Heimlich's History: AP US History Unit 1 Overview

Introduction

• Part of a larger resource called "AP US History Ultimate Review Pack"
• Focus on Unit 1: Pre-European societies and the impact of European arrival

Native American Societies Before European Arrival

• Diversity of Cultures: Native societies were diverse and tailored to their environments
  • Pueblo People (Utah/Colorado):
    • Farmers, settled populations
    • Crops: beans, squash, maize
    • Advanced irrigation and cliff dwellings
  • Great Basin/Plains (Ute People):
    • Nomadic hunter-gatherers
    • Small egalitarian kinship bands
  • Northwest/Pacific Coast (Chumash, Chinook):
    • Permanent settlements due to abundant resources
    • Chumash: villages up to 1,000 people, regional trade
    • Chinook: built plank houses for kinship groups
  • Northeast (Iroquois):
    • Farmers, lived in longhouses made of timber
  • Mississippi River Valley (Cahokia):
    • Rich soil, farmers, trade networks
    • Civilization up to 30,000 people, centralized government

European Exploration and Arrival

• Political Changes in Europe (1300s-1400s):
  • Political unification, stronger states, monarchs
  • Wealthy upper class desiring Asian luxury goods
  • Land-based trade routes controlled by Muslims, leading to search for sea routes
• Portugal's Role:
  • Established trading posts around Africa, maritime technology
  • Use of astronomical charts, astrolabe, new ship designs
• Spain's Entry:
  • Post-Reconquista ambition to spread Catholicism and seek wealth
  • Christopher Columbus funded by Spain, 1492 voyage to Americas
  • Columbus’s landing initiated European exploration competition

The Columbian Exchange

• Definition: Transfer of people, animals, plants, and diseases between hemispheres
• Key Transfers:
  • Americas to Europe: potatoes, tomatoes, maize
  • Europe to Americas: wheat, rice, soybeans
  • Animals: turkeys to Europe; cattle, pigs, horses to Americas
  • Diseases: smallpox to Americas, syphilis possibly to Europe
• Impact on Societies:
  • European diseases decimated native populations
  • Wealth from Americas shifted European economies from feudalism to capitalism
  • Rise of Joint Stock Companies for exploration funding

Spanish Colonization and Systems

• Economic Focus: Agriculture over extraction of metals
• Encomienda System: Forced native labor on plantations, issues with native resistance and disease
• African Slave Labor: Solution to labor shortages
• Casta System: Social hierarchy based on racial ancestry
  • Peninsulares, Creoles, Mestizos, Mulattos, Africans, Natives

European and Native Interactions

• Cultural Exchange: Adoption of useful practices from each other
  • Natives taught hunting and farming; Europeans introduced iron tools
• Justification for Exploitation:
  • Europeans viewed natives as inferior
  • Sepulveda vs. Las Casas debate on native treatment
  • Misinterpretation of biblical texts to justify African slavery

Conclusion

• Summary of Unit 1 key points
• Encouragement to use "Ultimate Review Packet" for further study
• "Heimler's History" channel subscription suggestion for additional content.