with neighboring areas to rule much of Mexico

Aztec: Ullamaliztli

European Exploration

Early European Exploration: Why Now?

• After the Middle Ages, centralized nations had grown in influence.
• Crusades created a thirst for Eastern goods (spices, rice, coffee, lemons, mirrors, cotton, clothes, writing paper…)
• Renaissance ideas/discoveries lead to invention that make long distance sailing possible
• Astrolabe, Caravel, cartography improvements

Early European Exploration

Motivations for Exploration

The 3 Gs

• God
• Gold
• Glory

Early Explorers

• Vasco de Gama: sails around the Horn of Africa to India
• Columbus: looking for a shorter route, sails WEST...stumbles onto the Americas in 1492

Christopher Columbus

• Claims new lands for Spain
• Enslaves native population of San Salvador
• Opens the door for Columbian Exchange
• The exchange of people, ideas, plants, animals and diseases between the Old World and the New World
• Disease devastated native populations

Effects of Disease

Columbus remains a controversial figure today...watch the video below to see why.

The Columbian Exchange

The Columbian Exchange had not only a great effect on history, but still affects our lives today.

Colonization

• Spain becomes the first European nation to colonize the Americas
• To take control of the people and resources of another land
• Treaty of Tordesillas: Divides Latin America between Spain and Portugal

Under Spanish Control in 1615

Colonization

• Britain and France are eager to establish colonies in the New World as well.
• These nations soon begin establishing colonies of their own in North America

Review Questions: Copy the questions and answer in complete sentences.

1. What types of evidence do you think archaeologists need in order to know for certain when people populated the Americas?
2. What are some advantages and disadvantages of building a city on an island in a lake?
3. How might a Native American assess the impact - both positive and negative - of the Columbian Exchange?
4. Why did the world population explode after the Columbian Exchange?
5. Should Christopher Columbus be hailed as a hero or villain?