Chapter 1

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Cultures of North America

Small Settlements - most Native Americans lived in semi-permanent settlements, pop

Larger societies - a few tribes had developed complex cultures - thousands lived and worked together. Pueblos in Southwest lived in multistoried buildings and developed intricate irrigation systems. East of the Mississippi River, the Woodland Native Americans prospered with a rich food supply. Mound-building cultures, including the Adena, Hopewell and Mississippian evolved in the Mississippi and Ohio River areas and elsewhere. Supported by hunting, fishing and agriculture, permanent settlements developed. Cahokia (near present-day East St. Louis, Illinois), the largest, had

Cultures of Central and S. America

- Exact pop isn't known -

- Three peoples in this region developed complex civilisations

- Between 300 and 800 AD, the Mayas built cities in the rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula (present-day Guatemala, Belize, and southern Mexico)

- Centuries later, the Aztecs in central Mexico and the Incas in Peru ruled over vast empires.

- All three civilizations developed highly organized societies, carried on an extensive trade, and created calendars based on accurate scientific observations.

- The Aztecs' capital of Tenochtitlan was equivalent in size and pop to the largest cities of Europe

Europe Moves Toward Exploration

Until late 1400s, Americans had no knowledge of continents on other side of Atlantic Ocean. Europeans and Asians didn't know of existence of American continents. Voyages and settlements (e.g. Vikings around year 1000 to Greenland and N.A.) had no lasting impact. Columbus' voyages of exploration brought Europe and Americas into contact. Why no crossing/exploration before?

Improvements in Technology

Europe - rebirth of classical learning and outburst of artistic and scientific activity - Renaissance. Columbus and other explorers lived when this era of creative vitality was at its height, in the late 1400s and early 1500s.

Exploration, Discovery and Settlement, 1492-1700

Renaissance - gradual increase in scientific knowledge and technological change. Europeans made improvements in the inventions of others (e.g. - began to use gunpowder (invented bye Chinese) and the sailing compass (adopted from Chinese by Arab merchants). Major improvements in shipbuilding and mapmaking. Invention of printing press in 1450s aided spread of knowledge across Europe.

Relgious Conflict

Later years of Renaissance - time of intense religious zeal and conflict. The Roman Catholic Church (that had once dominated the culture of W. Europe) was threatened from without by Ottoman Turks (followers of Islam) and from within by a Protestant revolt against the Pope's authority.

Catholic victory in Spain - In the Middle Ages, Spain had been partly conquered by Muslim invaders. Only one Moorish stronghold remained in that country when Isabella, queen of Castile and Ferdinand, kin of Aragon, united their separate Christian kingdoms. In 1492, the year Columbus sailed on his historic first voyage, Isabella and Ferdinand succeeded in defeating the Moors of Granada. The uniting of Spain under Isabella and Ferdinand was a sign of new leadership, hope and power for European believers in the Roman Catholic faith.

Protestant revolt in northern Europe - In the early 1500s, certain Christians in Germany, England, France, Holland, and other n. European countries revolted against the authority of the pope in Rome - Protestant Reformation. Conflict between Catholics and Protestants led to a series of religious wars. It also caused the Catholics of Spain and Portugal and the Protestants of England and Holland to want their own versions of Christianity adopted by non-Christian people in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Thus, a religious motive for exploration and colonisation was added to political and economic motives.

Expanding Trade

Economic motives for exploration grew out of a fierce competition among Europeans kingdoms for increased trade with Africa, India and China. In the past, this trade had travelled from the Italian city-state of Venice and the Byzantine city of Constantinople on to an overland route that reached all the way to the capital of the Chinese empire. This land route to Asia had become blocked when, in 1453, the Ottoman Turks seized control of Constantinople.

Might a new way to the rich Asian trade be opened by sailing either west across the Atlantic Ocean or south along the West African coast? At first, the latter possibility (sailing around Africa) seemed more promising. Voyages of exploration sponsored by Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator eventually succeeded in opening up a long sea route around S. Africa's Cape of Good Hope. In 1498, the Portugese sea captain Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India by this route. By this time, Columbus had attempted what he thought would be a shorter route to Asia (He was wrong. What he found was a sea route to the Americas).

Developing Nation-States

Europe was also changing politically in the 15th century. Monarchs were gaining power and building nation-states in Spain, Portugal, France, England and the Netherlands (nation state - country in which the majority of people share both a common culture and common political loyalties toward a central government). The monarchs of the emerging nation-states depended on trade to bring in needed revenues and the Church to justify their right to rule. Among these monarchs were Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain and Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, who used their power to search for riches abroad and to spread the influence of the Roman Catholic Church to new overseas dominions.

Early Explorations

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