Topic 2
The First AmericansEuropean Exploration & Expansion
United States History to 1865
Dr. Graham Cox
The First Discovery of America
• Wisconsin Glaciation• 30,000 Years Ago – End of Last Ice Age
Bering Land Bridge
Early Migrations
• Nomadic Hunters• 8000 BCE Reach Southernmost South America• Begin Switch to Agricultural Farming• Rise of Settlements and Communities• Origins of Great Civilizations in Western
Hemisphere
Great Civilizations
• Aztecs• Mayas• Incas• Moundbuilders
Aztecs
• Tenochtitlan• Tributary State
Mayas
• 2000 BCE – 900 CE
• Highly Evolved Civilization
Incas
• Most Sophisticated Empire in Western Hemisphere
• Gold & Sliver
North America
• Diversity– Languages - 2200– Climates/Environments
Moundbuilders
• Adena – 1000 BCE-100 CE– Ohio River Valley
• Hopewell – 100 BCE-500 CE– Mississippi River Valley
• Mississippian – 1400 CE– Cahokia, Illinois
Moundbuilder Sites
1492 – Time of Contact
• Triad – Native Americans, Europeans, Africans• 1492 – Europe was MARGINAL• Chinese Exploration– Zheng-He
• China- Culture of Complacency• Europe consumed with Greed – Profit Motive• Portugal – Maritime Commerce
Africa
• Timbuktu– Major Transit Point– Financial & Trade Center
• Gold• Spices• Ivory
Africa
• Africa well developed in 1492
Columbus and the “Discovery”
• Why it mattered and others did not . . .
Christopher Columbus
• NOT first to Arrive in New World – Vikings first to arrive
about 1000 CE
• What did Columbus look like?
This is Christopher Columbus
And this is Christopher Columbus
And this is Christopher Columbus
And this is Christopher Columbus
And this is Christopher Columbus
And this is Christopher Columbus
And this is Christopher Columbus
And this is Christopher Columbus
And this is Christopher Columbus
And this is Christopher Columbus
And this is “a green light to greatness”Christopher Columbus
And these too areChristopher Columbus
And so are these guys
And this is the real…Christopher Columbus
Columbus
• Christopher Columbus is the single most important figure in history over the last thousand years.
– Why?• Slavery• Mass murder• Global Trade
Racism
• Modern Racism– A New Development– Islamic Empire– Iberian Peninsula
The Motivations of Columbus
• Trade Route to Asia
• Guanch– Azores & Canary Islands– Sugar, Slaves, & Gold
• There was NO “New World” for Columbus
• Columbus – a religious man, motivated by greed and religious self-righteousness – came to the “New World” and did despicable things.
Columbian Exchange
• Exchange of Biota– went BOTH directions• Animals• Plants• Diseases
• BUT exchange was NOT an even one
Columbian Exchange - Plants
• Old to New World– Rice, Wheat, Barley, Oats– Coffee– Sugarcane– Bananas, Melons, Olives– Dandelions, Daisies, Clover,
Ragweed– Kentucky Bluegrass
• New to Old World– Corn– Potatoes – Beans – Tobacco– Peanuts, Squash, Peppers– Tomatoes, Pumpkins– Pineapples, Papayas– Cacao (Source of Chocolate)– Chicle (Chewing Gum)– Manioc (Tapioca)– Guavas, Avocados
Columbian Exchange - Animals
• Old to New World– Horses – Cattle– Pigs– Sheep– Goats– Chickens
• New to Old World– Turkeys– Llamas– Alpacas– Guinea Pigs
Columbian Exchange - Diseases
• Old to New World– Smallpox– Measles– Chicken Pox– Malaria– Yellow Fever– Influenza– The Common Cold
• New to Old World– Syphilis
“A night in the arms of Venus leads to a lifetime of Mercury.”
Columbian Exchange
• A Continuing Process
• An Uneven Exchange– Tenochtitlan - 1520– Plymouth – 1619
• Biological Isolation
Columbian Exchange
• The Result:
– Within 100 years of contact between whites and Indians, the Native American population declined from 50 to 90 percent.
– It was the greatest mass loss of human life in history.
On the Eve of Contact
• North America– 7 – 10 Million Inhabitants
• Valley of Mexico – 20 – 25 Million
• Central & South America including Caribbean– 15 – 20 Million
• Total– 42 – 55 Million Inhabitants
1492 Populations
• New World population roughly equivalent to Europe and Africa (Asia somewhat larger)
What was the “New World” Really Like in 1492?
• Vast Population
• Diverse Trade Networks
• Sophisticated Agriculture
• Grand Civilizations– Grand Cities
1492 – Fundamental Shift
• Africa, Europe, America Integrated
• Birth of Modern Global Economy
• Interconnected World
• Idea of Progress
A New World of Suffering
• Between 1492 and 1820, roughly 10 million Africans were forcefully brought to the New World.
– By 1820 there were only 2 million Africans in the New World.
• 90% Decline in Native population in Americas
DEATH BEYOND IMAGINATION
Conquistadores Overrun Native Americans
• 1492-1510 Spanish explore Caribbean
• After 1510 move to Mainland
1519 Hernán Cortés
• Malinche, or Malinali • Tlaxcalans• Montezuma II• Quetzalcoatl• Disease
Francisco Pizarro
• 1533 Cuzco
• 1550s all of South America
England comes to the New World
• 1585, 1587 Roanoke – “The Lost Colony”
• Joint-Stock Trading Companies– Virginia Company of London– Virginia Company of
Plymouth
• Jamestown 1607
French & Dutch
• 1609 Dutch– Henry Hudson– 1624 New Amsterdam• Trading Posts
• 1608 French– Samuel de Champlain– Fort Quebec• Fur Trading
Next Time..
Topic 3Colonizing North AmericaThe American Sense of Mission; Evangelical Revivalistic Protestantism
United States History to 1865
Dr. Graham Cox
Top Related