Topic 2

The First AmericansEuropean Exploration & Expansion

United States History to 1865

Dr. Graham Cox

The First Discovery of America

• Wisconsin Glaciation• 30,000 Years Ago – End of Last Ice Age

Bering Land Bridge

Early Migrations

• Nomadic Hunters• 8000 BCE Reach Southernmost South America• Begin Switch to Agricultural Farming• Rise of Settlements and Communities• Origins of Great Civilizations in Western

Hemisphere

Great Civilizations

• Aztecs• Mayas• Incas• Moundbuilders

Aztecs

• Tenochtitlan• Tributary State

Mayas

• 2000 BCE – 900 CE

• Highly Evolved Civilization

Incas

• Most Sophisticated Empire in Western Hemisphere

• Gold & Sliver

North America

• Diversity– Languages - 2200– Climates/Environments

Moundbuilders

• Adena – 1000 BCE-100 CE– Ohio River Valley

• Hopewell – 100 BCE-500 CE– Mississippi River Valley

• Mississippian – 1400 CE– Cahokia, Illinois

Moundbuilder Sites

1492 – Time of Contact

• Triad – Native Americans, Europeans, Africans• 1492 – Europe was MARGINAL• Chinese Exploration– Zheng-He

• China- Culture of Complacency• Europe consumed with Greed – Profit Motive• Portugal – Maritime Commerce

Africa

• Timbuktu– Major Transit Point– Financial & Trade Center

• Gold• Spices• Ivory

Africa

• Africa well developed in 1492

Columbus and the “Discovery”

• Why it mattered and others did not . . .

Christopher Columbus

• NOT first to Arrive in New World – Vikings first to arrive

about 1000 CE

• What did Columbus look like?

This is Christopher Columbus

And this is Christopher Columbus

And this is Christopher Columbus

And this is Christopher Columbus

And this is Christopher Columbus

And this is Christopher Columbus

And this is Christopher Columbus

And this is Christopher Columbus

And this is Christopher Columbus

And this is Christopher Columbus

And this is “a green light to greatness”Christopher Columbus

And these too areChristopher Columbus

And so are these guys

And this is the real…Christopher Columbus

Columbus

• Christopher Columbus is the single most important figure in history over the last thousand years.

– Why?• Slavery• Mass murder• Global Trade

Racism

• Modern Racism– A New Development– Islamic Empire– Iberian Peninsula

The Motivations of Columbus

• Trade Route to Asia

• Guanch– Azores & Canary Islands– Sugar, Slaves, & Gold

• There was NO “New World” for Columbus

• Columbus – a religious man, motivated by greed and religious self-righteousness – came to the “New World” and did despicable things.

Columbian Exchange

• Exchange of Biota– went BOTH directions• Animals• Plants• Diseases

• BUT exchange was NOT an even one

Columbian Exchange - Plants

• Old to New World– Rice, Wheat, Barley, Oats– Coffee– Sugarcane– Bananas, Melons, Olives– Dandelions, Daisies, Clover,

Ragweed– Kentucky Bluegrass

• New to Old World– Corn– Potatoes – Beans – Tobacco– Peanuts, Squash, Peppers– Tomatoes, Pumpkins– Pineapples, Papayas– Cacao (Source of Chocolate)– Chicle (Chewing Gum)– Manioc (Tapioca)– Guavas, Avocados

Columbian Exchange - Animals

• Old to New World– Horses – Cattle– Pigs– Sheep– Goats– Chickens

• New to Old World– Turkeys– Llamas– Alpacas– Guinea Pigs

Columbian Exchange - Diseases

• Old to New World– Smallpox– Measles– Chicken Pox– Malaria– Yellow Fever– Influenza– The Common Cold

• New to Old World– Syphilis

“A night in the arms of Venus leads to a lifetime of Mercury.”

Columbian Exchange

• A Continuing Process

• An Uneven Exchange– Tenochtitlan - 1520– Plymouth – 1619

• Biological Isolation

Columbian Exchange

• The Result:

– Within 100 years of contact between whites and Indians, the Native American population declined from 50 to 90 percent.

– It was the greatest mass loss of human life in history.

On the Eve of Contact

• North America– 7 – 10 Million Inhabitants

• Valley of Mexico – 20 – 25 Million

• Central & South America including Caribbean– 15 – 20 Million

• Total– 42 – 55 Million Inhabitants

1492 Populations

• New World population roughly equivalent to Europe and Africa (Asia somewhat larger)

What was the “New World” Really Like in 1492?

• Vast Population

• Diverse Trade Networks

• Sophisticated Agriculture

• Grand Civilizations– Grand Cities

1492 – Fundamental Shift

• Africa, Europe, America Integrated

• Birth of Modern Global Economy

• Interconnected World

• Idea of Progress

A New World of Suffering

• Between 1492 and 1820, roughly 10 million Africans were forcefully brought to the New World.

– By 1820 there were only 2 million Africans in the New World.

• 90% Decline in Native population in Americas

DEATH BEYOND IMAGINATION

Conquistadores Overrun Native Americans

• 1492-1510 Spanish explore Caribbean

• After 1510 move to Mainland

1519 Hernán Cortés

• Malinche, or Malinali • Tlaxcalans• Montezuma II• Quetzalcoatl• Disease

Francisco Pizarro

• 1533 Cuzco

• 1550s all of South America

England comes to the New World

• 1585, 1587 Roanoke – “The Lost Colony”

• Joint-Stock Trading Companies– Virginia Company of London– Virginia Company of

Plymouth

• Jamestown 1607

French & Dutch

• 1609 Dutch– Henry Hudson– 1624 New Amsterdam• Trading Posts

• 1608 French– Samuel de Champlain– Fort Quebec• Fur Trading

Next Time..

Topic 3Colonizing North AmericaThe American Sense of Mission; Evangelical Revivalistic Protestantism

United States History to 1865

Dr. Graham Cox