The Earliest Americans: New World Beginnings

New World Beginnings

• Major patterns of Native American life in North America before Europeans arrived included the "3 sister farming" method of growing corn, beans and squash
  • Maize (wild grass) became a staple crop and foundation of civilizations
• Origin stories and storytelling were also major patterns
  • This included the creation of Right and Left (wrong and right)
• Trading systems were patterns of Native American life
  • Tribes traded with one another
  • They traded shark/alligator teeth, pottery, etc
• Men were hunters, while women tended crops
• Power and possessions were passed down the female side of the family line
• Additional info can be found in chapter 1-3 "The Earliest Americans"

Differing Ideas of Freedom

• Europeans believed owning land meant you were considered free
• Indians believed freedom was connected to nature and spiritual liberation/freedom
• Europeans considered Native American freedom as barbaric

What Impelled European Explorers West?

• Spices from Asia were very popular in Europe and they were trying to find a less expensive route
• Marco Polo's tales of China made people eager for expansion
  • It was suspected that these tales were not factual
• Religious conflicts also made people eager to leave Europe
• Portuguese mariners overcame the strong Northern winds by making the caravel
  • A caravel is a ship with three triangular sails
• They were looking for God, Glory, and Gold
• Additional info can be found in chapters 1-4 and 1-5

Outcome of Contact between Europeans and People of the Americas

• The people of the Americas got very sick due to the diseases that the Europeans brought over
  • Many died since their immune systems could not handle the diseases

Features of the Spanish Empire in America

• Enslavement of Native Americans (encomienda)
• Operated by a caste system
• Practice of Christianity
• Extraction of metals

Features of the French and Dutch Empires in North America

• French and Dutch empires were very amicable
• Engaged in the fur trade

Important Aspects of Native American Life Prior to the Arrival of the Europeans

• They valued their connection with the land, each other, and their religion
• They valued their origin stories
• Land was collectively held, and no one "owned" it

Mississippi Mound Builders

• The Mississippi Mound Builders lived in a major trading and manufacturing center
• They relied on hunting, manufacturing, and agriculture
• They built houses and cities into mounds

Considerations of European and Native American Life

• Gender roles, land and property, and religion

Gender Roles

• European gender roles were such that women did not have many rights
• Native American women were important and tended to take care of kids and the home

Land and Property

• Europeans owned their own land/property and only public spaces were shared
• Native Americans saw land as a resource that everyone had a right to use
  • "Black Hawk" said the land was given to them by "The Great Spirit"

Religion

• Many Europeans believed in God, mainly Catholic
• Native American religion was based in nature, such as animals, plants, trees, wind, and water

The Three G's

• God, Gold, and Glory are "The Three G's"

Ramifications of Columbus in the New World

• Columbus brought disease with him
  • This wiped out a lot of natives which furthered the power of the Europeans
• Columbus also brought animals (pigs, cows, goats, etc.) and religion (Catholicism)

How the Spanish Set Up Their Empire

• The initial contact, the development of a new society, and reasons for making the trip were all considered in the way the Spanish set up their empire
• The empire set up by forcing the Native Americans out, spreading religion

Sources

• Primary source material includes: Iroquois Creation Story, Columbus and his view of the New World, Aztec Recollection
• Secondary source material includes: 500 Nations; also explored the early civilizations in the Americas and AmericaPox