Heimlich's History: Unit 1 AP US History

Overview

• Focus on the societal makeup of the Americas before European arrival and the impact of European settlers.
• Part of a larger set of review materials for AP US history.

Pre-European Native Societies

• Native Americans were diverse, with various societies adapted to specific environments.
• Not a monolithic group, but varied lifestyles:
  • Coastal regions: Fishing villages.
  • Plains: Nomadic hunter-gatherers.
  • Urban centers and empires.

Examples of Native Societies

• Pueblo (Utah and Colorado):

  • Farmers who grew beans, squash, maize.
  • Advanced irrigation systems and cliff dwellings.

• Great Basin and Plains:

  • Nomadic, hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
  • Organized into egalitarian kinship bands (e.g., Ute people).

• Northwest and Pacific Coast:

  • Permanent settlements due to fishing and plant life.
  • Examples: Chumash (California), Chinook (Pacific Northwest).

• Iroquois (Northeast):

  • Farmers living in longhouses.

• Mississippi River Valley:

  • Rich soil farming and trade networks.
  • Notable civilization: Cahokia, with centralized government.

European Arrival and Motivation

• Political Changes (1300s-1400s):

  • European kingdoms unified, centralized by monarchs.
  • Desire for Asian luxury goods led to exploration.

• Portugal's Role:

  • Established a trading post empire around Africa.
  • Utilized new maritime technologies (e.g., astrolabe, ship designs).

• Spain's Exploration:

  • Post-reconquest goals: spread Catholicism, find wealth.
  • Columbus’s voyage (1492): led to discovery of the Americas.

Columbian Exchange

• Transfer of people, animals, plants, and diseases.
• From Americas: Potatoes, tomatoes, maize.
• From Europe: Wheat, rice, cattle, horses.
• Diseases: Europeans brought smallpox, leading to massive native population declines.

Economic and Societal Shifts

• Wealth from Americas shifted European societies from feudalism to capitalism.
• Rise of joint-stock companies to fund exploration.

Spanish Colonization

• Focus on agriculture and encomienda system for labor exploitation.
• Problems: Native resistance and population decline due to disease.
• Use of African slave labor.

Casta System

• Hierarchy based on racial ancestry:
  • Peninsulares: Spaniards born in Spain.
  • Creoles: Spaniards born in Americas.
  • Castas: Mestizos, Mulattos, Africans, Native Americans.

European-Native Interactions

• Exchange of cultural practices and technology.
• Justification for exploitation through belief systems:
  • Native Americans seen as less than human (e.g., Sepulveda vs. Las Casas).
  • Biblical justification for African slavery.

Conclusion

• Unit 1 covers the establishment of complex societies in the Americas and the drastic changes brought by European exploration and colonization.
• Further study materials available for comprehensive review.