Foundations 1491 - 1607 Flashcards
Before Columbus’s arrival, the Americas were home to several vibrant civilizations. This deck describes the Indian empires of Mesoamerica, the southwest, and the Mississippi River Valley.
Complete the sentence
About 40,000 years ago, migrants began arriving in the Americas over the _____ _____ _____.
Bering Land Bridge
Many archeologists believe that tribes of hunter-gatherers crossed over dry land which once connected Siberia with Alaska, as a result of a drop in sea levels during the Pleistocene Ice Age. This migration is estimated to have taken place between 40,000 and 20,000 years ago.
What was Vinland?
Vinland was a colony in Newfoundland settled by Leif Ericson and the Norsemen (modern-day Scandinavians) in 1000 A.D.
Though it was abandoned shortly thereafter, it is considered the first European colony in North America.
What were the three most important Mesoamerican Indian empires?
The three most important Mesoamerican Indian empires were:
- the Aztecs (Mexico)
- the Olmec (Mexico)
- the Maya (Mexico)
These cultures were known for their sophisticated art, architecture, mathematics, calendars, writing systems, and irrigation methods. Many people believe that though the Mayans knew the wheel, they didn’t use it for farming until Europeans introduced them to draft animals.
How did Native American Societies respond to the climate of the Great Basin/Great Plains?
They became nomadic.
They moved from place to place in an effort to follow the animals they hunted.
Where was Cahokia?
Cahokia was located on the banks of the Mississippi River, near modern-day St. Louis, and was characterized by massive burial mounds.
Cahokia was the largest urban concentration of Indians north of Mexico. Before it was abandoned in circa 1400 A.D., some 40,000 people were estimated to have lived there.
What’s a similarity that Native Americans of the Northeast, Mississippi River Valley, and Atlantic Seaboard share?
They developed mixed economies that used agricultural and hunting/gathering.
These mixed economies favored the development of permenant villages, since farming required permenant settlement.
Explain how maize impacted the development of Native American Societies.
The spread of maize from modern-day Mexico to other parts of the Americas supported:
- Growth of economies
- New settlements
- Advanced irrigation
- Increased social diversification
The reason why corn caused all of this to happen was because socities could focus less on food production and focus more on other tasks.
Prior to the arrival of Columbus, where was most of the population of the New World concentrated?
Most of the population of the New World was concentrated in Central and South America, where civilizations such as the Maya, Aztecs, and Incas flourished.
What was the Iroquois Confederacy?
Founded around 1451, the Iroquois Confederacy was a loose political alliance of five Indian nations.
Impressed by the wisdom of this government, Europeans referred to them as the “Romans of the New World.” The Confederacy continued until it was finally destroyed during the American Revolution.
How did the Native Americans of the Pacific coast support themselves?
If they weren’t hunting and gathering, they used the enormous resources of the ocean to collect their food.
Explain how Native Americans responded to Europeans’ divergent worldviews.
Native Americans responded to Europeans’ divergent worldviews by:
- Trying to adopt useful aspects of European culture.
- Defending their way of life through diplomatic negotiations and military resistance.
Among the Europeans themselves, a debate emerged about how non-Europeans should be treated. It’s from this time period where the racial justifications for the enslavement and murder of Africans and Native Americans emerged.
In 1492, Genoese sailor Christopher Columbus, funded by the Spanish monarchy, sailed west from Spain. What was the purpose of Columbus’s voyage?
To discover a western route to India.
Columbus was convinced that a western route to India existed and wanted to find it. Although he’d stumbled upon the New World, Columbus died in 1506 believing he had succeeded, and that the peoples he’d named “Indians” really were inhabitants of Asia. Contrary to legend, few in Europe believed the Earth was flat.
After Columbus established permanent contact with the New World, how did Spain focus its colonial efforts?
Spain focused primarily on conquest and expeditions under conquistadors (conquerors) sent from Spain to the New World.
After landing in 1519, the Spanish took 2 years to conquer the Aztecs led by Hernan Cortes. After exploring the west coast of South America from 1524-1528, Francisco Pizzaro led a small Spanish group of conquistadors to conquer the Incas in 1531.
How did contact with Europeans affect the native inhabitants of the New World?
Indians had no resistance to European diseases, and roughly 90% of the Indian population died from diseases like smallpox.
Many of the remaining Indians were enslaved to work Spanish farms and mines under the Encomienda System. Without immunity to these diseases, it would have been impossible for the Europeans to conquer and enslave Native Americans.
Historian Alfred Crosby coined a term to describe the interchange of flora, fauna, and diseases between Europe and the New World. What is that term?
Columbian Exchange
Before European contact, there were no crowd-spread diseases nor domesticated animals in the New World. Hearty American crops such as corn, potatoes, and cassava were brought back to Europe by early colonizers, which helped Europeans avoid starvation.
Though Europeans didn’t understand pollination, they enjoyed honey and brought European honeybees to the New World.
