CONTACT: Europeans & Amerindians

APUSH – Mr. Hesen

OVERVIEW: BIG IDEASBy 1600 Europeans created first global economy

“Age of Discovery” resulted in the greatest human catastrophe ever• 90% Amerindians died by 1600• Over 10 million African and Amerindian slaves

Cultural differences were so immense that conflicts occurred over three centuries

Summary of relations:• Spain – sought to Christianize Indians • French – sought to establish trade with Indians• English – move Indians or eradicate them

Native Americans (Amerindians)• Population – 50-70 million• Arrived in more than 40,000 years ago

using Bering Strait• Spread to the tip of South America by

8,000 BCE- First Indians hunted animals for fur- Very nomadic – had to move with the herds

Hundreds of tribes with different languages, religions, and cultures:• By 4,000 BCE – more permanent farming

communities in southwestern U.S.• Grew mostly maize, amaranth, manioc, chilies,

pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and beans

Development of Societies – “sedentary societies”• Incas – in Peru• Aztecs – in Mexico• Mayans – along the Yucatan Peninsula

– Developed advanced agricultural techniques based on corn

– Built stone-carved cities rivaling those in Europe– Studied mathematics and astronomy– Men and women worked in fields together– Used surpluses for trade- early economic

systems developed

North American Indians• Far Less developed than South American cultures• “Semi-sedentary” societies• Some agriculture:

– Developed by women– “Three Sisters”: MAIZE, SQUASH, and BEANS– Men hunted; women farmed– Europeans sought to turn men to farming– GOAL: “…reducing the Indian men to civility”

Most societies were matrilineal and matrilocal• Women “owned” the property

– No real individual land ownership– “Use rights” allocated by chiefs

• Men were the teachers by example• Amerindians did not want more

property than absolutely necessary– Opposite to European culture –

based around worldly goods• Extensive trade along the

Mississippi Valley– Most important man in tribe gave

the most away– Trade wasn’t a contract– When trade stopped…war began

Pueblo Indians• Rio Grande Valley in

New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado– Corn planting– Irrigation systems– Multi-storied and

terraced dwellings

• The “Anasazi Mystery”– Cliff dwellers

Mound Builder Civilization• Civilizations in the Mississippi and

Ohio Valleys• Mississippian culture (e.g. Cahokia

near E. St. Louis) • Rivaled Egyptian architecture;

home to as many as 40,000 people (c. 1000-1700 BCE)

• Central mound, 100 ft. high, world’s largest earthen work

• Largest city north of Mexico -Iron tools, wore woven fabrics, buried dead in collective graves• Trade spanned from Appalachians

to Rockies; Great Lakes to Gulf of Mexico

Atlantic Coast • Crops: maize, beans, & squash (c.1000 CE)

– Creeks practiced democratic style government– Choctaw and Cherokee were also prominent– Iroquois in eastern woodlands built a strong military

confederacy • Mohawk Valley of what is today New York State• Consisted of Five Nations: Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and

the Senecas.

European Beliefs• Bible – literal interpretation• Bible did not mention

Amerindians– What were they?

• Saw Indian practices as worshipping Satan

Amerindian Beliefs• Amerindians had nothing in

comparison • Christians ate their own god

(Eucharist) • Amerindians had no concept

of heaven • Disliked Christian heaven –

no Indians present• Preferred to be buried with

the own ancestors.

Religious Differences

Differences in War • Amerindians were curious why Europeans sought decisive

battles on an open battlefield- Saw it as tremendous waste of humans - Used guerrilla-type warfare. - Europeans made poor torture victims

Faltering RelationsEuropeans resorted often to killing women and children – savage warfare• Pequot War in 1630s was the most gruesome example• By King Philip’s War (1670s), Amerindians had learned this

lesson well and destroyed Puritan villages, killing non-combatants.

• Amerindians often captured children of other tribes and assimilated them.

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European Explorers

• Non-Europeans came prior to Columbus but did not stay.

European Motives for Exploration in the Age of Discovery (“ENDER”)

• Emerging nation-states sought power; competed against rivals-Competition between Catholics and Protestants became conflict of national purposes

• New technology enabled Europeans to dominate-Gunpowder, new sailing technologies, etc.

• Desire to Christianize new peoples

• Economics-Need for new markets esp. from the East (e.g., spices)

• Renaissance (starting late 14th c. lasting well into 16th c.)-Atmosphere of rebirth, optimism, exploration-Secular Europe began to break away from religious domination

The Portuguese

GOAL: Sought all-water route to Asia (late 15th c.)

• Bartholomew Dias (1488)– Rounded southern tip of Africa in search of route to

Asia.

• Vasco da Gama reached India (1498)– Brought back treasures creating European demand

for eastern goods

• Pietro Cabral - Discovered east coast of Brazil during failed voyage to India. - Brazil eventually became a Portuguese colony

• Amerigo Vespucci (1501-02)

 - Exploration in Brazil – landed in “America” 

Portugal was the first to introduce African slavery in the NewWorld

The Spanish

• Christopher Columbus (Italian explorer)– Spain eager to compete with Portugal– Queen Isabella & King Ferdinand support

Columbus.        

• Columbus’ motives: – Religious: believed in spreading the Gospel – Wealth

• Columbus landed in the Bahamas on Oct.12, 1492.– Believed he had reached East Indies (Indonesia).– Moved on to Hispanola (Haiti) where Arawoks

were friendly; had tobacco & gold.– Arawok Indians virtually exterminated by

Columbus and his followers        

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) • Spain secured its claim to

Columbus's discoveries • New World divided: Portugal got

Brazil + territory in Africa & Asia; Spain dominated North & South America

• RESULT: Spain did not gain access to West African slave trade

Spanish Discoverers (God, Glory, Gold)

• Vasco Nunez Balboa discovered Pacific Ocean off of Panama in 1513

• Ferdinand Magellan: His ship was first to circumnavigate the globe in 1522.

• Ponce de Leon discovered Florida (thought it was an island) in 1513 seeking the fountain of youth

• Francisco Coronado in search of golden cities traveled through the American Southwest

• Juan Cabrillo sailed as far north as Oregon, discovered San Diego Bay. – Laid basis for Spain’s claims to northern Pacific Coast of North America       

Conquerors -- Conquistadores

Hernando de Soto in a gold seeking expedition in 1539-42 explored much of the American southeast (crossed the Mississippi River); treated Indians badly.

Hernan Cortés conquered the Aztecs in 1519-1521                      -- Montezuma's envoys thought Cortes was Aztec god

Francisco Pizarro defeated Incas in 1532; vast amounts of gold & silver

Spanish invaders enslaved Indians; forced labor digging for precious metals.

Empire stretched from California and Florida to the tip of South America.

Transplanted laws, religion and language and laid foundations for a score of Spanish-speaking countries

"Black Legend": false view advanced by Protestant countries that only Spain "killed for Christ," enslaved Indians, stole their gold, infected them with diseases, and left nothing but misery behind.

St. Augustine (1565) – Oldest European settlement in the modern-day

U.S.– Purpose: keep French out of Spanish southeast

territory and protect sea lanes in the Caribbean

France in North America• French exploration (beaver trade)• Giovanni da Verrazano, 1524: sailed American coast from Carolina to Maine.

• Jacques Cartier explored up the St. Lawrence River in 1530s.

• Samuel de Champlain “father of New France” established Quebec in 1608

Other French Explorers

• Antoine Cadillac -- founded Detroit in 1701 – Aimed to keep English settlers out of the Ohio Valley

• Robert de La Salle -- Sailed from Quebec, down through the Great Lakes, and down the Mississippi River 

• Goal: prevent Spanish and English expansion into Gulf of Mexico region

French established posts in the Mississippi region (New Orleans was the most important—1718) – Attempted to block Spanish expansion into the Gulf of

Mexico – Forts and trading posts in Illinois country: Kaskaskia,

Cahokia, & Vincennes – Large amounts of grain was sent down the Mississippi

River for shipment to the West Indies and Europe.

England's Search for EmpireMajor causes leading to British colonial impulse: - Eventual peace with Spain provided opportunities overseas without harassment- Population growth created a surplus of workers, many of whom  became potential colonists - Unemployment (economic opportunity), farm land, adventure, markets, political freedom, religious freedom, social change. - Joint-stock companies provided financial means: investors provided resources for sea expeditions

English Compete with Spain and France• John Cabot (1497-98) explored coast of  Newfoundland to Virginia on behalf of England.

• Frobisher (1576) explored coast of Labrador• Sir Francis Drake’s "sea dogs" pirated Spanish ships on the high seas

• English attempt to colonize in the late-16th century– Sir Walter Raleigh - Roanoke

• led 115 men, women & children to Roanoke Island off coast of Virginia; mysteriously vanished.

• “CROATOAN”

Results of contact between Native-Americans and Europeans

For Native Americans:• Mass death and genocide: By 1600, nearly 90% of Native American population perished

• European diseases, e.g., smallpox, yellow fever, malaria, most destructive.

• Central American & Caribbean population in 1519 = perhaps 25 million; only 1 million remaining in 1605.

• Cattle, swine and horses, firearms• Great Plains tribes transformed via 

horses

For Europeans• Global empires for 1st time in

human history• Explosion of capitalism

(Commercial Revolution)• Revolution in diet

– Corn, beans, tomatoes & esp. potato lead to improved diet

– Revolutionized the international economy.

• Stimulants: coffee, cocoa, and tobacco

Contributions of Europeans to North America

England

•Democratic forms of government•Tradition of hard working•Zealous individuals•English language

France

•French language•French culture and religion•Large-scale trade with Amerindians

Spai

n

•Schools•Hospitals•Printing press•Spanish language•Christianity

The FrenchThe beaver trade led to exploration of much of North America; heavy demand for fur in European fashion)• Ameridians gained firearms,

alcohol, pots, glass beads• Coureurs de bois (“runners of the woods”) 

• French seamen—voyageurs –recruited Indians into the fur  trade

• French expansion into Mississippi Valley resulted in trade relations with southeast Indians

Jesuits• Catholic missionaries who

sought to convert Indians and save them from the fur trappers

• Sought conversion through example

• Some were brutally killed by Amerindians

• Played a vital role as explorers and geographers

French Diplomacy with Amerindians– The French made friends with Algonquins and Hurons ensuring the survival of Quebec.

– Iroquois League in upstate New York prevented the French from spreading south into NY and parts of the Ohio Valley

Spain and the Pueblo Indians in the American Southwest:– Juan de Oñate established New Mexico, 1598

• Retaliated against Pueblo Indians at Acoma by killing 800 and enslaving 600 others

• Pueblos submitted to Spanish demands for  labor and food, especially during drought conditions

• Santa Fe became the capital in 1610.

Encomienda system• Amerindians forced to do unpaid labor to build roads,

buildings, and other infrastructure in towns.• Pueblo villages also required to pay tribute to Spanish leaders

Pueblo Revolt of 1680– Amerindians rebelled against

Spanish rule in New Mexico and expelled them for over ten years

– Killed half the Spanish clergy and over 350 settlers

– Albuquerque founded in 1706 by Spanish soldiers but did not employ the encomienda system

– Indian religion tolerated as long as they attended Catholic mass

English Colonies (East Coast)– Pilgrims in Plymouth Bay

established good relations with Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoags• Squanto served as an effective intermediary

• Purchased land from Indians for creation of Plymouth Plantation

• First Thanksgiving held in 1621 between Indians and Pilgrims

– Puritans in New England tried conversion of Indians but it failed

Pequot War (1630s)– An alliance of the

Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies and Amerindians

– Destroyed the Pequot tribe

– English settlers resorted often to killing Indian women and children

New England Confederation (1643): created by New England colonies for collective security against Amerindians:

– Later: Effective in defeating Amerindians throughout New England

King Philip’s War (1670s): Wampanoags used English tactic of attacking innocent civilians and destroyed Puritan villages.

– Per capita, bloodiest war in American history.– Defeat of Chief Metacom’s forces represented the end of significant

Amerindian influence in New England.