Native American Societies Overview

Study Notes

Paleo-Indians arrived in North America approximately 16,000 years ago; settlement and farming began by 7000 BCE.
Major civilizations included:
- Aztecs (Mexica): Capital was Tenochtitlan; noted for writing, irrigation systems, and human sacrifices to enhance agriculture.
- Mayans: Resided in the Yucatan Peninsula; developed sophisticated irrigation, stone temples, and water storage systems.
- Incas: Established in the Andes; vast empire of 16 million people with advanced road networks and agriculture, notably potatoes.
Maize became a crucial crop for all major civilizations, spreading across North America.
Pueblo peoples in New Mexico and Arizona practiced sedentary farming, known for organized societies and masonry.
Other notable groups included:
- Great Plains: Nomadic hunters and gatherers.
- Pacific Northwest: Engaged in fishing and hunting, lived in longhouses.
- Mississippi River Valley: Mixed agricultural strategies with large trade networks, including Hopewell and Cahokia cultures.
- Iroquois: In Northeast America; grew maize, beans, and squash; lived in longhouses.

Exploration was motivated by population growth, political unity, the quest for luxury goods, and concerns over Muslim-controlled trade routes.
Portugal:
- Spearheaded by Prince Henry the Navigator, developed sea routes around Africa.
- Established a "Trading Post Empire" with advanced ships.
Spain:
- After unification, focused on resource exploration and spreading Christianity.
- Christopher Columbus landing in 1492 led to Spanish exploitation of Native peoples.
France:
- Samuel de Champlain settled in Quebec, preferred trade over conquest.
- Welcomed Jesuit missionaries in indigenous communities, achieving higher conversion rates.
- Engaged in fur trade with Dutch, who established New Amsterdam (modern-day New York).
England:
- Motivated by economic prospects and religious freedom.
- Jamestown was the first settlement, founded by the London Company, but struggled due to harsh conditions.
- Pilgrims settled in Massachusetts, receiving help from local tribes for survival.
- Massachusetts Bay Colony was formed by Puritans looking for religious freedom, led by John Winthrop. Anne Hutchinson challenged Puritan teachings, leading to her expulsion.
- Other colonies established included Connecticut by Thomas Hooker, Maryland as a refuge for Catholics by the Calvert family, and Carolina, which later split into northern and southern regions.
- The southern economy became plantation-dominated, fueling the Atlantic slave trade.

Agricultural exchange involved:
- From Americas to Europe: Maize, potatoes, tomatoes, cacao.
- From Europe/Africa to Americas: Rice, wheat, citrus fruits, and livestock.
Diseases like smallpox severely impacted Native populations, facilitating European conquests.
This exchange prompted European wealth, a decline in feudalism, and a rise in capitalism.
Widespread enslavement of Native Americans and Africans occurred, with Africans transported forcibly via the Middle Passage.
A caste system emerged:
- Peninsulares: Individuals born in Spain.
- Criollos: Spanish born in America.
- Mestizos: Mixed European and Native ancestry.
- Mulattoes: Mixed European and African ancestry.
- Natives and enslaved Africans at the bottom of the social hierarchy.