1491: Native American Life

SWBAT: Explain pre-Columbian patterns

in Native American life and how they

adapted to their environment

Do Now Periodization: Why does the period start

and end at these dates?

1491-1607

Pre-European contact to the First

Permanent English Settlement at

Jamestown

Do you agree that 1491 is an appropriate

starting point? Should the course start at a

different year? Explain your response.

Population Guess the population of each of the following

places in 1500:

Paris

- 200,000

London

- 50,000

British Isles

- 3 million

France

- 16 million

Now guess the population of North America as a whole.

Where do you think the most populated area(s) were?

Cahokia (kuh-hoh-kee-uh),

peak in 1200 A.D. had as

many as 40,000 people- the

largest in present day U.S.

until the late 1800s.

Chaco (cha-co)

Canyon, between

5,000-15,000 at its

peak in 1100 A.D.

The First Americans Approximately 375

spoken languages

Lived in diverse

societies

N.A.-2, 7, 18 million?

Total in Americas-

50-100 million?

Maya, Aztec, Inca

Exact dates are debated: 15,000 to 60,000

years ago

Native Americans in North America

Cultures of North America North American Indian civilizations did NOT

develop:

- the scale, splendor, or centralized organization of the Aztec & Inca

- metal tools, gunpowder, or knowledge necessary for long distance navigation

- literacy

- wheeled vehicles

- domesticated animals

Food Basis of agriculture: maize (corn),

squash, beans “the three sisters”, the sustainers of life

- corn drew nitrogen, provided a trellis for the beans - beans added nitrogen - squash leaves kept sun off the ground & moisture in the soil Absence of livestock

Food How did the spread of maize cultivation from Mexico into

the American southwest supported economic development,

settlement, advanced irrigation, and social diversification

among societies?

- trade

- social classes

- increase in pop

- permanent settlements, less emphasis on hunting and gathering

(Pueblo in Northern Rio Grande)

Religion Held ceremonies & rituals

related to farming and hunting,

to serve the interest of man

Sacred spirits found in living &

inanimate things (animism)

Shamans, medicine men,

religious leaders held positions

of respect & authority

Most believed in single Creator

Land and Property “The Great Spirit gave it to his children to live upon, and

cultivate as far as necessary for their subsistence; and so

long as they occupy and cultivate it, they have a right to

the soil.”

- Indian leader, Black Hawk

Land = a common resource

Leaders assigned use of plots to families

Tribes claimed specific areas for hunting

Families owned the right to use land, but did

not own the land itself

Land and Property Semi-permanent settlements accumulation

of wealth & material goods was not important

Social Status: tribal chiefs lived more splendidly,

often shared goods with others

Tribe vs. Clan

Generosity/gift giving was most

valued social quality

“No beggars among them” – Roger Williams

- Typically no one went hungry or

experienced extreme inequality

Crying Indian After watching the advertisement,

complete the question with a partner

"Crying Indian"

Question:

How does the commercial portray native

peoples? How does this portrayal differ

from what you have read about Native

Americans?

Gender Relations Most Indian societies were matrilineal

-Husband lived with wife’s family

Tribal leaders almost always men

Women often helped select leaders & took part in tribal meetings

Women could divorce, own dwellings, tools

Men made tools, hunted

Women gathered plants, grew crops

Huron Women Article Questions

Wrap Up How did Indian and European

worldviews differ on key points such as:

property, religion, and gender roles?

Wrap Up "To oppose those hordes of northern tribes, singly and alone,

would prove certain destruction. We can make no progress in that way. We unite ourselves into one common band of brothers. We must have but one voice. Many voices makes confusion. We must have one fire, one pipe and one war club. This will give us strength. If our warriors are united they can defeat the enemy and drive them from our land; If we do this, we are safe... "And you of the different nations of the south, and you of the west, may place yourselves under our protection, and we will protect you. We earnestly desire the alliance and friendship of you all..." --Chief Elias Johnson, Legends, Traditions, and Laws of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and History of the Tuscarora Indians, 1881

Contact & Conquest

SWBAT: Compare Zinn and Berliner’s

contrasting views of Columbus and take a side

Do Now Discuss the main factors/motivators

fueling the European age of expansion with your partner.

- sea route to India, China, and East Indies, the source of silk, tea, spices, porcelain

- desire to eliminate Islamic middlemen and control trade for Christian western Europe

- Imperialism

- Religious motivations caused by racism

Contact 33 days at sea October 12, 1492

San Salvador, Bahamas ?

Hispaniola Cuba

Columbus went to his grave

believing he discovered a

westward route to Asia

Amerigo Vespucci realized the

new continents AMERICA

Zinn vs. Berliner Read the views these two men have of

Columbus

Respond to the questions for each, then

complete the final question.

Take a Side

Contact Individually, read “From the Journal of

Christopher Columbus” and complete

the “Questions to Consider”

The Columbian Exchange

SWBAT- Describe unforeseen & unintended

effects of the Columbian Exchange

Columbian Exchange Do Now: Think about the two views of

Columbus you read…

- How successful was Columbus in

achieving European goals of exploration?

Columbian Exchange The transfer of plants, animals, disease,

and technology between the Old World

and the New World

Allowed ecologies and cultures to mix in

new, unpredictable ways

An interconnected web of events with

immediate and extended consequences

neither predicted nor controllable

Columbian Exchange Interactive Exchange

Team Text Analysis In groups of 3, each member will read one

of the text excerpts from Charles C. Mann’s, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created

After you read your excerpt, complete the close reading questions and be prepared to summarize your excerpt and share your responses with your team

Wrap Up How did cultural interaction and

geographic factors influence demographic

and social developments in the Americas?

1492: Discovery or Dreadful Misfortune?

Explain.

Some Disease Statistics In the first 130 years of contact over 90% of people in the Americas died

from disease.

Disease killed as much as 90% of the people of coastal New England.

Compare the following quotations from European observers and note the dates:

1. Las Casas (1542): “it looked as if God has placed all of or the greater part of the entire human race in these countries.”

2. Sebastián Vizcaíno (1602): “I have traveled more than eight hundred leagues along the coast and kept a record of all the people I encountered. The coast is populated by an endless number of Indians.”

3. New England colonist (1630s): “And the bones and skulls upon the several places of their habitations made such a spectacle” that the Massachusetts woodlands “heavily urbanized populations were wiped out.”