Three Worlds Meet

“Three Worlds Meet” Outline• Peopling the Americas

– Coming to America– Empires Flourish

• North American Societies to 1492– Native Americans and Diverse Societies– Native American Societal Structure

• West African Societies to 1492– Connecting with the World– African Culture and Society– Three Major Kingdoms

• European Societies to 1492– Social Order– European Religion– Changes in Europe– The Age of Expansion

• The Encounter– Christopher Columbus– Major Impacts– A New Society

Coming to America

• Over 12,000 years ago, people began crossing the Beringia Land Bridge from Asia into North America– Nomadic (traveling)

societies following food

• 8,000 B.C. – Groups begin hunting smaller game and gathering fruits, berries, etc.– Agricultural societies begin

to emerge

Empires Flourish• 1,200 B.C. – First Americans begin

to create larger communities– Three major regions: Central/South

America, Southwest N. America, and Eastern N. America

• Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Inca all empires in Central and South America

• Hohokam and Anasazi emerge in Southwestern North America

• Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian claim Eastern North America

• What would be some challenges to living in these regions?

North American Societies to 1492:Native American Societal Structure

• Trading Networks– Spanned Mexico to the

Atlantic Coast– Brought native groups into

contact with each other– Regional tribes were

known for specific goods

• Land Use– Saw land as a part of

nature that could not be bought or sold

– Revered for bringing food to native groups

Native American Societal Structure Cont’d

• Religion– Natural world was filled

with spirits (living and non-living things)

• Social Organization– Kinship (strong family ties)

helped ensure continuation of tribal customs

– Social order was divided by division of labor, or assignment of tasks based on gender, age, or status

Exit Slip

• What major change occurred between 12,000-10,000 years ago for early groups in the Americas?

• Explain the importance of trade to Native Americans.

• What role did religion play in the daily lives of Native Americans?

West African Societies to 1492:Connecting with the World

• Trade– The Sahara Highway connected

West and North Africa– Through ports, Europe and Asia

connected as well– Islam also spread into Africa

• Portuguese Arrival– Looking for gold, Portuguese

arrive in mid-1400s– Portuguese eventually enter

slave trade – Slaves first used to man sugar

cane plantations off coast of Africa

African Culture and Society

• Family and Government– Close ties amongst people

of the same lineage– Age influenced rank within

family

• Religion– Varied amongst tribes, but

most worshipped spirits (present in living and non-living things)

– Muslim and Christian faiths also spread into area

African Culture and Society Cont’d

• Livelihood– Farming, herding, hunting,

fishing, mining – all sources of labor for those in West Africa

– Belief of collective ownership of land

• Use of Slave Labor– Age, gender, and social

status divided labor– Slaves at the bottom– Slaves in Africa could work

to gain their freedom

Three Major Kingdoms• Songhai

– 600-1600 A.D. – Gained power through control of Saharan trade

– Wealth from trade meant more money for soldiers, weapons

• Benin– Rose to power in 1400s– Another empire built on trade,

dealt heavily with Portuguese when they arrived

• Kongo– A group of villages ruled by one

individual– Mining civilization, traded metal

goods

European Societies to 1492:Social Order

• Social Hierarchy– Monarchs, nobility and clergy,

and peasants made up social structure

– Peasants worked land owned by nobles through system of feudalism

– Could not move out of class you are born into

• Family in Society– Life centered around nuclear

family, or mother, father, and children

– Age and gender still played a role in labor division

European Religion• 1096-1270 - Crusades

– Military expeditions into the Middle East in the name of Christianity

– Europeans motivated by desire to spread their faith

• Three consequences:– Increase in trade with Holy

Land and Asia– Weakened nobles (lost $$$

and lives through fighting), while strengthening monarchs

– Decline in power of the Pope

Changes in Europe• Economic and Population Growth

– New markets established through Crusades

– More money + more jobs = more people

• Rise of Nations– Weakening of nobles led to

strengthening of monarchs and merchants

– Four nations beginning to emerge at end of 1400s: Portugal, Spain, France, and England

• The Renaissance– Humanism – focus on the ability of the

individual– Questioning of Church policy made

people more secular– Motivation for exploration bc it called for

people to have confidence in their accomplishments

The Age of Expansion• New Technology

– Compass and astrolabe allow sailors to travel further

– New sail designs better harnessed wind

• Portugal– Prince Henry the Navigator

pushed to bring these inventions to Portugal

– 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias rounded southern tip of Africa

– Within 10 years, Vasco da Gama reaches India

• Portuguese, rich off of gold and trade from travels, begin to look for a quicker path to India

Exit Slip

• Define the term Feudalism

• Describe one of the three consequences of the Crusades

• What types of technology led to the Age of Expansion?

The Encounter:Christopher Columbus

• An Italian, Columbus sailed for Spain

• August 3, 1492 – Columbus sets sail

• October 12, 1492 – Land spotted

• Three motivations for exploration:– “God, Glory, and Gold”

• Columbus would return on 3 separate voyages – not as an explorer, but as an “empire builder”

Impact on Native Americans• Colonization

– Establishment of distant settlements controlled by a parent country

– Land taken, inhabitants used as source of labor or pushed out

• Resistance– Some native groups resisted, fought

back– Most were easily taken by Europeans

• Disease– Natives had never been exposed to

European diseases– Measles, mumps, chicken pox, small

pox – examples of diseases that would kill millions of Native Americans

Impact on Europeans

• Columbian Exchange– Trading of crops native to

Europe, Asia, and Africa for those native to Americas

– More $$$ for merchants

• National Rivalries– Countries began fighting over

colonial lands– With Spain and Portugal on

verge of war, Pope Alexander VI negotiates Treaty of Tordesillas• Split Americas into “East” and

“West” with Portugal owning East and Spain owning West

Impact on Africans

• Slave Trade– Native Americans either

refused to work or died due to disease

– Need for workers in Americas had Europeans turn to Africans

– Slave trade “ended” in 1800s after 12 million were taken from Africa

A New Society

• New societies would emerge from European colonies in the Americas

• U.S. History begins with a look at these 3 major peoples– Native Americans,

Africans, Europeans

• What kind of impact will this mulitculturalism have on the United States?