2. The appeal and lure of
the west
• The west had a mythical appeal
• Atlantis
• Fallen Greek heroes were believed to spend eternity
in a western paradise
• no ships could sail the open ocean
3. The vikings
• 984 Eric the Red found Greenland
• Son, Lief found Vinland (northern Newfoundland)
• Europeans were unaware of these colonies
• difficult to maintain
4. Middle ages
• Europeans were decentralized, fighting the Black
Death and ignorant of classic knowledge
6. The building of
nations states in
• The Reformation:
• Centralization of Government
• Concentration of Wealth
• Balance of Power
• Mercantilism
• Colonization
7. New encounters
During the sixteenth century the Spanish,
French, and English explored the
Americas, displaced Native American
cultures, and established colonies in the
Western Hemisphere. These changes
forced both cultures to adapt and change,
though Native American cultures often
suffered the most in these early exchanges.
8. native american
cultures
• 30,000 years ago--Hunters and Gatherers crossed
the Bering Sea from Siberia
• Diverse bands, not connected
• 300-350 separate languages
• Agriculture transformed society (southwest earliest)
• Four million at the time of Spanish Conquest
9. Urban populations
• Mississippi Moundbuilders built Cahokia (near St
Louis)----town was the size of medieval London in
1200 CE.
10.
11. Aztec Society
• Indians of Mexico built vast cities.
• Hieroglyphic writing, large tributary government,
accurate calendars.
• Cities of several thousand people
• Aztecs conquered the cities shortly before
Columbus
12. Tenochtitlan
• 250,000 in 1519
• Elaborate human sacrifice to the Sun god
(Huitzilopochtili)
• sacrifice tied to the agricultural cycle
13. Eastern woodland
cultures
• Atlantic Coast had less than one million
• less farming---also, hunted and fished (cultivated maize)
• Dispersed in the winters
• Algonquins were the first contact with17th century Europeans (North Carolina to
Maine)
• The Powhatans of Virginia were in this group
• separated by different dialects
• Very egalitarian reciprocal interaction
• matrilineal land ownership
14. Earliest Interactions
• First curious, not hostile
• eager for trade
• resistant to European culture
• Strained communication
• Disease and Dependency
15. West african people
and culture
• The Portuguese explore the West Coast of Africa
• Set up East West Trade
• Establish Slave Trade
18. The Conquistadors
• Spain first concentrated on the islands Columbus
had discovered
• Hernan Cortes 1518- sailed from Cuba to Mexico
to conquer Aztecs
• Fear of Quetzlcoatl
• Pizarro and the Incas
19. The problems of
conquistadors
• Encomienda System
• 250,000 migrators in 1500’s
• most poor men, likely to marry Natives or Blacks
(meztizos and mulattos)
• 200 tons of gold and 16,000 tons of silver
