Pre Columbia and Europe during the Age of Exploration

Notes

Pre Columbian

• BP= “years before the present”• Two major developments made it possible for

ancient humans to migrate to the Western Hemisphere.– People successfully adapted to the frigid

environment near the Arctic Circle– Changes in the earth’s climate reconnected North

America to Asia.

Crisis and Extinction

• Paleo-Indians adapted to the drastic change by making 2 important changes:– Hunters began to prey more intensively on smaller

prey – They devoted more time to gathering and

foraging.

Folsom Points

• For almost 1,000 years after the big game extinctions, Archaic Indians hunted bison with Folsom Points, named after a site near Folsom, New Mexico.

West Coast

• About 500 separate tribes speaking some 900 languages, each with local dialects.

• The Chumash emerged in the region around what is now Santa Barbara around 5000 BP.

Northwest

• Built more or less permanent villages and after about 5500 BP concentrated on hunting whales, salmon, halibut and other fish.

Woodland Cultures

• Around 4000 BP, Woodland cultures added 2 important features to their basic hunter-gatherer lifestyles.– Agriculture: gourds, pumpkins, sunflowers and

corn.– Pottery: clay pots were more durable than baskets

for cooking and storage.

Burial Mounds

• About 2500 BP Woodland cultures throughout the vast watershed of the Mississippi River began to build burial mounds.

• Centered around Ohio, the Hopewell culture extended mound building throughout the Ohio and Mississippi River basins and built larger mounds than their Adena predecessors.

Cahokia

Cahokia

Southwest

• Beginning about 4000 BP, distinctive southwestern cultures slowly began to depend on agriculture and to build permanent structures.

• Called Pueblos• Where beginning about 3500 BP they

cultivated maize.

Anasazi

In southern Utah, Colorado, northern Arizona and New Mexico the Anasazi began to flourish about AD 100.

Beginning about AD 1000 some groups began to develop large, multistory cliff dwellings such as those of Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde.

People left these areas probably because of severe and prolonged drought after AD 1130.

Chaco Canyon

Mesa Verde

Native Populations

• Some experts claim that Native Americans inhabiting just the U.S. and Canada numbered about 18 to 20 million while others place their population at no more than 1 million.

• A prudent estimate is about 4 million• About 1/3 of the estimated population were in

the Woodlands region.

Eastern Woodlands People

• Clustered into 3 broad linguistic and cultural groups:– Algonquin– Iroquoian – Muskogean

Iroquoian

• 3 features distinguished Iroquoian tribes from their neighbors– Their success at cultivating corn and other crops

allowed them to build permanent settlements.– Matrilineal descent.– Confederation-for purposes of war and diplomacy

Great Plains

• Accounted for about 1/7 of the Native North American population.

• These tribes consisted of the Teton Sioux, Blackfeet, Comanche, Cheyenne, Crow, and Apache.

These groups existed almost entirely on the buffalo or American Bison

Other groups

• About ¼ of the Native population were in the Southwest including the Athapascan speaking peoples from northern Mexico who moved in to the area beginning around AD 1300 and who eventually became the southern Apache and Navajo.

• About 1/5 of the population resided along the West Coast.

Europe during the Age of Exploration

• Mediterranean Trade was dominated by Italian cities such as Venice, Genoa and Pisa.

• By 1400 key navigational aids were being employed by explorers:– Compass– Hourglass which allowed for the calculation of

elapsed time and estimating speed.– The astrolabe and quadrant which were devices

for determining latitude.

America

• In 1507 Martin Waldseemuller, a German cartographer published the first map that showed the New World separate from Asia: he named it America for Amerigo Vespucci.

Some not so well known explorations

• 1521- Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon explored the Atlantic coast of South Carolina. In 1526 he established a small settlement on the Georgia coast that he named San Miguel de Guadelupe, the first Spanish attempt to establish a foothold in the U.S. But the settlement was not permanent as it was soon deserted due to disease and Indian attacks.

Cibola

• Francisco Vasquez de Coronado set out to find the mythical Seven Cities of Cibola in 1540. He traveled throughout the Southwest and Great Plains regions in search of the wealth of gold promised in the tale. He left northern Mexico with some 300 Spaniards and 1000 Indians and priest who claimed he “knew the way.” all they found was a small Zuni pueblo which they attacked. He made it all the way into central Kansas before turning around in 1542.

What was the point of exploration

• The crown took 1/5 of any loot collected by the exploration team. It was called the “Royal Fifth.” The rest was divided amongst the conquerors.