1491 – 1607 On a North American continent controlled by American Indians, contact among the peoples of Europe, the Americas, and West Africa created a new world

How did the political, economic, and religious systems of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans compare and how did things change as a result of contacts among them?

Politics Economy Religion/Society

Native Americans Europeans Africans

Explain how things changed within each category as a result of contact among the three groups.

 Native populations in America    1490s: est. 50 – 100 million 1 – 10 million in North America Slow spread of maize from south  Variety of social, political, economic structures    Based on environment, interaction w/ each other Adapted to environment Transformed environment  Complex societies  Astronomy, art, writing systems, math, monument building  Central & South America: Aztecs, Maya, Inca

  Domesticated crops (maize, potato) Permanent farming towns more time   more food  SPECIALIZATION!

 Culture: arts, crafts, religion, science, calendars, astronomy, etc.

 Also. . . WAR!

    Dense population  250k Bureaucracy  State controlled land   Tenochtitlan Rule by priests (sun god), warrior-nobles Trade & tribute  feathers, cacoa  gold, textiles, turquoise, War  subordinate kingdoms Human sacrifice  fertile fields, return of sun

Complex Civs in MesoAmerica & Andes Semi-sedentary societies H-G in kinship groups Note: This is not a hierarchy!

   Climate change  Grasslands  Forests    plants, small animals  fiber snares, basketry, mills (grinding nuts)  domestication of dog, turkey Great Basin/Great Plains (western)  H-G lifestyles  Deer, moose, antelope, elk Northeast/Atlantic Seaboard  Mixed AG + H-G

  There are two sides to every story.

POV study. . .

  Ohio River Valley ( 800 BCE – 600 CE)  Adena-Hopewell culture, Midwest  Earthworks (animal shapes), H-G, division of labor (priests/warriors – laborers), trade Mississippi Valley (600 CE – 1500)  SE US, Cahokia (center)   AG- corn, beans, squash Towns around temples, plazas, social structure, human sacrifice, trade, division of labor, gov. structure, worship of sun

Kincaid Site (IL)- 140 mi. from Cahokia. Mississippian town (1050-1450), 19 mound + buildings- temples, council houses. Image painted by Herb Roe.

Snake mound- S. Ohio. Adena peoples (500 BCE – 200 CE OR 950 – 1200 CE) OR Mississippian (b/c of animal imagery). Snake head aligned with sunset of summer solstice- June 20/21.

 Anasazi- earliest AG society (1 st    cent. CE) “Four corners”  CO, UT, AZ, NM Climate factor: arid & dry  (maize)  irrigation-based villages, towns developed Adobe dwellings (pueblos), temple mounds  Adobe, rock- molded to canyon walls   Chaco Canyon (NM)- 12 towns, roads connected to villages No known class structure, war as self-defense

 Moral codes, myths/beliefs (nature = sacred), COMMUNAL LIVING = similar  Developed in different ways, different places, different times

   Three regional groups  Eastern Woodlands, Great Plains, Western Differences: geography, language, customs Similarities: sacred spirits in plants/animals (animism)  gods ensure good weather, good hunts, good harvests, good wars

 Three regional groups  Algonquian, Iroquois, Muskogee  Smaller, powerful New England groups: Narragansetts, Wampanoags, Mohegans

  AG + H-G, method of burning land No single style of political organization  Chiefdoms- multiple chiefs, one w/ preeminent power   Paramount chiefdoms- communities w/ local chiefs come together under single, more powerful ruler  Powhatan Chiefdom- Chesapeake Bay  Made of 30 smaller chiefdom  Met by John Smith Mid-Atlantic- many small, local chiefdoms

 New England  

Great Lakes

 Clan ID cross through various tribes Carolinas      Coastal = fishing; inland = hunting Limited AG Canoes = technology & transportation   Very mobile- rivers, lakes For trade, hunt/fish, ceremonies, alliances Live in small, round shelters (wig-wams) 500 – 2,000 people

 Upstate NY   PA, Carolinas, GA Comprised of Five Nations- Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas   Fighting b/t groups  wars of retribution Mohawk Hiawatha- peace and power, condolence rituals

    Maize   permanent villages Log walls around, wooden long-houses within  Multi-family unit Political authority to council of chiefs Matriarchal society  Absence of men (war, trade, hunt, fish)   Select council of sachems, distribute property, plant/harvest Power inherited through female line of authority d

  Chiefdoms in S Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw

   Very diverse  Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Arapaho (Algonquin)    Comanche (Shoshonean) Apache (Athabaskan) Teton Sioux, Crow (Siouan) Mostly nomadic  Biggest change? HORSE  Also… horses = advantage over enemy  POWER Culture- hunting (bison)

   Comanche  Expert raiders  Prisoners/horses for food, weapons, etc.

Sioux  Domination of Black Hills (MS river, MN, west) For some- farming incorporated  Settled villages along rivers

   Goods: food, raw materials, tools, ritual artifacts, decorative goods  Those w/ access to trade goods  power, elite status luxury items, Regional trade networks   Nomadic hunters of plains traded w/ Pueblos Hides/meat  maize, pottery, blankets  War captives traded as slaves, diplomatic gifts Long distance trade  Copper (Great Lakes), obsidian (NM), pipestone (midwest), seashells, bear claws

   Large nations- leaders controlled wealth  distribute to show generosity, gain authority Smaller groups- strongest hunters = most food  But, sharing essential Chiefdoms- rulers collect wealth, redistribute it to followers

    Religion and understanding based on interpreting dreams, visions Rituals to appease spirits  Successful hunts, battles AG  Female power, fertility linked to earth  Festivals/ceremonies for life-giving world H-G   Spiritual power through hunting, war Fearful of offending spirits of animals killed  Rituals before, during, after

 War- geopolitical (gain land vs. enemy), rite of passage (raids to prove self), person motives (blood feuds, mourning wars)