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Overview of Pre-European Native Societies

May 7, 2025

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.