Chapter 1 – New Beginnings

Chapter 1. New World BeginningsA. The 1st Americans cross land bridge over Bering Sea

1. 50 to 20 thousand years ago—Siberian hunters became first American inhabitants

2. 14,000 years ago—humans reached tip of South AmericaB. Pre-Columbian civilizations – “American Indians”

1. 10 to 75 million peoplea. South America – Incas b. Central America – Mayas (Yucatan) and Aztecs (Mexico)c. North America - Iroquois (NY), Cherokee (South), Mississippians,

Pueblo (Southwest)

Routes of the First Americans

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Locations of Major Indian Groups and Culture Areas in the 1600s

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C. European Arrivals1. 1000 CE - Norse Vikings (Erik the Red, Leif Erikson) in

Newfoundland (Canada)2. 1492 CE – Christopher Columbus (Spain) “discovered”

island of Hispaniola – mistakenly called people “Indians”3. 1497 CE – John Cabot (England) explored northern

America (Newfoundland) 4. 1499 CE – Amerigo Vespucci (Spain) mapped east coast

of South America5. 1500 CE – Pedro Cabral claimed Brazil for Portugal6. 1507 CE – Juan Ponce de Leon (Spain) Puerto Rico; 1513

– Florida searching for “Fountain of Youth”7. 1513 CE – Vasco de Balboa (Spain) – first European to

see Pacific Ocean8. 1519 CE – Ferdinand Magellan (Spain) – first to sail

around S. America9. Spain was first to seek empire – “God, Gold, and Glory”

Voyages of European Exploration

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D. Treaty of Tordesillas – 1494 1. decision by Pope to

settle disputed claims of Portugal and Spain

2. divided Spanish and Portuguese territory in “New World” North-South by 46th meridian

3. Portugal got land east of line – Brazil and African islands

4. Spain got land west of line – everything else

E. New Spain1. Spanish explorers – Conquistadors and Missionaries

conquered Caribbean, C. & S. Americaa. 1519 – Hernan Cortes conquered Aztecs (Chief

Montezuma) in Tenochtitlan; est. Mexico Cityb. 1535 – Francisco Pizarro conquered Incas in Peru, est.

city of Limac. 1539-1542—de Soto explored Southeast (U.S.)d. 1540-1542—Coronado explored Southwest (U.S.)

2. Spain est. Encomienda System of govt. in New Spaina. Large tracts of land given to Spanish conquerorsb. Indigenous inhabitants became property of conquerors;

forced labor on sugar plantations; to be converted to Catholicism

c. Considered inhumane/slavery by church; replaced by Repartimiento system

d. Conquistadores inter-married w/Indian women – “new race” called mestizos – cultural and biological bridge between Spain and indigenous Americans

3. Columbian Exchange transforms life on 3 continentsa. From the New World (America) to the Old – corn, potatoes,

tobacco, beans, peppers, manioc, pumpkin, squash, tomato, wild rice, etc.

b. From the Old World to the New1. cows, pigs, horses, wheat, sugar cane, apples, cabbage, citrus, carrots,

Kentucky bluegrass, etc.2. devastating diseases (smallpox, yellow fever, malaria), as Indians had

no immunities – An estimated 90% of all pre-Columbus Indians died, mostly due to disease.

c. From Africa to New World – slave labor to work sugar plantations with loss of Indian population

4. Other Europeans threaten Spanish dominancea. England (1497): John Cabot (an Italian who sailed for

England) touched the coast of the current day U.S.b. France (1524): Giovanni de Verrazano also touched on

the North American seaboard.c. France (1535): Jacques Cartier went into mouth of St.

Lawrence River (Canada).d. France (1608) —Samuel de Champlain founded

Québece. France (1679): Robert de LaSalle sailed down the

Mississippi River claiming the whole region for their King Louis and naming the area "Louisiana" after his king.

f. French empire included St. Lawrence River, Great Lakes, Mississippi1. Very few permanent settlements – only fur trading posts2. Fur trade with Indian trading partners very profitable

5. To oppose threats, Spain set up forts (presidios) up California coast, and St. Augustine, Florida (1565) – the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in the U.S.

This fanciful artist's rendition of St. Augustine, pioneer Spanish settlement, is of interest despite its historical inaccuracies. The Castillo de San Marcos at no time resembled the fort as portrayed. The artist probably included the high hills because he mistook the Spanish word for thick forests to mean hills. From the 1671 engraving "Pagus Hispanorum," by an unknown artist, probably prepared in Amsterdam. (Courtesy, Chicago Historical Society.)

6. Black Legend: the false notion that Spaniards only brought bad things (murder, disease, slavery); though true, they also brought good things: legal systems, architecture,Christianity, language, civilization