Native Americans in Pre-Columbian North America

• The Pre-Columbian era refers to the period before Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the “New World,” and Native Americans populated North America

• Historians believe that Native Americans are descendants of migrants who traveled from Asia to North America, between 15,000 to 40,000 years ago

  • During this period, the planet was significantly colder, and much of the world’s water was locked up in polar ice sheets causing sea levels to drop.

  • The ancestors of Native Americans could walk across a land bridge from Siberia (in modern-day Russia) to Alaska

  • The Bering Strait was formed as the planet warmed, and this land bridge submerged

  • The Native Americans and their descendants migrated south (either by boat along the Pacific Coast or an ice-free corridor east of the Rocky Mountains) and populated both North and South America

At the time of Columbus’ arrival in 1492, Native American societies in North America ranged from small groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers to organized urban empires

• Examples:

  • In 1500, the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was more populous than any city in Europe

  • The Aztecs and Mayans (both located in Mesoamerica) are known for their advances in several areas, including astronomy architecture, and art. They influenced the cultures in the United States

  • Pueblo people had multistory stone houses with hundreds of rooms

  • The Chinook people of the Pacific Northwest relied on hunting and foraging, and the nomadic Plains Indians were examples of hunter-gatherer societies of America

  • The first Native Americans in contact with Europeans were smaller tribes that had permanent agriculture and lived along the Atlantic Ocean (they were also the ones that Columbus had mistakenly dubbed as “Indians”)

Maize/Corn

• Domestication of corn began thousands of years ago in Mexico and was depended on by the indigenous people for much of their livelihood.

• The transition from hunting and gathering to maize production allowed stable economies and organized societies to prosper, as well as encouraging advancements in irrigation and other advanced agricultural practices

Early Colonialization of the New World

The Early Colonial Era: Spain

Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492, and his arrival marked the beginning of the Contact Period.

• The Contact Period = the period in which Europe sustained contact with the Americas, and introduced a widespread exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and ideas in the Columbian Exchange

  • Early American history revolved around the conflict between Native Americans and European settlers- though Europeans were generally victorious- mainly due to an advantage in immunities to epidemics such as smallpox.

• This venture lead to the establishment of a long period of European expansion and colonialism, as Europe had the resources and technology to establish colonies far away.

• Colony = a territory settled and controlled by a foreign power

For the next century, Spain was the major colonial power in the Americas

• They founded coastal towns, where the Spanish conquerors (aka conquistadors) collected and exported as much of the area’s wealth as they could

• Spain’s encomienda system- in which the Spanish crown granted colonists the authority over a number of natives, and their labor for enterprises (such as sugar harvesting and silver mining), in exchange for the conversion of the natives to Catholicism.

• Spanish and Portuguese colonialization led to a mixing of cultures, resulting in a racial caste system (shown below)

  • The caste system hierarchy, :( from top to bottom:

  • Europeans→ Mestizos (mixed European and Native blood) → Zambos (Mixed African and Native American heritage) → Africans

• The strength of the Spanish Armada (aka Spain’s army) kept other European powers from establishing a foothold, until 1588, when the English navy defeated the Armada (leading to French and English colonialization of North America being less difficult)