Transcript First Americans

The First Americans
The Ice Age Ends
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Wisconsian Glaciation
25,000 years ago the
ice receded
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Bering Land Bridge
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Nomadic Hunters
Land Bridge around 15,000 ya.
The First Americans
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Around 10,000 ya. the
migrations reached
the southern tip of
South America
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Farming
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Civilization
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Large-scale, fully
functioning
communities
To List a Few...
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Mayan
Aztec
Incan
Moundbuilders and Cahokia
History and Archeology
Definitions
Mayan and Aztec Empires
Mayan Empire
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Reached its height
from 300 A.D. To 900
A.D.
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Yucatán Peninsula
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Multi-state empire
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Pyramids
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Extensive farming
Aztec Empire
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Rose in power around 1200
A.D. and were the dominant
force in Mesoamerica at the
time of European contact
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Tenochtitlan
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Militaristic/tributary state
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Sacrifices
Inca Empire
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Extraordinarily
sophisticated
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Taxation
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Political Marriages
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Rich in gold and silver
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Terrace farming
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Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
Moundbuilders in North America
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Adena – Ohio River Valley.
1000 B.C. - 100 A.D.
Hopewell – 100 A.D. To
500 A.D. Mississippi River
Valley
Mississippian – 1400 A.D.
Cahokia, Illinois
North American Cultures before
European Discovery
Things to Consider
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Prior to 1492, the Western Hemisphere consisted of large,
sophisticated civilizations equal to and, in many cases,
surpassing the civilizations found in Europe.
North American cultures were extraordinarily diverse. Over
2,200 distinct languages.
The estimated population in the Western Hemisphere in 1491
was between 40 – 60 million.
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By 1600 the native population was around 10 million.
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This is the largest loss of life in the history of the planet.
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What happened?
Meanwhile across two oceans...
Europe's place in the
global world prior to
1492?
Italians and Marco Polo
1270 – 1295
Asian riches
The rise of Islam
1453!
Cut off from the east
Portugal & the Age of Discovery
Portugal sought to
contain Muslim states
and reach China
Timbuktu
Bartlomeu Dias – 1488
Technological advances
China?
Why did China not
reach the New World?
Zheng He's voyages
1405 – 1433
Complacency
Christopher Columbus
Not the first – Vikings in
1000 A.D.
The many faces of
Columbus
Italian, sailor
Reconquista –
Ferdinand & Isabella
Oct. 12, 1492
A Global World
European Contact
spurred one of the
most significant
changes in World
History
Globalism
Columbian Exchange
Slavery
Mass Murder
Columbian Exchange
Old to New World
New to Old World
Wheat
Corn
Rice
Tomatoes
Sugarcane
Potatoes
Coffee
Tobacco
Kentucky bluegrass
Beans
Bananas
Cacao
Melons
Squash & Pumpkins
Animals
Old to New
New to Old
Horses
Turkeys
Pigs
Llamas
Cows
Guinea Pigs
Sheep
Chickens
Diseases
Old to New World
Smallpox
Measles
Chicken Pox
Malaria
Influenza
Yellow Fever
Common Cold
New to Old World
Syphilis
An Uneven Exchange
The Columbian Exchange persists up to the present day
At contact however, the exchange (of diseases in particular) wiped
out the indigenous populations of the New World
By the 17th Century the indigenous population in the Western
Hemisphere had decreased by 60% - 70%
By the 18th Century, the indigenous population in the Western
Hemisphere had decreased by 90%
The largest loss of human life in the history of the planet
Why a New World?
God and Gold
The Spanish World
Hernán Cortés
Conquistadores
Conquered the Aztecs
How?
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Montezuma
Weapons
Disease
Indian Civil War
Empire
The Spanish World, cont.
Francisco Pizarro
Conquered the Inca
Encomienda
Into North America
St. Augustine
New Mexico
The New World in 1600
From 1492 until the start of the 17th Century Spain ruled the
Western Hemisphere.
European conflicts in the Old World hampered other European
powers. England, France, and the Netherlands could not
effectively move into the New World.
Still some exploration and colonies. French: Ft. Quebec, fur
trading. Dutch: New Amsterdam, trading. England: Roanoke,
“Lost Colony.”
Things were changing...
The “Decline” of Spain and the Rise of
England
Protestant Reformation
Nearly continuous warfare
Martin Luther & 95 Theses, 1517
Treaty of Westphalia in 1648
Charles V's Empire dissolves
Spanish Armada – 1588
England in Ireland
At the turn of the 17th Century, England begins to
seek land in North America