Overview
This lecture covers the history of the Americas before and after European contact, emphasizing Native American societies, the Columbian Exchange, European expansion, Spanish conquest, and the profound impacts these events had on world history.
Native American Societies before Contact
- Native Americans lived in the Americas for over 10,000 years, forming diverse cultures and speaking hundreds of languages.
- They developed complex societies, built settled communities, maintained trade networks, and practiced both settled agriculture and seasonal migration.
- Kinship networks and matrilineal descent were central to social organization.
- Property rights were based on use rather than ownership, and women held significant influence.
- Native Americans managed environments through techniques like shifting cultivation and controlled burning.
- Examples of advanced societies include Puebloans (Chaco Canyon) and Mississippians (Cahokia).
- Extensive trade routes connected distant communities and enabled resource exchange.
Creation Stories and Archaeological Evidence
- Native oral traditions describe varied creation and migration histories, often involving animals or natural elements.
- Archaeological and genetic evidence supports migration from Asia via the Bering land bridge and coastal routes between 12,000–20,000 years ago.
- Agriculture, especially maize, arose independently and supported large populations and complex societies.
Regional Diversity among Native Peoples
- Eastern Woodlands: Permanent farming, “Three Sisters” crops (corn, beans, squash), matrilineal kinship, consensus-based political systems.
- Pacific Northwest: Relied on fishing (especially salmon), massive canoes, potlatch feasts, and built cedar plank houses and totem poles.
- Adapted to varied environments and maintained unique cultures, languages, and social structures.
Early European Expansion
- Norse explorers reached North America around 1000 CE but failed to establish lasting colonies.
- European expansion was fueled by demand for Asian goods, the rise of nation-states, and new navigation technology (astrolabe, caravel).
- Portugal and Spain led exploration; plantations using enslaved labor developed on Atlantic islands.
Columbus and the Columbian Exchange
- Columbus reached the Caribbean in 1492, seeking wealth and slaves for Spain.
- The Columbian Exchange transferred plants, animals, microbes, and people between continents, causing dramatic demographic and ecological changes.
- European diseases like smallpox devastated Native populations, with mortality estimates up to 95%.
Spanish Conquest and Colonial Society
- The Spanish established the encomienda system, exploiting Indigenous labor.
- Conquistadors overthrew large empires (Aztecs, Incas) through warfare, alliances, and disease.
- Spanish colonial society was racially stratified (peninsulares, criollos, mestizos, Indigenous, enslaved Africans).
- The Catholic Church approved interracial marriage, leading to a mestizo society.
- Colonial administration relied on Indigenous labor and culture, creating a hybrid society.
Impact and Legacy of European Colonization
- Diseases, violence, and exploitation decimated Native populations.
- The Columbian Exchange reshaped global agriculture, diets, populations, and environments.
- The arrival of Europeans permanently transformed both the Old and New Worlds.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Columbian Exchange — The transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds after 1492.
- Encomienda — A Spanish colonial system granting colonists control over Indigenous labor and land.
- Matrilineal — Descent and inheritance traced through the mother's line.
- Mestizo — Person of mixed Spanish and Indigenous ancestry.
- Potlatch — Ceremonial feast among Pacific Northwest peoples to display wealth and status.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Review creation stories and migration theories for comparison.
- Read about the Columbian Exchange and its implications for global history.
- Prepare for a discussion on how Native societies adapted to European contact.