APUSH — Chapter 1: "A New World" — Period 1: 1497-1607

Wampum:

Small, cylindrical beads made by North American Indians from Quahog shells. Strung together and worn as a decorative belt. Used as currency.

French & Native Relations:

The French were willing to accept Indians as part of colonial society. They encouraged speaking French. Indians who converted to Catholicism were promised full citizenship. French settlers were attracted to the free life of the Indians.

Factories:

The Portuguese fortified trading posts on the west coast. Profits were "factors" that inspired other European power to join in. The Portuguese established plantations on the Atlantic Islands - replacing native populations with African slaves. They accelerated the buying and selling of slaves in Africa. 100,000 were transported between 1450 and 1500.

Land and Property:

Tribe leaders or village chiefs assigned plots to families. Tribes claimed areas for hunting. Unclaimed land remained free for anyone to use. Families had the right to use - not own. Land was seen as a common resource, not commodity.

Native Religion & Relations:

Tribes frequently warred to obtain goods, seize captives and take revenge. They also used diplomacy and conducted peace. Religious ceremonies were related to farming and hunting. Spirits were in all inanimate things. Shamans held authority and respect.

Justification of Conquest:

"Backwardness" had become a central justification for conquest. Justified through the spread of Christianity, claimed to be freeing Native Americans. Bringing new forms of technology and higher living.

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The Spanish Empire:

16th century, Spain had an immense empire. Atlantic & Pacific Oceans were highways for exchanging of goods & movement of people. Spanish galleons carried gold/silver from mexico & Peru to Spain, manila & China. The empire included most populous regions of the New World. Natural resources from Quito & Lima. Mexico City was its capital, built on Tenochtitlan.

Zheng He:

Admiral Zheng He led 7 large naval expeditions in the Indian Ocean with 25,000 men. He explored the coasts of Africa. China was the most important trading economy, but did not feel the need for overseas expansion. his purpose was to impress other peoples with China's might.

Settled Civilizations:

Agriculture emerged 9,000 years ago in modern day Mexico & the Andes. Permanent settlements, development of agriculture, stable food surplus all led to the birth of civilization. Cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, writing and advanced technology.

Pacific Coast & Great Plains:

Distinct groups lived by fishing, hunting sea mammals, gathering plants and nuts. Salmon provided food. In the Great Plains, hunters tracked buffalo on foot.

The Encomienda System:

In 1550, Spain abolished the Encomienda System - under which the first settlers were granted authority over conquered Indian lands, with the right to extract forced labor from native inhabitants. In it's place, the government established the repartimiento system.

European Expansion Factors:

Europe wanted to cut out Middle Eastern middlemen. Europeans brought violence, death and despair. They also brought with them a missionary desire to spread the so called benefits of religion and civilization to others. Europeans viewed the Americas as an economic opportunity to reap the rewards of empiricism.

Peninsulares:

European born, top of social hierarchy. Royal Officials. Spanish crown replaced conquistadors with stable gov headed by lawyers & bureaucrats. Council of the Indies in Spain served as colonial admin. Viceroys of Mexico & Peru were local officials. Catholic Church exerted authority on faith, morals & treatment of Indians.

European vs Indian way of life:

European settlers believed mixing labor and earth gave one title to soil. In the gender division of labor and matrilineal structure, Europeans saw weak men and mistreated women. Hinting and fishing were viewed by Europeans as leisure. Europeans believed native women lacked freedom because they worked in the fields. Men were labeled unmanly an too lazy to exercise authority.

Motivations of French/Dutch versus The Spanish:

FRENCH/DUTCH: Indians were trading partners and military allies. Greater freedoms for natives. Commercial Ventures, abundant amount of fur animals. THE SPANISH: Profit, Politics and Piety. Natural resources, search for wealth, social hierarchy, enslavement, labor intensive.

Different Attitudes of European Settlers:

FRENCH/DUTCH: Treat natives more humanely than Spanish. Saw Indians as fellow victims of Spanish oppression. religious toleration, sovereignty over land, greater freedom. THE SPANISH: wealth, national glory, spread Catholicism, brutality, violence, superiority, conquer, not trade.

Reconquista:

Ferdinand & Isabella of Spain sponsored Christopher Columbus. Their marriage united warring kingdoms. In 1492, they completed the reconquest of Spain from the Moors - African Muslims. The Capture of Grenada, the last stronghold, finished territorial unification. They ordered Jews & Muslims to convert to Catholicism or leave. Columbus was also financed by bankers & merchants who wanted to evade Muslim hold on Eastern trade.

Christian Liberty:

Freedoms were distinct rights, privileges, enjoyed by few. Those who embraced teachings of god were freed from the slavery of sin. Freedom was also equated to the obedience of law. Subjects had unequal degrees of freedom. Hierarchical, inequality, men had power over women.

Huguenots:

French Protestants during the 16th - 17th centuries. The Calvinist Huguenots faced severe prosecution from a Catholic majority. Thousands emigrated from France. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes led 100,000 to flee the country. They were not welcome in New France, an outpost the crown wanted to remain Catholic.

Importance of Discovery:

Immense changes in both old & new worlds. Still consequences today. Natives & Europeans thrown into constant interaction. New crops reshaped diets & transformed environment. Natives w/o immunity suffered series of epidemics. Worst population catastrophe in history.

Contact:

In 1492, Columbus's 3 ships arrived at the Bahamas. He encountered the larger islands of Hispaniola. He abandoned 38 men but brought 10 natives back to Spain. The following year, European colonization began. He returned with 17 ships & 1,000 men to establish a Spanish outpost. Nicholas de Ovando established a permanent base & Amerigo Vespucci identified the natives as distinct peoples of a new continent.

Pueblo Revolt:

In 1680, New Mexico's mostly mestizo colonist population was less than 3000. Relations between Pueblo Indians & Colonial authorities had deteriorated as governors, settlers & missionaries sought to exploit labor. Franciscan friars used violence & intimidation to convert Indians to Catholicism. As the Inquisition - prosecution of non Catholics - became intense, Friars destroyed religious ceremonies. Authorities were unable to protect natives from Navajo & Apache attacks.

Western Indians:

In Arizona, the Hopi & Zuni settled in villages. They planned towns with multi-family dwellings. Dams & canals gathered / distributed water. Pueblo Bonita in Chaco Canyon. Society declined from drought, they moved south & east, perfected techniques of irrigation desert farming.

Iroquois:

In New York, five Iroquois peoples - the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca and Onondaga formed a great league of peace & stability. Each year, a great council with representatives met to coordinate behaviors toward outsiders.

Indian Freedom, European Freedom:

Indians had no kind of superiority over one another. The notion of "freedom" was alien. Europeans believed Indians were too free, lacked order & discipline of civilization. In Indian society, ownership of private property had little meaning. More important were appropriate behavior, kinship ties, spiritual values & a sense of belonging.

Popé:

Long divided Pueblo peoples united against colonizers. Religious leader Pope organized an uprising to drive the Spanish away & restore traditional Indian autonomy. After secret meetings, New Mexico's Indians joined in a coordinated uprising. 2,000 warriors destroyed farms & missions, killing 400 colonists & 21 Franciscans. After surrounding Santa Fe, the Spanish resisted fiercely but left. Afterwards, cooperation among the Pueblo evaporated.

Gender & Family Relations:

Matrilineal. Members of mother's family. Women were important in religious ceremonies. In the southeast, the Choctaw, Cherokee and Chickasaw united dozens of towns into loose alliances.

Métis:

New France witnessed considerable cultural exchange and intermixing between colonial and native populations. Indians and whites intermingled and Métis were children of marriages between Indian women and French traders/officials. They grew up to become guides, traders and interpreters.

Maize:

One of the three sisters. Throughout the hemisphere, maize, squash & beans formed the basis of agriculture. Absence of livestock. Limited farming without animals to plow fields.

Tenochtitlan:

Population of 250,000 - the capital of the Aztec Empire was one of the world's largest cities. Temples, palace & central market. The Inca kingdom in the Andes mountain chain engaged in far reaching trade and communication. It had a population of 12 million with 2,000 miles of roads & bridges.

Caravel:

Portugal took advantage of new sailing/navigation techniques to explore the Atlantic. The long distance Caravel, Chinese compass, Triangular Sail, Muslim Astrolabe, all enabled sailors to accurately determine location. They initially hoped to locate the source of gold brought by African Caravans.

The Expansion of Europe:

Portuguese navigators discovered the sea route from Europe to Asia. There was a quest for a direct sea route to India, China and the East Indies. International trade centered around silk, tea, spices and precious goods. For centuries, commerce had been conducted a cross land. The desire to eliminate middlemen and control the lucrative trade inspired Christian Western Europe.

Cahokia:

Poverty point was a commercial and governmental center where residents established trade routes throughout the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys. Mound builders made earthen burial mounds. After their decline, Cahokia became a fortified community of 10,000 to 30,000 people.

The French and Dutch Empires:

Precious metals caused desire to match Spain's success. Spain's empire transformed the balance of power in global economy. The Atlantic replaced a land route to Asia as a major axis of global trade. During the 17th century, the French, Dutch & English made colonies in North America. New France & New Netherlands were commercial ventures w/o many colonists.

Black Legend:

Priest Bartolome de Las Casas wrote an account of the decimation of Indian population. He freed his slaves & began to preach against injustices of Spanish rule. He denounced Spain for killing millions of innocent people. He wrote of cruelties carried out by Christians - including burning natives; imposition of forced labor. Said they were deprived of freedom & forced into servitude. Suggested replacing with Africans.

The Repartimiento System:

Residents of Indian Villages remained legally free and were entitled to wages. They were still required to perform a fixed amount of labor each year. Natives were not treated as slaves, they had access to land, were paid wages and could not be bought or sold.

The First Americans:

Spoke hundreds of languages, numerous societies. Descended form bands of hunters and gatherers. Crossed Bering strait 15,000 to 60,000 years ago. Reached South America 11,000 years ago. Food crisis with extinction of mammoth and giant bison. Large Game.

Mestizos:

The Spanish crown ordered single men to marry. With the population of Spanish women low, intermixing of Colonial and Indian peoples began. These persons of mixed origin made up a large portion of the urban pop in Spanish America. They repopulated Mexico valley.

Haciendas:

The Spanish forced tens of thousands of Indians to work in gold and silver mines that supplied the Empire's wealth. Spanish landlords controlled large scale farms called haciendas. Indians performed most of the labor. Main agricultural crops were corns, beans and squash.

Motivations for Spanish Conquest:

The Spanish were inspired by the search for wealth, national glory and the desire to spread their religion of Catholicism. Explorers were accompanied by religious missionaries carrying flags displayed with the cross: Spain needed to get involved in Global trade in the western hemisphere, initiated by the Portuguese.

Patroons:

The company's "Freedom and Exemptions" plan, offered large estates to Patroons - Shareholders who agreed to transport tenants for agricultural labor. Patroons were required to purchase title to lands from Indians. Netherlands sent 1 million overseas - many non Dutch - to populate & govern.

Colombian Exchange:

This transatlantic flow of good and people, altered milliosn of years of evolution. Products introduced from Europe to the Americas included corn, tomatoes, potatoes, cotton, tobacco, wheat, rice, sugarcane, horses, cattle, pigs and sheep. Indian populations suffered catastrophic decline form contact, wars, enslavement and diseases such as smallpox, influenza and measles. Entire populations dissipated. Mexico's population dropped 90%.

New Netherlands:

To attract settlers to North America, the Dutch West India Company promised colonists not only religious toleration, but also cheap livestock and free land after 6 years of labor. It even surrendered it's monopoly of the fur trade, opening the profitable commerce to all settlers.