The Pre-Columbian Americas

(The Americas before Columbus)

Origins of the Native Americans (aka Indians)

� Hunter-Gatherers from Asia migrated to Americas across Bering Land Bridge (Now the Bering Strait)

� Essentially Isolated after c. 10,000 B.C.

� So Didn�t Share all Animals, Plants, Diseases with �Old� World�

� & Few Large Mammals Survived after c 10,000 BC

� By AD 1492: c. (about) 70 Million People in Americas

Agricultural Revolution (Start of Deliberate Food Creation)

� In America, based on Corn, Beans & Squash

� Spread Slowly to North America

� Responses to Agriculture Depended on Resources, so Societies Very Diverse

� Farming Societies Typically More Complex & Technologically Advanced (Tho� No Native American Society Regularly Used Metal Tools Until Very Late)

� Major Civilizations in 1492

� Central America:� Aztecs (& Weaker Maya)

� South America:� Inca

� North America:� Descendants of �Mound-Builders� Along Southern Mississippi

� Most in North America Members of Less Hierarchical Clan-Based Societies

Western European Society in 1492

� Similarities to major Indian civilizations

� Based on agriculture

� Strict hierarchy (a few kings & nobles, a few in middle class�usually trading or manufacturing, many peasants/smaller farmers)

� Life hard for average person

� Nature & religion central to most people�s lives (altho Europeans monotheist & Indians polytheist)

After 1000, Europe recovering from �Dark Ages�

� & So can begin �Crusades� to �Holy Land�

� Revitalizing trade w/Asia (esp. in cotton, silk & spices from India & China)

� Europeans learning others� technologies, incl. compass & gunpowder

� Europeans building better ships for trade & war

The European Age of Discovery & Conquest�

Portuguese explorers

� Prince Henry the Navigator (after 1420)

� Opened trade with sub-Saharan African kingdoms, incl. direct European/African slave trade

� 1488:� B. Dias rounds Cape of Good Hope

� Portuguese soon capture Indian Ocean trade routes

� But other monarchs stronger, also interested

�Discovery� of the Americas

� Spanish finance Christopher Columbus

� Based on his mistakes in geography

� Wanted God, gold & glory

� He arrives in Caribbean in 1492

� Treaty of Tordesillas Splits world between Spain & Portugal;� Spain gets all of Americas but Brazil

Spain in the Americas

The Spanish Conquest

� Late 1400s, Early 1500s:� Exploring the Caribbean

� Starting the �Columbian Exchange� of Plants, Animals & Germs

� The Conquistadores & the Great Civilizations

� Private �Conquerors� Looking for Power, Riches

� Helped by Germs, Horses, Metal Weapons, & Divisions Within & Between Native Societies

� Aztecs Conquered by Hernando Cort�s

� Incas Conquered by Francisco Pizarro

� Maya Resistance Continued for Years

� Spanish Monarchs Soon Assert As Much Control as They Can

Spanish Empire

� In Theory, Tightly Controlled, esp in

� Religion (Censorship, Inquisition, �Missions�)

� Trade (Supposed to Trade only with Spain)

� Governed at Top by Spanish Priests, Officials, Paid Regular Salaries & Frequently Transferred

� In Reality, Distance led to Some Autonomy

� Multi-Racial

� Europeans, Indians, African Slaves

� Over Time, Large Mixed-Race Population

� Profitable for Spanish

� Huge Wealth from Mines

� Indians Laboring on Farms, Ranches

� Disaster for Indians