colonizers insisted they brought the benefits of civilization to the primitive and savage peoples of North America
struggle over cultural superiority
“since you [English settlers] are here strangers, and coming into our Country, you should rather conform your selves to the Customs of our Country, than impose yours upon us” – shows the attitude of the natives to the encroachers
Europeans found ways to explain how they had come to inherit the land (conquest and resistance)
creative adaptations – rather than of exploration or settlement
allowed ordinary people of three different races and many different ethnic identities opportunities to shape their own lives as best they could
they made choices, sometimes rebelling, sometimes accommodating, but always trying to make sense in terms of their own cultures of what was happening to them
Native American Histories Before Conquest
brought into contact three worlds – Europe, Africa, and America
in the 15th century were already old
North America’s first migrants arrived 15 to 20 thousand years ago
the Ice Age and glaciers caused oceans to drop hundreds of feet below their current level
exposing a land bridge connecting Asia and North America (Beringia)
Paleo-Indians followed giant mammals across
members of these small migrating groups stopped hosting a number of communicable diseases (smallpox and measles being the deadliest)
they no longer suffered the major epidemics that under normal conditions would have killed a large percentage of their population every year (caused by physical isolation)
they did not domesticate animals – could have caused them to avoid the microbes that caused virulent European and African diseases
unfortunately they had no defense against the great killers of the Early Modern world
The Great Transformation: Food, Climate, and Culture
global warming substantially reduced the glaciers
new natives journeyed from Colorado to the southern tip of South America
expansion of human population coincided with the loss of scores of large mammals
the early Paleo-Indian hunters bear responsibility for the mass extinction of so many animals
contributed to an ecological process
they discovered how to cultivate certain plants
shift to basic crops – Neolithic Agricultural Revolution
establishment of permanent villages - hierarchies formed and populations expanded
Chaco Canyon - massive pueblo was the center of Anasazi culture, serving both political and religious functions – may have housed as many as 15,000 people and included highways
Adena and Hopewell peoples – built large ceremonial mounds
Cahokia – a huge fortification and ceremonial site in Illinois – represented the greatest achievement of the Mississippian peoples and once supported a population of almost 20,000
both cultures disappeared mysteriously just before the arrival of the Europeans
Aztec Dominance
structure their societies in more complex ways
Mayan and Toltec – had vast cities, government bureaucracies, developed hieroglyphic writing, and an accurate solar calendar
Aztecs – conquered the great cities and had a center at Tenochtitlán where they performed elaborate human sacrifice for their sun god
Eastern Woodland Cultures
supplemented farming with seasonal hunting and gathering
Algonquian-speakers were part of a large linguistic family with very different dialects
Great Lakes region also supported Iroquoian dialects
divisions among Indian groups would in time facilitate European conquest
defined their place in society through kinship
lived in areas eventually claimed by England
were matrilineal – women owned the planting fields and houses, maintained tribal customs, and had a role in tribal government
patrilineal forms were much more common among native communities of Canada and the northern Great Lakes – men owned the hunting grounds that the family needed to survive
The Indians Discover a New World
conquest strained traditional ways of life
had to devise new answers, new responses, and new ways to survive in physical and social environments that eroded tradition
Creative Adaptations
eagerly accepted certain trade goods – generally resisted other aspects of European cultures
Indians drove hard bargains – demanded gifts and set the time and place of trade
sign languages were used
ethnocentric Europeans tried repeatedly to “civilize” the Indians – persuading natives to dress like the colonists, attend white schools, live in permanent structures, and accept Christianity
native women jealously guarded traditional culture
when Native Americans and whites married – unions the English found less desirable than did the French or Spanish – the European partner usually elected to live among the Indians
Indian slaves ran away or died – they did not become Europeans
Dependency: Trade and Disease
cooperative encounters between the Native Americans and Europeans became less frequent
the objects most coveted inevitably brought them into debt
demonstrations of force usually resulted in the suspension of normal trade
disease – ultimately destroyed the cultural integrity of many North American tribes
European adventurers exposed the Indians to bacteria and viruses against which they possessed no natural immunity
smallpox, measles, and influenza
other diseases like alcoholism took a terrible toll
speculated that a Christian God had providentially cleared the wilderness of heathens
some tribes suffered a 90 to 95% population loss
decreased the suplly of indigenous laborers, who were needed by the Europeans to work the mines and to grow staple crops such as sugar and tobacco
seek a substitute labor force in Africa
effort by Europeans to “repopulate” the New World
West Africa: Ancient and Complex Societies
shaped by the Islamic faith, brought by the Prophet Muhammad during the 7th century
survived by use of camel caravans that crossed the Sahara to trade in gold and slaves
the gold for salt exchange
large empires formed in West Africa (Ghana, Mali, Songhai), exercising loose control over large areas
major states and other stateless societies – that were really largely autonomous communities organized around lineage structures
disputed among members of lineage groups were generally settled by clan elders
communities were economically self-sufficient
first to reach West Africa were the Portuguese under the direction of Henry the Navigator
Mali and Joloff officials insisted that Europeans respect trade regulations established by Africans
pay tolls and other fees and restricted the foreign traders to conducting their business in small forts or castles located at the mouths of the major rivers
slave traders accepted these terms, largely because they had no other choice
slaves were primarily prisoners of war taken from the interior of the African continent others were victims of judicial practices designed specifically to supply the growing American market
forced to work on the sugar plantations of Madeira and the Canaries, Atlantic islands
approximately 10.7 million Africans were taken to the New World as slaves
during every year between 1650 and 1831, more Africans than Europeans came to the Americas
Europe on the Eve of Conquest
the ships of Greece and Rome were ill designed to sail the open ocean, the lands to the west remained the stuff of legend and fantasy
Scandinavian seafarers, the Norsemen (Vikings) – were the first to reach the Americas
almost a thousand years would pass before the Vikings would receive credit for their accomplishments
Eric the Red – named Greenland, reasoning that others would more willingly colonize the icebound region “if the country had a good name”
Leif Ericson - settled at L’Anse aux Meadows in Vinland, an area in northern Newfoundland
Building New Nation States
medieval kingdoms were very loosely scattered and organized because of the ‘Dark Ages’ (plague, lack of learning, fierce feudalist loyalties)
all discouraged people from thinking expansively about the world beyond their own immediate communities
in the fifteenth century Renaissance European political power was more centralized and strong monarchies began to form
fostered a more expansive outlook among literate people
economic prosperity created powerful new incentives for exploration and trade
centralization of political authority under a group of rulers known as the: New Monarchs
Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile – Spain
recruited armies and supported these expensive organizations with revenues from national taxes
created national courts
prerequisites for exploration:
powerful authority
standing armies
national revenue from taxes
reliable technology
which spread quicker after the invention of movable type printing by Johannes Gutenberg in the 1440s
Making Sense of a New World
the centralization of political authority and advances in geographical knowledge brought Spain to the forefront as a world power
Reconquista – effort of Ferdinand and Isabella to take Spain back, by expelling the Muslims from southern Spain and eventually forcing thousands of Jews and Moors to leave the country or convert to Catholicism
Spanish authorities showed no tolerance for people who rejected the Catholic faith
developed a harsh labor system in the Canaries, would serve as models of subjugation in America
Calculating Risks and Rewards
Christopher Columbus – sailed on the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria to the New World in 1492, under a charter from Spain
Portugal refused his request, because they suspected that he had grossly miscalculated the distance around the globe and that he would starve before reaching Asia (he had by more than 7,000 miles)
no one seriously believed that Columbus and his crew would tumble off the edge of the earth
sighted an island in the Bahamas after only 32 days, believing that it was Asia
never occurred to Columbus that he had stumbled upon a new world
encountered the Native Americans he called ‘Indians’
Columbus returned to the New World three more times
he died in 1506 a frustrated but wealth entrepreneur, never knowing he had reached a previously unknown continent separating Asia from Europe
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) – issued by the pope, divided the New World among Spain and Portugal along a line located 270 leagues west of the Azores
everything west of the line went to Spain
everything east went to Portugal, including Brazil
The Conquistadores
Conquistadores– Spanish men sent to the New World for ‘God, gold, and glory’
were made up of men eager for personal glory and material gain, uncompromising in matters of religion, and unswerving in their loyalty to the crown
came for instant wealth, preferably gold, and were not squeamish about the means they used to obtain it
in less than two decades, the Indians who had inhabited the Caribbean islands had been exterminated, victims of exploitation and disease
Hernan Cortes – conquered the Aztecs
scuttled the ships that had carried he and his men to Mexico to prevent them from retreating
Montezuma – thought that the Spaniards were gods, representatives of the fearful plumed serpent, Quetzalcoatl
Francisco Pizarro – conquered the Incas
From Plunder to Settlement
Mexico – renamed New Spain
to bring the conquistadores (who were chiefly concerned with their own wealth and glory) under control of the crown, the encomienda system was established – making the colonizers dependent upon the crown
rewarded the leaders (the encomenderos) of the conquest with Indian villages
made the colonizers more dependent on the king, because it was the king who legitimized their title
despite the difficulties of trans-Atlantic communication, the system worked
a year would often pass before receipt of an answer to a simple request
Fra Bartolomé de las Casas – questioned the legitimacy of European conquest of the New World
Spain – initiated reforms designed to bring greater “love and moderation” to Spanish-Indian relations
Virgin of Guadalupe – newly converted Christian reported a vision of the Virgin, a dark-skinned woman of obvious Indian ancestry
so few Spanish women migrated – especially in the 16th century, men often married Indians and blacks
the Spanish were more tolerant of racial differences, than the English who settled in North America
criollos – persons born in the New World to Spanish parents
peninsulares – native Spaniards
mestizos – Spanish and Native American
mulattos – Spanish and black
regarded the American colonies primarily as a source of precious metal:
200 tons of gold
16,000 tons of silver
inflation and wars, Spain became dependent on the annual shipment of bullion from America
The French Claim Canada
were looking for the Northwest Passage
a short water route to China, around or through North America
Samuel de Champlain resettled the Gulf of Saint Lawrence region after Jacques Cartier left
migrated in search of wealth and in the hopes of converting the Indians to Christianity
missionaries lived among the Indians and learned to speak their languages
French worked with the natives in order to acquire furs, viewed them as necessary economic partners
even taking native wives, and studying local cultures
established New Orleans as an important port city in their claim of Louisiana
Canada’s European population would remain small
The English Enter the Competition
John Cabot – the first transatlantic voyage by an English vessel, also looking for the Northwest Passage
Birth of English Protestantism
Act of Supremacy – Henry VIII proclaimed himself to be head of the Church of England
divorced his first wife Catherine without papal consent, severed all ties with the pope, seized church lands, and dissolved many of the monasteries
many Catholic ceremonies survived
1539 –first Bible in English, many people could now read the word of God in the vernacular
Mary I – loyal to the Catholic faith, she inadvertently advanced the cause of Calvinism by creating so many Protestant martyrs
Elizabeth I – developed a strong central administration, while England became more and more a Protestant society
Militant Protestantism
Martin Luther – the Reformation and Lutheranism
divided kingdoms, sparked bloody wars and unleashed an extraordinary flood of religious publication
God spoke through the Bible, Luther maintained, not through the pope or priests
believed people were saved by faith alone
theologians – religious thinkers who would determine the course of religious reform in England, Scotland, and the early American colonies
John Calvin – a lawyer, turned theologian – stressed God’s omnipotence over human affairs – chose some persons for “election” (the gift of salvation), while condemning others to eternal damnation (Calvinism, belief in predestination – that your path of salvation had already been determined)
a man or woman could do nothing to alter this decision
France – Huguenots
Scotland – Presbyterians
England and America - Puritans
Woman in Power
Elizabeth I – led England to become a more Protestant society
Sir Walter Raleigh – named the area of Virginia, in honor of his patron, the Virgin Queen, but chose a very poor location for his first settlement
area proved extremely difficult to reach
Sir Richard Grenville – (the leader of the expedition) added to the colonists’ troubles by destroying an entire Indian village in retaliation for the suspected theft of a silver cup
peculiar series of events transformed the settlement into a ghost town
in the spring of 1586, Sir Francis Drake sailed by and because an anticipated shipment of supplies was overdue, the colonists climbed aboard his ship and went home
first attempt was abandoned
in 1587, Raleigh tried again
between 1587 and 1590 no ship visited the Roanoke colonists
eventually found the village deserted, fate of the “lost” colonists remains a mystery
second attempt the inhabitants mysteriously disappeared
possibly absorbed by neighboring groups of natives
Dreams of Possession
Richard Hakluyt – published accounts of the New World and shaped public opinion about how England needed American colonies
The Principall Navigations, Voyages, and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589)
book's central point: England needed American colonies
European perspective on development though, invited continuous human suffering and ecological disaster
