Period 1: Foundations 1491-1607 Flashcards
(56 cards)
Vinland
-First European colony in North America (Newfoundland)
-settled by modern day Scandinavians
What were the THREE most important Mesoamerican Indian empires? what were they known for?
-Aztecs
-Olmec
-Maya
(All in Mexico)
Known for art/architecture, calendars, writing systems, and irrigation systems.
How did Native American societies respond to the climate of the Great Plains/Basin? other characteristics of Plains Indians
They became nomadic, following the animals they hunted.
-feathered headdresses
-hunted buffalo
-ride horses
-mobile lifestyle! but some developed more sedentary lifestyles
Cahokia (location and what was it)
-Largest urban concentration of Indians (N Mexico)
-Located on the BANKS OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER
When and how did migrants begin arriving to the Americas?
Around 40,000 years ago over the Bering Land Bridge!!
WHAT did Native Americans of the Northeast, Mississippi River Vally, and Atlantic Seaboard SHARE?
They all developed MIXED ECONOMIES (combining private and public enterprises) that used agricultural and hunting/gathering. this..
-favored development of permanent villages due to farming which required settlement
How did MAIZE impact the development of Native American societies?
-growth of economies
-new settlements
-advanced irrigation
-increased social diversification
BECAUSE societies could focus less on food production and more on other tasks
maize=corn
Prior to Columbus’s arrival, where was most of the New World’s population concentrated?
Concentrated in Central and South America where civilizations (Maya, Aztecs, Incas, etc.) flourished
Iroquois Confederacy (1451)
A loose political alliance of five Indian nations
became really strong force
- Europeans referred to them as “Romans of the New World”
-lasted until American Revolution
How did the Native Americans of the Pacific coast support themselves?
Used the enormous resources of the ocean when weren’t hunting/gathering
FISH!
How did Native Americans respond to Europeans’ divergent worldviews
-trying to adopt useful aspects of E’s culture
-defending their way of life too through military resistance and negotiations
**Racial justifications for the enslavement/murder of Africans and Native Americans emerged!
What was the purpose of Columbus’s voyage 1492? (funded by Spanish monarchy)
To discover a western route to India
arriving in New World, named peoples Indians because he thought he succeeded
After Columbus established permanent contact with the New World, how did Spain focus its colonial efforts?
Spain focused primarily on conquest and expeditions
results were bad in spain: debt, inflation, taxes
How did contact with Europeans affect the native inhabitants of the New World?
Indians had no resistance to European diseases and 90% died (smallpox, etc)
remaining were enslaved to work on Spanish farms/mines under Encomienda System.
Columbian Exchange
-Interchange of flora, fauna, and diseases between Europe and New World
-American crops (corn, potatoes, cassava) were brought back to Europe
Encomienda system
1st: Spanish gov provided grants of land and Indians to Spaniards
2nd: Spaniards cared for Indians (who worked for Spaniards) and converted them to Catholicism
Protestant Reformation 1500s
-revolt against authority of the Pope and established new versions of Christianity
-many new Christian sects would seek refuge in the New World
How did Protestants and Catholics view the religious nature of exploration/conquest?
-Both viewed religious conversion of Indians as primary justification for exploration and conquest
-each group wanted to convert Indians to their version
how did the peopling of north america likely take place
likely came over the “Bering Land Bridge” from SIBERIA and moved south from there
Iroquois
-an abundance of timber
-Longhouse- permanent villages
-confederacy: Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayuga, Senecas, and LATER Tuscarora
-matriarchal** leadership
-MAIZE and THREE SISTERS OH M MY GOD
Utes
-nomadic tribe
-in western plains
-hunted buffalo
GREAT BASIN
west coastal area
fished and traded
Cahokia: mississippi river valley
-mound builders
-largest urban center on the continent
A center of religious devotion and trade!
and civilization near St. Louis
-farmers and traders along river routes
Pueblos
-southwest
-sometimes called Anazi people
-logs and mud bricks
-roads
-housing: small towns, Pueblos
-advanced irrigation systems and tech
-beans, squash, maize
-domesticated turkeys and dogs to help with hunting
