Transcript AP U.S. History

AP/DC U.S. History
Lecture #1
New World Beginnings
Early North Americans
• 35,000 years ago, an ice
age created a land bridge
between what is now
Eurasia and North America
• This allowed immigration
between the two continents
to take place thus causing
the peopling of America
• Those early cultures that
settled North America
developed as adaptations
to their local natural
environments.
Europeans Enter Africa
• Marco Polo’s stories of
the treasures of the
East helped to spur a
desire to sail to the
East Indies.
• Christian Crusaders
also brought back
stories of silks, drugs
and riches.
• Traveling to Asia is
expensive and
dangerous, so a new
route is needed.
• Europeans want more profit,
cheaper goods and the chance
to take business away from the
Muslim merchants.
• Advancements in sailing such
as the caravel and astrolabe
made sailing easier, but still
expensive.
• Slavery existed in Africa prior to
European arrival, however, the
Portuguese began the slave
trade in Europe.
• Spain then united and expelled
the Muslim Moors creating an
opening for exploration.
Columbus (1492)
• Before Columbus ever
sailed, the Norse (Vikings)
had landed in North America
around 1000 A.D.
• He landed on an island in the
Bahamas, Oct. 12, 1492 and
mistakenly believes he has
discovered the East Indies
and mistakenly calls its
inhabitants, the Taino
people, Indians. He believes
that they will be good and
intelligent servants and he
also brutalized the Taino in
his quest for riches.
• His discoveries lead to
eventual colonization of the
New World by Great Britain,
France, Spain and Portugal.
• At the time of his arrival,
the population of Native
Americans in North
America was
approximately 4 million.
The Columbian Exchange
Effects of European Colonization
“The Columbian Exchange”
• Tobacco, maize, beans, tomatoes and the lowly potatoes,
revolutionize the international economy.
• The staple crop of the New World was corn.
• Today, three-fifths of crops cultivated around the world came from
the Americas.
• Slavery spread across both continents of the New World
• Domesticated animals such as horses, cattle and swine were
introduced to the New World and affected the Native Americans of
the U.S.
• Disease and mistreatment by the Spaniards would kill 90% of the
Indians within 100 years after European contact.
• Syphilis was introduced to the Old World for the 1st time when
Indians transferred the disease to the Europeans.
• One of the most important New World activities became silver
mining.
• One could even say that the most important treasure plundered from
the New World became Indian labor itself.
• The New World possessed many valuable things that the
Europeans could take advantage of with their superior weapons.
Conquistadores
• The Treaty of
Tordesillas (1494)
divided Columbus’s
discoveries between
Spain and Portugal
when the Pope issued
the “Line of
Demarcation”.
• The result is that Spain
received the majority
of New Spain and
Portugal received what
is now Brazil.
• Early advanced civilizations
like the Mayans were expert
mathematicians, astronomers
and they had a writing system
based on hieroglyphics.
• No one is sure what led to the
downfall of the Mayan culture
• Native Americans had a
disadvantage from the
beginning of European contact
due to their lack of unity,
modern military technology and
their resistance to European
disease.
Aztecs
• The warrior Aztecs
were superior
architects, had an
accurate calendar and
written language and
believed in human
sacrifice to honor their
gods. They also
controlled a huge
empire and
redistributed the
wealth of those they
conquered as well as
offering them up as
human sacrifices
• In a description of the Mexica (Aztec)
empire, conquistador, Bernal Diaz del
Castillo wrote about tall buildings and
temples, a massive and diverse market
place and a tremendous skill in creating
crafts of precious stones, gold, silver and
feathers.
• Hernan Cortes conquers the Aztecs of
central Mexico (1519) due in large part to
the fact that the Aztec leader, Montezuma
believed that Cortes was a god.
• Cortes was also able to use thousands of
Indian allies who favored the destruction of
the Aztec.
Incas
• The Incas of Peru had an intricate
system of paved roads and were
successful in trade.
• The More advanced civilizations
had established large cities,
studied math and understood
astronomy by the time the
Europeans had arrived.
• Francisco Pizzaro conquers the
Incas (1532) by killing their leader
Athualpa.
Incan Empire
The Encomienda System
• The Spanish begin to enslave the Indians
through the Encomienda System.
• The system distributed conquered towns
to Spaniards, gave them the right to rule
the Indians and the land around them,
and gave them the right to exact a tribute
and labor from the Indians.
• This system grew directly from the
assumption on the part of the Spaniards
that they were superior to the Native
Americans.
• New ethnicities such as the Mestizo were
introduced as a direct result of relations
and intermarriage between the Spaniards
and the Indian population
Vasco Balboa
• Discovers the Pacific Ocean (the world is
larger than believed)
Ferdinand Magellan
• 1st expedition to complete a full
circumnavigation of the world(1522).
Other Explorers
• Juan Ponce
DeLeon –
explored Florida
looking for the
“fountain of youth”.
• Hernando De Soto
– discovers the
Mississippi River
Hernando De Soto
Ponce de Leon
Settlement of North America
• Juan De Onate – founds New Mexico
(1609)
• John Cabot (English) – explores the
Northeast U.S.
• Spain also begins a push to settle
North America because they are afraid
of French and English intrusions in
what they believe to be their land.
Missions begin to appear in Texas,
New Mexico, and California by the
1500s.
• Verrazano (French) – explores the
eastern seaboard.
• Jacques Cartier (French) – explores
the St. Lawrence River
• St. Augustine erected by the Spanish
(1565) – oldest continually inhabited
settlement in the U.S.