NEW WORLD

BEGINNINGS

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PRE-COLUMBIAN SOCIETIES

PANGEA

225 million years ago, the single super continent of Pangea began to break apart

10 million years ago, North America was shaped by nature

THE GREAT ICE AGE

2 million years ago – The Great Ice Age begins

35,000 years ago – the oceans were glaciers, and the sea level dropped leaving an isthmus that connected Asia to North America

THE BERING STRAIT

2 million years ago – The Great Ice Age begins

35,000 years ago – the oceans were glaciers, and the sea level dropped leaving an isthmus that connected Asia to North America

EARLY INHABITANTS OF THE AMERICASThe earliest Americans were hunters and

gatherers.Domestication of crops led to the beginning of

civilizations (corn, beans and squash the “Three Sisters”)

Native American cultures were matrilineal in which power and possessions were passed down the female side of the family line.

Native Americans did not believe in ownership of the land. They revered the physical world and endowed nature with spiritual properties.

AMERICAN INDIAN EMPIRES IN MESOAMERICA, THE SOUTHWEST AND THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY

MESOAMERICAMayan (Central America) had a written

language, mathematicians made accurate astronomical observations (calendar), and had advanced agricultural practices

Aztecs (Mexico) complex civilization, were warrior-like, used human sacrifices, and built impressive cities

Incas (Peru) – built suspension bridges, used terrace farming

SOUTHWESTERN - PUEBLO

Built large townsExtensive canal networks to

irrigate fieldsCremated the dead

MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEYCreek, Choctaw, Cherokee, IroquoisAgricultural society – Three Sisters (corn, squash and beans)Mound builders

INDIRECT DISCOVERERS OF THE NEW WORLDDuring the Crusades the Europeans were exposed to silks,

spices and perfumes. These items from the east were very expensive and Europeans were eager to find alternative routes

Renaissance “rebirth” in learning; nurtured an ambitious spirit of optimism and adventure

EUROPEANS ENTER AFRICA

1450 – Europeans reach sub-Saharan Africa with the Portuguese invention of the caravel

The caravel could sail into the wind

The Portuguese set up trading posts along the African beaches trading with slaves and gold

WHEN WORLD’S COLLIDE

Possibly 3/5 of the crops cultivated around the world today originated in the Americas.

Taino people of Hispaniola went from 1 million to 200 due to disease

In centuries following Columbus’s landing in the Americas, as much as 90% of the Indians had died due to the diseases.

COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE

Columbus’s discovery of the new world merged three continents

Europe provided capital and new technology

Africa furnished the labor

The New World offered raw materials

Americas to Europe, Africa and Asia

Europe, Africa, and Asia to the Americas

MaizePotatoesSweet potatoesBeansPeanutsSquashPumpkinsPeppersPineappleTomatoesCocoa

WheatSugarBananasRiceGrapes (wine)Olive OilDandelionsHorsesPigsCowsGoatsChickensSmallpox

SPANISH CONQUISTADORES

In the 1500's, Spain became the dominant exploring and colonizing power. 

The Spanish conquerors came to the Americas in the service of God as well as in search of gold and glory.

Due to the gold found in the New World, the world’s economy was transformed.

CONQUEST OF AMERICA

The islands of the Caribbean served as bases for the Spanish invasion of America.

By the 1530s in Mexico and the 1550s in Peru, colonial administrators had replaced the conquistadores.

Some of the conquistadores wed Indian women and had children.  These offspring were known as mestizos.

SPANISH DOMINIONBy the 1500s the French

and English were sending explorers to the New World.

1565, the Spanish built a fortress at St. Augustine, Florida to protect the sea-lanes to the Caribbean.

The Spanish instituted the Encomienda System. This slave system gave Native Americans to Spanish colonist with the promise that the colonist would Christianize them.

POPE’S REBELLIONIn 1680, the Catholic Church’s efforts to suppress

the Native’s religious practices led to Pope’s Rebellion

The natives burned down churches and killed priests.  They rebuilt a kiva, or ceremonial religious chamber, on the ruins of the Spanish plaza at Santa Fe. It took the Spanish half a century to reclaim New Mexico

The misdeeds of the Spanish in the New World led to the birth of the “Black Legend.”  This concept stated that the conquerors just tortured and killed the Indians, stole their gold, infected them with smallpox, and left little but misery behind.

EFFECTS OF SPANISH COLONIZATIONThe Spanish erected a colossal empire from

Florida to California to Tierra del Fuego.The Spanish merged with Native Societies through

laws, religion, and language.The Spanish fused with Natives through marriage

and incorporated indigenous cultures with their own.

NATIVES VS. EUROPEANSLet’s think about…How the Native Americans reacted to the

European conquerors?How the Europeans reacted to the Native

Americans?How the world changed because of the interaction

between the Europeans, Native Americans and Africans?