SammG. AnthonyL.DanielB.KrisA

Three Worlds Collide

Samantha GongoraAnthony LopezDaniel BasslerKristopher AguirreAmerican Studies: PM CLASSAmerican Studies: PM CLASS

Goal of our Textbook.

Our goal of our textbook was toteach other students or readers of whatwe learned about the European, Native Americans & West Africans through ourpoint of views.

Introduction.

During the 15th century, a new change came to the world. Three regions collide to create new ideas,

share customs and styles. From the Europeans discovering America, to the Africans creating a

smart trade system with the Europeans; while the Native Americans shared their ways of life to both that are still used till this day. Even though some had similarities they had many differences. Some differences were they government and religions.

Some didn’t actual have a religion but learned those ways later on. In the end, without these ways life

may be different from now.

15th Century Europeans.

MAIN IDEA________MAIN IDEA________During the 15th century the Europeans discovered a new world known as America. They had different customs with being with them only having Nuclear families & inventing new ideas and solutions.

WHY IT MATTERS WHY IT MATTERS NOW?___________NOW?___________Without the Europeans settling in America, there probably wouldn't be one.

EuropeanSociety

The Europeans had a different way of doing things. Initially, the Europeansociety revolved around the hierachysystem that started around the 1400’s. Hierachy is a social structure with the nobility at the top and the peasants on the bottom. Secondly, Hierachy was in a form of a pyramid. The main groups, known at the nobles, included the monarchs, the church, and the knights. Under the nobility were plebeians which included peasants, poors, merchants, craftsmen and slaves or basically anyone who wasn’t as big as the monarchs. And finally, most European families had a sort of group which is called a Nuclear Family. This is a group of family members that only included the mother & father and their children. There were no outside family members such as uncles or cousins who lived in the same household as them, but the Natives and Africans valued the extended families. With all of this in mind, other changes in Europeans society came Renaissance, which is the spirit of expanding exploration and change. Together, that concludes to the European society.

European Government

European government structure around the 15th century, first and foremost was an absolute monarchy, where the government is ruled by a king or queens that runes down a bloodline. The Spanish government during the time was ruled by Queen Isabella, who was known for kicking out all the Muslims and the Jews and she also funded Christopher Columbus. But behind the king and queen the real rulers show, the Catholic Church during that time controlled the government, they were the absolute rulers. Along with that there was the society of Europe around that time, were vary strict on the social ladder, no one was able to go up in class. The highest in power where of course the church and the monarchs, the slaves and presents were on the bottom of the social triangle.  Of course the whole government structure changed around the 1517 by a man named Martin Luther.  He believed that the Church was corrupted with power, so he nailed 95 things wrong about the church. That’s when people who believed the same belief of Luther, broke away from the Catholic Church, they were later named Lutherans. Clearly the European governments had its ups and downs, to its corrupted government to their rebellious people. The churches power came and went for the better.

European Inventions & Innovations.

During the 1400s people invented inventions. To begin with, people were in need of duplicating texts. That is why Europe were spreading the use of Mechanical printing. Furthermore, people needed to manage and control businesses well. Europe figured this problem out with a practical solution, Bureaucracy. In addition to the first two, Europe found another practical solution of keeping track offinance… Double-entry book keeping. Double-entrybook keeping is a written document of financeexchanges. Therefore, people in Europe inventedsimple solutions for problems.

Critical Thinking

1. Describe what the Europeans had seen when they came North America.

2. Name the three ships that the Europeans used to come to North America.

15th Century Native Americans.

MAIN IDEA________MAIN IDEA________As the Natives stuck together as a big group they shared new ways of

life and of survival.

WHY IT MATTERS WHY IT MATTERS NOW?___________NOW?___________The Natives styles and customs are still used

till this day.

Native American Society

The Native Americans’ society was all about beingtogether and being strong. To begin with, the Nativeslived in extended families. There was a house calledan Iroquois Longhouse which could fit up to 12families and they would stay consistent to all theirfamily members. Next, there were different roles forthe men and women according to their gender. Menwould hunt and protect their tribe, while womenstayed at home cooking and taking care of the children. On top of that, the NativeAmericans didn’t have an actual type of religion. They believed that anything, livingor not, had some sort of spirit for it. Therefore, even though the Natives were differentfrom others, they helped new people who visited their world to become more survivallike them.

Native American Government

The Native Americans had a government structure. One pieceof evidence that points to this, it the Iroquois, a Native tribe thathad a government structure. The government of the Iroquoiswas a democracy; the Iroquois government helped shape theUnited States. Furthermore, only a few books that have thehistory of the Natives government, the rest labeled them as“primitive”.  100 years after the Revolution, Natives were givencredit for the source of democratic institutions. The Boston Teaparty, the people dressed Natives not because they wanted toblame the Natives but for the democratic sight. On top of that,the Iroquois inspired the famous people. Benjamin Franklinobserved the deliberations of the Natives he even proposed theAlbany Plan of the Union. Even the constitutional congressand the constitutional convention both regarded to the Iroquoisideas and imagery.

Native American Inventions & Innovations.

Native Americans had been introduced to a lot of new things when they had seen the Europeans for the first time. One of the things that Native Americans were introduced to was guns. Guns had scared the Native Americans because they were used by the Europeans to kill them.  They had also never seen clothing as nice before. The Native Americans never seen full clothing like the Europeans had worn. Native Americans never had seen ships either. To them ships were something that they were scared because of the fact that they were so big. The Europeans had a lot of new things that the Native Americans ever dreamed of seeing.

Critical Thinking

1. What were some things that the Natives have never seen before when the Europeans had just arrived?

2. When Benjamin Franklin observed the deliberations of the Natives what did he proposed to them at the time?

15th Century West Africans.

MAIN IDEA_______MAIN IDEA_______While having three major kingdoms, the Africans created of newsystem of trade that grewa lot in wealth.

WHY IT MATTERSWHY IT MATTERS NOW?_________NOW?_________Some African Americans still follow the West Africans’ ways & traditions.

African Society

The Africans connected outside of their world and their culture was unique. To begin with, the Africans shared and exchanged different beliefs, ideas and goods with others. This was called syncretism that began around 1400s. Moreover, West Africa had three major kingdoms. Songhai is their largest kingdom which gained wealth and power through trade. Kongo is made up of small kingdoms that are unified as one. Also, Berin is their forest kingdom which in the late 1400s they exchanged ambassador with Portugal. Accordingly, African culture was different from others as well. Their families were based on extended families. There was Patrilineal where the family’s ancestors related back to their father; and Matrilineal where their ancestors related back to their mother’s side. As a result, the Africans had a different lifestyle and a wayof doing things.

African Government

The African governments of the past, first of all the African cities had rulers that were equal to kings. They change laws, took care of the city, and other ruler type things. So the government was like a monarchy. Furthermore, when the Portugal arrived to Africa to trade, the Africans started to come up with new types of government set up. Some African cities were split up into divisions or townships, like Zion or the U.S. Every division had a ruler or governor that was in charge of their divisions. They were like the mayor of the divisions. The final fact is that after the Portugal’s started trading with Africa, both countries sent an ambassador to the other country. An ambassador is a person who represents their countries affairs. When this arrived to Africa, good things came from it and not so good things came from their interference.  had never happened before in Africa, so it was a big thing, but their Portugal would betray them later.  Therefore, African governments was like a monarchy from the beginning, but it changed when the Portugal.

African Inventions & Innovations

During the time there were newinventions and a lot of innovations.First off Africans were introduced toa smart creation. This was theEuropean trades. The sub-Saharatrade increased in wealth becauseof this new innovation. Furthermorenew food has been established. The Portuguese took in charge ofunclaimed land for the Africansand then grew crops. Lastly, morepower and cities were growing. This led to have the largest Sundance empires. Africa has received a lot of innovations during the time.

Critical Thinking.

1. What were some innovations created by the Africans?

2. What effects did the Portuguese have on the Africans?

Key Terms. Bureaucracy- Government by many bureaus, administrators, and

petty officials Hierarchy- any system of persons or things ranked one above

another Double-entry booking- A record of keeping track of finance Nuclear Family- a household made up of a mother, a father, and

their child. Renaissance- The form sand treatments in art used during this

period. Iroquois- The type of Native Americans at certain point of land Longhouse- A long communal dwelling, especially of certain Native

American, Polynesians and Indonesian people Primitive- Being the first or earliest of the kind or in existence,

especially in an early age of the world Monarchy- A state or nation in which the supreme power in actually

or nominally Monarch.