1.1 & 1.2: The Americas, West Africa and Europe
JachimiecU.S. History2015-16
Ancient Cultures in the Americas• First hunters arrived 22,000 years ago (Ice Age) via Beringia
land bridge• Agricultural Revolution 8000-3000 B.C.• Mix of nomadic and farming tribes
Great Empires of Middle and South America
• Olmecs (1200-400 B.C.) in southern Mexico• Maya (250-900 A.D.) in southern Mexico and
Guatemala• Aztecs (1200s-1500s A.D.) in south-central
Mexico• Incas (peak around 1400 A.D.) in Andean
highlands of Ecuador, Peru and Chile
Tenochtitlan, Valley of Mexico
Machu Picchu, Peru
North American Tribes• Diverse climates=diverse peoples and ways of
life• Sophisticated trade patterns, roads
Cahokia, Illinois
Mississippian Mound Cultures
Common Traits
• Highly religious and ritualistic• Extensive trade• Land not treated as a commodity (source of
life)• Animistic beliefs• Kin-based relationships organize clans and
tribes
West Africa
• Large, powerful kingdoms and sophisticated societies• Connected by trade to Europe, Middle East and Far East
– Gold– Salt
• Kinship bonds highly important• Polytheistic religions that favor a single creator• Collective ownership of lands according to family, village
and/or tribe• Trade (including slave trade) begins with Portuguese
arrival in 1440s
Europe
• Social class dictates position in life.• Low social mobility• Renaissance (1400-1600): rediscovery of classical
learning and artistic/cultural reawakening• Christianity dominate religion– Split within the Church in 1500s between Roman
Catholicism and Protestantism (Reformation)• 1400s- emergence of strong nations: England,
France, Spain and Portugal
Age of Exploration: Why?
• Interest in Far East (Marco Polo, Crusades)• Desire for more efficient trade routes to get
exotic goods (spices)– Want to bypass Muslim overland routes
• Monarchs see expansion as a way to increase their wealth and prestige.– 3 G’s: Gold, God & Glory
Age of Exploration: How?
• Improvements in cartography (map-making)• Technological improvements– Astrolabe– Magnetic compass– Caravel/Lateen sails