Overview
This lecture explores the diverse civilizations of Indigenous America before European contact, the effects of European expansion and colonization, and the profound changes that followed, including the Columbian Exchange and demographic catastrophe.
Indigenous America Before Contact
- Indigenous peoples lived in the Americas for over 10,000 years, developing hundreds of languages and thousands of cultures.
- Native societies varied from settled agriculturalists to migratory hunter-gatherers, maintaining vast trade networks.
- Creation stories and oral traditions reflected diverse spiritual values and concepts of kinship.
- Agriculture, particularly maize, beans, and squash (the "Three Sisters"), supported large populations and complex civilizations.
- Major cultural groups included the Puebloans in the Southwest, Mississippians along the Mississippi River, and diverse groups in the Pacific Northwest and Eastern Woodlands.
- Societies like Cahokia rivaled contemporary European cities in size and complexity.
Native Societies and Social Organization
- Many Indigenous cultures practiced matrilineal kinship, with family lines traced through mothers.
- Property was often viewed collectively, with use rather than permanent possession emphasized.
- Cultural practices included diverse art forms, oral traditions, and technologies like birchbark scrolls, khipu, and totem poles.
- Social structures ranged from small bands to large cities organized by chiefdoms.
European Expansion and Early Contacts
- Vikings briefly reached North America around 1000 CE, but permanent contact began with Columbus in 1492.
- European powers, seeking wealth and trade, pursued exploration with new navigation technology like the astrolabe and caravel.
- The Columbian Exchange began, transferring crops, animals, people, and diseases between continents.
- Enslavement, violence, and above all, disease (especially smallpox), devastated Indigenous populations—up to 90% perished.
Spanish Exploration and Conquest
- The Spanish used the encomienda and repartimiento systems to exploit Indigenous labor.
- Spain conquered powerful empires like the Aztecs (Mexico) and Incas (Peru) using alliances, technology, and the spread of disease.
- The Spanish colonial social hierarchy (Sistema de Castas) ranked people by racial background, emphasizing “purity of blood.”
- Intermarriage created mestizo populations, shaping new cultural identities like the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The Columbian Exchange and Its Impact
- Disease, crops, animals, and cultural exchange transformed societies on both sides of the Atlantic.
- New World crops like corn and potatoes revolutionized global diets, while Old World animals changed Indigenous lifeways.
- Massive demographic collapse and ecological changes marked the post-contact period.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Encomienda — Spanish system granting colonists land and Indigenous laborers.
- Matrilineal — tracing family descent through mothers rather than fathers.
- Columbian Exchange — transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds after 1492.
- Three Sisters — the staple crops of corn, beans, and squash grown together.
- Sistema de Castas — Spanish colonial racial classification system.
- Mestizo — person of mixed Indigenous and Spanish descent.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Read the assigned primary sources for firsthand Indigenous and European perspectives.
- Review the recommended readings for deeper context on pre-Columbian societies and the Columbian Exchange.