Heimlich's History - AP US History Unit 1 Overview

Introduction

• Part of a larger set of review materials for AP US History
• Aim: Achieve an A in class and a 5 on the exam
• Includes note guides, practice exams, multiple choice questions

Pre-European Native Societies

Key Point

• Native Americans were diverse, with societies based on their environments.
• Not a monolithic culture; varied lifestyles and societies.

Regional Societies

• Pueblo People (Utah, Colorado)
  • Farmers growing crops like beans, squash, maize
  • Advanced irrigation systems, urban centers from clay bricks
  • Famous cliff dwellings
• Great Basin & Great Plains (Colorado to Canada)
  • Nomadic hunter-gatherers
  • Organized into egalitarian kinship bands, e.g., Ute people
• Northwest Coast (Pacific Coast & California)
  • Permanent settlements with abundant fish, small game
  • Chumash: Built villages, engaged in regional trade
  • Chinook: Built extensive plank houses for kinship groups
• Northeast (Iroquois)
  • Farmers with communal living in long houses made from timber
• Mississippi River Valley (Cahokia)
  • Farmers with centralized government
  • Civilization of 10,000-30,000 people, rich trade networks

European Arrival and Exchange

European Motivation

• 1300s-1400s: Political unification, stronger centralized states
• Desire for Asian luxury goods; Muslim control of land trading routes
• Sea-based trade routes explored, led by Portugal

Maritime Advancements

• New maritime technology: astronomical charts, astrolabe, ship designs
• Use of Latin sail, stern-post rudder

Spanish Exploration

• Post-Reconquest of Iberian Peninsula, Spain seeks new opportunities
• Columbus sails west in 1492, discovers Americas
• Colombian Exchange begins: Transfer of people, animals, plants, diseases

Colombian Exchange Details

• From Americas: Potatoes, tomatoes, maize to Europe
• From Europe: Wheat, rice, soybeans to Americas
• Animals, gold, silver, and enslaved Africans exchanged
• Diseases: Smallpox devastating to Native Americans

Economic and Societal Impacts

European Economic Shifts

• Wealth influx shifts feudalism to capitalism
• Rise of joint-stock companies for exploration funding

Spanish Colonization

• Encomienda System: Forced labor of natives on plantations
• Introduction of African enslaved labor due to native population decline
• Casta system established to categorize racial ancestry

Cultural Interactions and Justifications

• Europeans adopt native practices; natives adopt European tools
• Europeans exploit natives, justified by beliefs of racial superiority
• Opposition within: Bartolomé de las Casas vs. Sepúlveda
• Biblical justifications for African enslavement

Conclusion

• Overview of Unit 1 AP US History
• Encouragement to use review materials and join the learning community