America’s History Seventh Edition CHAPTER 1 The New Global World 1400-1620 Copyright © 2011 by Bedford/St. Martin’s James A. Henretta Rebecca Edwards Robert.

America’s HistorySeventh Edition

CHAPTER 1The New Global World

1400-1620

Copyright © 2011 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

James A. HenrettaRebecca Edwards

Robert O. Self

I. The Native American Experience

A. The First Americans1. Creation Stories2. Scientific Evidence 3. Hunter-gatherers


A. The First Americans1. Creation Stories

• Judeo-Christians believe in the story of Adam and Eve while other religions have their own stories that relate to the natural world (Kiowa, for example, taught that they came from a hollow log).


A. The First Americans2. Scientific Evidence

• first Americans came from Asia during the last Ice Age over a 100-mile bridge that connected Siberia and Alaska

• genetic marker shared by Asians and Native Americans (on the male Y chromosome) is the best evidence of this migration of peoples to the Americas.

• Subsequent movements brought people who would be ancestors to the Navajos, Apaches, and Eskimos.


A. The First Americans3. Hunter-gatherers

• economic basis for North American tribes became hunting and gathering

• permanent villages were established (Pacific Northwest and California coast)

• new weapons in the Great Plains (bow and arrow and the “atlatl” or spear thrower)

• in these evolved tribal rituals, myths and crafts.


B. The Mayas and the Aztecs1. Mayans2. Aztecs

I. The Native American ExperienceB. The Mayas and the Aztecs

1. Mayans• people of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and rainforests of Guatemala• built large cities with irrigation systems; more than 20,000 people lived in

the city of Tikal by AD 300• elite ruling class claimed to be descendants of the gods and heavily taxed

the large peasant population• astronomers accurately predicted solar and lunar eclipses• developed a system of hieroglyphics to record royal lineage and war• 800-900 AD Mayan society began to decline at least in part because of a

two-century-long drought that led peasants to desert the city for the countryside

• Spanish invaders arrived in 1520s and met little resistance.

I. The Native American ExperienceB. The Mayas and the Aztecs

2. Aztecs• 1325 built the city of Tenochtitlan [ten-och-teet-LAN], modern-day

Mexico City• complex irrigation system and hierarchical social order• priests and warrior-nobles ruled over clans of free Aztec commoners or

“clans”• non-Aztec Indians labored as serfs and slaves• aggressively subjugated the peoples of central Mexico• took economic and human tribute, including human sacrifice, from their

subjects• believed that human sacrifice would sustain the cosmos and the land• by 1500 more than 200,000 people lived in Tenochtitlan• Aztecs maintained a powerful government and military.


C. The Indians of the North1. Hopewell Culture2. Peoples of the Southwest3. Mississippian Civilization4. Eastern Woodland Peoples


C. The Indians of the North1. Hopewell Culture– present-day Ohio– large villages with domesticated plants and a vast trading network– built large burial mounds that are still visible today.2. Peoples of the Southwest– by 1000 AD, people were building multi-room structures out of mud

and stone (“pueblos”)– culture of these varying groups of people began to decline after

1150 due to soil exhaustion and drought.


C. The Indians of the North3. Mississippian Civilization– last large-scale northern Indian culture in Mississippi River Valley– by 1150 Cahokia (near St. Louis) had an estimated population of

15,000 to 20,000 people– poor peasants paid taxes to support nobles and priests– decline began by 1350 as a result of urban diseases, including

tuberculosis.


C. The Indians of the North4. Eastern Woodland Peoples5. east of the Mississippi River people lived in self-governing tribes6. clan elders and chiefs conducted ceremonies7. discouraged ownership of private property or wealth8. ethic of reciprocity9. diverse cultures of peoples in this region were impacted by European

epidemic diseases brought by explorers in the 1540s10. “matrilineal” system developed among these farming peoples11. by 1600 most were too weak to mount opposition to English, Dutch, and

French explorers.

1. What is the central activity depicted in this painting?

2. What products are being bought and sold?

3. In the background we see a fortified pueblo. Why do you think the business of trade was conducted beyond the enclosed border of the town?

1. Describe the attackers.

2. What is significant about the village under attack?

3. What did this image of Native Americans engaged in battle tell sixteenth-century Europeans about life in the Americas?

II. Tradition-Bound Europe

A. European Peasant Society1. The Peasantry2. The Peasant’s Fate


A. European Peasant Society1. The Peasantry

• people who lived in small agricultural villages• farmed cooperatively; on manorial lands there were tillage

rights in exchange for labor on the lord’s estates (serfdom)• output produced surpluses that fed a local market economy• farming cycle was largely dictated by the seasons and

weather with busiest times of year being spring and fall.


A. European Peasant Society2. The Peasant’s Fate

• constant labor with primitive tools• compared to today, output was very small – 1/12 of present-

day yields• malnourished mothers fed babies sparingly (boys preferred to

girls)• half of peasant children died before age 21, victims of disease

and malnourishment killed• strong ties to religion as a result of this hardship in daily life.


B. Hierarchy and Authority1. Monarchs and Nobles2. Men Governed Families3. Importance of Eldest Son


B. Hierarchy and Authority1. Monarchs and Nobles

• kings and princes owned large tracts of land• nobles owned estates in which large numbers of peasants lived

and toiled• nobles held both military and political power• the established institutions of nobility, church, and village

provided a sense of security despite tremendous class differences, violence, and instability.


B. Hierarchy and Authority2. Men Governed Families

• households were headed by males no matter the economic class of family

• Christian teachings justified the man’s position• upon husband’s death woman received a “dower,” which

gave her use of 1/3 of the family’s land and goods for the remainder of her life.


B. Hierarchy and Authority3. Importance of Eldest Son

• children worked for their fathers into their mid to late twenties• fathers chose spouses for children based on wealth and status• fathers bestowed land to eldest son (“primogeniture”), which

left many men landless and poor• position of eldest son meant that many men and women had

no individual identify or personal freedom because they had no land.

II. Tradition-Bound EuropeC. The Power of Religion

1. Roman Catholic Church2. From Pagans to Christians3. Satan4. Crusades


1. Roman Catholic Church• Pope in Rome sat atop a hierarchy of cardinals, bishops, and

priests• every village had a church• “Christians” shared a common view of God and history through

the church’s scholarship and teachings.


2. From Pagans to Christians• before the rise of the Catholic Church, Europeans were “pagans” who

believed in spiritual forces in the natural world (similar to Native Americans)

• priests taught pagans that there was a supernatural God who sent his son (Jesus Christ) to save humanity from sin

• pagan festivals were transformed into religious holidays and services• people offered prayers to Christ instead of ritual offerings to nature.

3. Satan• lesser and wicked supernatural being who constantly challenged God by

tempting the people to sin• the spread of “heresies” (teachings inconsistent with the Catholic Church)

by prophets was seen as the work of Satan.


4. Crusades• AD 632 death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad saw the

conversion of Arab peoples to Islam and the desire then to spread Muslim teachings

• 1096-1291 Christian Crusaders (armies) sought to reverse the spread of Islam and win back the lands where Christ lived

• a newly fervent Catholic Europe began to persecute and expel Jews, while European merchants became increasingly aware of trade roots from Constantinople to China.

III. Europeans Create a Global World, 1450-1600

A. The Renaissance Changes Europe, 1300-15001. Innovations in Economics, Art, and Politics2. Maritime Exploration

B. West African Society and Slavery1. West African Life2. Portuguese Trade3. The Slave Trade

III. Europeans Create a Global World, 1450-1600A. The Renaissance Changes Europe, 1300-1500

1. Innovations in Economics, Art, and Politics• Crusaders brought eastern luxuries (silks, magnetic compasses, water-powered mills, mechanical clocks) and

were influenced by Arab teaching of Byzantine civilization (Greek and Roman medicine, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, geography)

• in turn, nations of northern Europe saw a rebirth of cultural life and economic energy; upper class most impacted by the Renaissance ships were dispatched from Italian city-states to the east to purchase goods for sale in Europe

• growing class of wealthy merchants, bankers, and textile manufacturers; wealthy elites ruled the Italian states as “republics” (no prince or king); celebrated “civil humanism,” which praised service to the state; flowering of art (Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, among others, flourished in this period); artistic energies inspired government to encourage domestic manufacturing and foreign trade.

III. Europeans Create a Global World, 1450-1600A. The Renaissance Changes Europe, 1300-1500

1. Innovations in Economics, Art, and Politics• growing class of wealthy merchants, bankers, and textile manufacturers• wealthy elites ruled the Italian states as “republics” (no prince or king)• celebrated “civil humanism,” which praised service to the state• flowering of art (Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, among others,

flourished in this period)• artistic energies inspired government to encourage domestic manufacturing

and foreign trade.


A. The Renaissance Changes Europe, 1300-15002. Maritime Exploration

• 1420 Prince Henry of Portugal founded a center for sea navigation in the south of Portugal

• from there he hoped his explorers would find a way around North Africa to the south and east

• explorers from Henry’s center designed new, more sea-worthy vessels and claimed the Madeira and Azore islands for Portugal

• by the 1440s the Portuguese were the first Europeans to participate in the trade of human slaves.

III. Europeans Create a Global World, 1450-1600B. West African Society and Slavery

1. West African Life• thin soil, disease-ridden• most people lived in small village farming communities• diverse ethnic groups• four basic languages spoken in region with many dialects• region ruled by kings and princes that were in some areas highly organized by state and others more simply structured by

household lineage

• religious difference in the region – some were knowledgeable of Islam but most western Africa believed in many gods and the ability of their king to contact the spiritual world; celebrated many children and large families; some held slaves.

2. Portuguese Trade3. The Slave Trade


B. West African Society and Slavery1. West African Life

• religious difference in the region – some were knowledgeable of Islam but most western Africa believed in many gods and the ability of their king to contact the spiritual world

• celebrated many children and large families• some held slaves.

III. Europeans Create a Global World, 1450-1600B. West African Society and Slavery

2. Portuguese Trade• initially they brought new plants and animals to West Africa and therefore expanded

the peoples’ knowledge of the world beyond• Europeans who lived in the region were prone to yellow fever, malaria, and

dysentery (all deadly) and died at a rate of approximately 50% per year• sought a route to Asia from West Africa• 1488 Bartholomeu Dias successfully navigated the southern tip of Africa

3. The Slave Trade


B. West African Society and Slavery2. Portuguese Trade

• 1588 Vasco de Gama brought back cinnamon and pepper to the European market from East Africa and India

• Portuguese began setting up trading points in the east and became the leaders in Asian commerce.3. The Slave Trade


B. West African Society and Slavery3. The Slave Trade

• slavery widespread in Africa as payment for debt, in exchange for food, or as prisoners of war

• Portuguese became the prime traders of African slaves among Europeans and established forts at port cities

• sold slaves to work sugar plantations in Sao Tome, Cape Verde, and the Madeira Islands

• slave population of Lisbon grew to 9,000.


C. Europeans Explore America1. Columbus and America2. Colonizing the West Indies

D. The Spanish Conquest1. The Fall of the Aztecs2. The Impact of Diseases3. The Legacy of Conquest

III. Europeans Create a Global World, 1450-1600C. Europeans Explore America

1. Columbus and America• Ferdinand and Isabella were convinced by Columbus (supported

by Genoa investors) to sponsor exploration of the west• August 1492 three ships traveled 3,000 miles to present-day

Bahamas, which Columbus believed was part of Asia• called the region “the West Indies” and the people “Indians.”

III. Europeans Create a Global World, 1450-1600C. Europeans Explore America

2. Colonizing the West Indies• Columbus returned to report to the Spanish monarchs that while

he had found no gold he heard stories of gold on other islands• three more trips to the New World saw Columbus colonize the

so-named West Indies for Spain but no golden fortune for the king and queen

• German geographer labeled the continents “America” after Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who had argued that this region was not part of Asia but a “nuevo mundo” or new world.

III. Europeans Create a Global World, 1450-1600D. The Spanish Conquest

1. The Fall of the Aztecs•Spanish ruled the Caribbean by subduing native peoples and searching for gold and slaves•1513 Ponce de Leon explored and named present-day Florida•1513 de Balboa crossed present-day Panama to be the first European to see the Pacific Ocean•early 16th century Hernan Cortes conquered and subsequently destroyed the Aztec civilization•Cortes had sought wealth by pursuing land on the mainland•a Nahuatl-speaking servant/concubine taught him of the wealth of the Aztecs, which encouraged Cortes’s desire to destroy the power of their king Moctezuma•the Aztec king would be brought down by warfare and the harsh realities of a divided native population.


2. The Impact of Diseases•People native to the Americas had no immunity to European disease•hundreds of thousands of people indigenous to the Americas were killed by smallpox, measles, and influenza, which aided significantly in the European conquest•disease aided in the conquering of Aztecs in present-day Mexico as well as Incas in Peru.


3. The Legacy of Conquest•Spanish institutions emerged in the new world; municipal councils, a legal code, and the Catholic Church•conquistadors owned “encomiendas” or royal grants that gave conquerors land and laborers•“Columbian Exchange”: food products of the Western Hemisphere (maize, potatoes, manioc, sweet potatoes, tomatoes) increased agricultural yields and population growth on other continents•1500-1650 350,000 Spaniards (75% poor, unmarried, unskilled men) migrated to Western Hemisphere•fall of native populations gave rise to “mestizos” (mixed-race population) and a caste system based on race.

1. Who is the central figure of this image and what is he doing?

2. In the time of the Aztecs, how might an astronomical event have been understood and/or explained by the people?

IV. The Rise of Protestant England, 1500-1620

A. The Protestant Movement1. Martin Luther’s Attack on Church Doctrine2. The Doctrines of John Calvin3. English Protestantism

IV. The Rise of Protestant England, 1500-1620A. The Protestant Movement

1. Martin Luther’s Attack on Church Doctrine• Luther (German monk and professor) sought to reform the increasingly corrupt Catholic Church in 1517• wrote Ninety-Five Theses condemning church authority for selling “indulgences”: certificates offering sinners a pardon from

punishment in the afterlife• Pope dismissed Luther; princes in northern Germany offered Luther protection from arrest as resistance to the authority of

the Holy Roman Emperor, King Charles I of Spain

• Luther’s reform efforts gathered support after Charles I sent armies to Germany; Peace of Augsburg (1555) divided Germany into Lutheran states in the north and Catholic principalities in the south; Luther argued that people could be saved by grace alone (“free gift” from God), that the position of the clergy as “mediators” between God and the people was unnecessary, and that the Bible was the authority not the church (translated the Bible into German).

2. The Doctrines of John Calvin3. English Protestantism


1. Martin Luther’s Attack on Church Doctrine• Luther’s reform efforts gathered support after Charles I sent armies to Germany• Peace of Augsburg (1555) divided Germany into Lutheran states in the north and Catholic

principalities in the south• Luther argued that people could be saved by grace alone (“free gift” from God), that the

position of the clergy as “mediators” between God and the people was unnecessary, and that the Bible was the authority not the church (translated the Bible into German).

2. The Doctrines of John Calvin3. English Protestantism


2. The Doctrines of John Calvin• Geneva, Switzerland• Calvin a French theologian• stressed human weakness and God’s omnipotence• wrote Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536)• preached the notion that God chooses certain people for salvation before their birth and that the rest are damned

(“predestination”); Geneva: a model Christian community with no bishops but ministers chosen by their congregations

• ministers and pious laymen were the government of the city; no frivolity or luxury allowed; Calvin’s teachings followed by the French Huguenots, the Reformed Dutch Church, Presbyterians, and Puritans (Scotland and England).

3. English Protestantism


A. The Protestant Movement2. The Doctrines of John Calvin

• ministers and pious laymen were the government of the city• no frivolity or luxury allowed• Calvin’s teachings followed by the French Huguenots, the Reformed

Dutch Church, Presbyterians, and Puritans (Scotland and England).


3. English Protestantism• when the Pope refused to annul the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, Henry

broke with Rome and created the Church of England• initially a largely Catholic institution, Protestantism slowly began to spread in England• Henry’s daughter Queen Elizabeth I retained the Catholic practice of Holy Communion,

bishops, and archbishops but approved a Protestant faith consistent with Calvin’s teachings on predestination and Luther’s doctrine of salvation by grace

• debate grew in England over which teachings from Catholicism and Protestantism should be adopted; devout Calvinists wanted to “purify” the church of any remaining Catholic teachings, promoted literacy, studying the Bible, and giving local congregations authority over clerical appointments (Puritans).


3. English Protestantism• debate grew in England over which teachings from Catholicism and

Protestantism should be adopted• devout Calvinists wanted to “purify” the church of any remaining

Catholic teachings, promoted literacy, studying the Bible, and giving local congregations authority over clerical appointments (Puritans).


B. The Dutch and English Challenge Spain1. The Rise of the Dutch2. English Mercantilism


B. The Dutch and English Challenge Spain1. The Rise of the Dutch

• King Philip II of Spain failed in his attempts to root out Islam (N. Africa) or Protestantism (England and Netherlands); Dutch Republic (“Holland”) declared in 1581 after a 15-year war between the Spanish and Dutch

• Elizabeth I (England) supported the Dutch’s efforts against Spain while seeking to impose English rule over Ireland (Catholic);

• continued to decline economically through the 16th century as the Dutch increased their power (took control of Portuguese posts in the Indian Ocean); by 1620s Amsterdam was the financial capital of northern Europe; Dutch East India Company traded from West Africa to Indonesia, China, Japan.

2. English Mercantilism


B. The Dutch and English Challenge Spain1. The Rise of the Dutch

• continued to decline economically through the 16th century as the Dutch increased their power (took control of Portuguese posts in the Indian Ocean)

• by 1620s Amsterdam was the financial capital of northern Europe• Dutch East India Company traded from West Africa to Indonesia, China,

Japan.

2. English Mercantilism

IV. The Rise of Protestant England, 1500-1620B. The Dutch and English Challenge Spain

2. English Mercantilism• population growth aided the English economy by providing consumers

and laborers for commercial expansion• “outwork” textile industry in which landless peasants labored as

spinners and weavers in cottages for low wages• “mercantilism” (state-assisted manufacturing and trade system)

increased the amount of exports and reduced imports, stimulating further economic expansion and increased the government’s wealth; by 1600 England ready to challenge Europeans in Western Hemisphere.


C. The Social Causes of English Expansion1. Decline of the Nobility2. The Dispossession of the Peasantry

IV. The Rise of Protestant England, 1500-1620C. The Social Causes of English Expansion

1. Decline of the Nobility• late 16th-century inflation (“Price Revolution”) caused by an influx

of American gold and silver into the English economy led to major social changes

• aristocrats impacted by the rise in prices but not income; the gentry (non-noble landowners) and yeomen (people between peasants and gentlemen) saw their incomes rise

• nobles lost income and the House of Lords lost power• the gentry in the House of Commons demanded more power as

their economic interests grew• increased demands in England for representative government.

IV. The Rise of Protestant England, 1500-1620C. The Social Causes of English Expansion

2. The Dispossession of the Peasantry• peasants made up ¾ of the English population• “enclosure acts” passed in late 15th/early 16th centuries

allowed landowners to fence land for grazing and evict peasants

• 1620-1660 extreme cold in Europe brought famine• poor went to America as “indentured servants” (sold 4-5

years of labor for paid passage)• by 1640 a migration to North America.

America’s History Seventh Edition CHAPTER 1 The New Global World 1400-1620 Copyright © 2011 by Bedford/St. Martin’s James A. Henretta Rebecca Edwards Robert.

Documents

native americans

north american tribes

human sacrifice

varying groups of people

clansnonaztec indians

human tribute

migration of peoples

city of tikal