The Americas Before Contact with Europeans ( Pre-Columbian America )

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The Americas Before Contact with Europeans (“Pre-Columbian America”)

Historians and archaeologists believe the first people migrated to the new world many millennia ago—as far back as 15,000 years ago (though some estimates are as far as 30,000 years ago)
Current theories hold that people from Asia crossed into North America across a land mass called Beringia, while North America was experiencing an Ice Age
DNA evidence illustrates a close genetic relationship between Asian and Native American populations
Once in North America, these early migrants quickly—within 1,000 to 2,000 years—spread throughout the Americas
The first Americans initially displayed striking cultural similarities
Archaeologists have found similarly shaped arrowheads, labeled “Clovis points” (used for hunting mammoth and other big game), throughout the Americas, indicating a similar nomadic hunting culture among these disparate Americans
Between approximately 11,000 and 5,000 years ago, the uniformity of “Clovis culture” gave way to regional adaptation and variation
The reasons for this are varied:
The mammoth—central to Clovis culture—became extinct
The end of the Ice Age gave way to the vast varieties of climates, rainfall levels, temperatures, and wind patterns that characterize the Americas of today
Over time, the peoples of the Americas adapted to the different regions of the Americas, developing a vast variety of cultural patterns
Present-day Mexico and northward into present-day American Southwest  spread of maize (corn) cultivation supported economic development, settlement, advanced irrigation, and social diversification among societies
Great Basin and Plains  societies responded to the aridity (dry climate) of the Great Basin and grasslands of the western Great Plains by developing largely mobile lifestyles
Northeast, Mississippi River Valley, and Atlantic seaboard  some societies developed mixed agricultural and hunter-gatherer economies that favored the development of permanent villages
Northwest and present-day California  some supported themselves by hunting and gathering, and in some areas developed settled (permanent) communities supported by the vast resources of the ocean
Complex farming communities primarily developed in Mesoamerica, the region stretching from central Mexico to Central America, where population density was highest
Characterized by the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of an elite class of priests and rulers, the construction of impressive temples and other public structures, and the development of systems of mathematics and astronomy and several forms of hieroglyphic writing
Over time, these regional variations gave way to the specific tribal groupings that European settlers and explorers encountered
On the eve of Columbus’s arrival in the Americas, these native peoples numbered anywhere from 6 to 20 million in North America—making for low population density throughout the vast continent
Represented over 2,000 separate cultures, spoke, 100 different languages, and made livings in fundamentally different environments
The term “Indian” covers an enormous diversity, similar to “Europeans” and “African”
Such Native American diversity would hinder any opposition to the Europeans (similar to the experience of Africans during the “Scramble for Africa”)
Big idea: Columbus did not discover a new world; instead, he established contact between two worlds, both already old

General Reasons for European Exploration & Colonization, ca. 1500

Starting in the fifteenth century, Europeans embarked on an era of exploration and colonization unprecedented in human history
Europeans were interested in circumventing the Italian city-states and finding new trade routes with the East
The Renaissance spirit of curiosity about the world inspired people to explore and map new areas
Universities and scholarly books spread such ideas to an increasingly literate Europe
Religious movements in the sixteenth century renewed many people’s religious zeal and their desire to spread their gospels
A series of technological developments, many inspired by renewed contact with the Muslim world (who had preserved classical wisdom), encouraged exploration
Printing press spread information and stimulated interest
News of Columbus’s findings would travel across Europe much farther and faster than news of the Vikings’ expeditions
Compass, astrolabe, quadrant, hourglass aided navigation
Development of the caravel
Military advancements
Guns mounted on ships
Europe’s incessant wars gave rise to arms race

Case Study: Spanish Exploration & Colonization

Motives:

Traditional interpretation:
Trade
Spread of Catholic faith through indigenous conversions
Desire for new sources of wealth
Increased power and status
Revisionist interpretation:
Original motive for exploration may have been trade, spread of Catholicism, etc., but once contact was made, the primary motive became conquest and exploitation, for which religion was used as a rationale

Locations in Spain’s American Empire (“New Spain”):

Throughout roughly the 1500s-1800s, the Spanish Empire would expand across:
Half of South America
Most of Central America
Most of the Caribbean Islands
Much of North America (including present day Mexico, Florida, and Southwestern and Pacific Coastal regions of the U.S.)

End of the Spanish American Empire (“New Spain”):

In the 19th century, the Spanish American wars of independence (1820s) resulted in the emancipation of most Spanish colonies in the Americas, except for Cuba and Puerto Rico
Ideas from the French and American Revolution influenced these efforts
Cuba and Puerto Rico were finally given up in 1898 following the Spanish-American War
Loss of these last territories politically ended the Spanish colonization in the Americas

The Beginning:

Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand gave official approval to Italian mariner Christopher Columbus for a voyage to reach India by sailing West
Columbus made several voyages to the West Indies, a region in the Caribbean Basin and North Atlantic Ocean that includes many islands
After 1492, European began to use the misnomer West Indies to differentiate that region from the Indies (South Asia and Southeast Asia)
Demanded food, gold (which couldn’t be found at first), spun cotton, sex with their women
Rewarded his lieutenants with native women to rape
To ensure cooperation he used harsh punishments for minor offenses to show the brutality the Spaniards were capable of
Natives resisted Columbus and his men in many ways:
Some refused to plant, abandoned towns near Spanish settlements, or fought back with weapons
Later, after the system of forced labor had been planted, there were mass suicides and some women chose to shun conception and childbirth
In 1519, Haiti became the site of the 1st large-scale slave revolt, when imported blacks and American Indians banded together to fight the Spanish
Revolt was unsuccessful (but a later fight in the 18th century against the French would bring victory to the slaves)
Christopher Columbus introduced two phenomena that revolutionized race relations and transformed the modern world:
The taking of land, wealth and labor from indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere, leading to their near exterminations
The transatlantic slave trade, which created a racial underclass
Mainland explorations began in Venezuela around 1500
Due to successful attacks by the indigenous people, many settlements had to be refounded several times

Settlement & Administration:

About 350,000 Spaniards migrated to the Americas between 1500 and 1650
The Spanish system of colonization is referred to as the Encomienda System, which resembled Old World feudalism
The monarchy would assign a Spaniard (typically a conqueror) a piece of land and its inhabitants
The Spaniard operating the land and its people would often be referred to as an encomendero; the land itself would often be referred to as an encomiendaor hacienda
Encomenderos acted as feudal lords and had a free hand to run their holdings as long as a percentage of gold/silver went back to the monarchy
Natives would extract resources and give tributes in the form of metals, maize, wheat, pork, or any other agricultural product
Encomenderos were to take responsibility for instruction in Catholicism, protection from warring tribes, and development and maintenance of infrastructure
Led to brutal exploitation and slavery
Natives were subjected to extreme punishment and death if they resisted
Many communities and family units were broken up
System was formally abolished in 1730, but had lost effectiveness much earlier; in many areas it had been abandoned for African slavery
The Spanish were, at times, “inclusive” in their colonization, intermarrying with natives and/or Africans, due to the small population of Spanish women in the Americas  created a racially-mixed caste culture

Offspring would be classified as “mestizo” (if mixed with Native Americans)or mulatto(if mixed with African)
Since mixed-race individuals could not by law be subjected to the encomienda, many natives deliberately sought to dilute their tribal identity and that of their descendants as a way for them to escape the service

Impact on Europeans:

Spain became the wealthiest country in Europe with the influx of New World precious metals
Once Columbus finally found gold in Haiti (1499), Spain became the envy of Europe
Spanish (and Portuguese) expansion into the Western Hemisphere caused intense competition in Europe and the promotion of empire building
After 1500, Portugal, France, Holland, and England joined in conquering the Americas in an attempt to duplicate Spain’s success in the New World
These nations were at least as brutal as Spain
The system of slavery initiated by Columbus set a precedent forfuture European colonization
John Smith used Columbus as a role model in proposing a get-tough policy for the Virginian Indians in 1624: “The manner how to suppress them is so often related and approved: Any you have 20 examples of how the Spaniards got the West Indies, and forced the treacherous and rebellious infidels to do all manner of drudgery work and slavery for them...”
European benefits from the Columbian Exchange:
Items brought to Europe were turkeys, maize (corn), potatoes, plants with medicinal advantages, and tomatoes
Almost half of all major crops now grown throughout the world originally came from the Americas
New crops from the Americas stimulated European population growth, which helped fuel European emigration to the Americas
Economically, exploiting the Americas soon transformed Europe, enriching first Spain, and later, many other nations
Gold in Haiti was soon dwarfed by discoveries of gold/silver in Mexico and elsewhere
Some credit it with the rise of capitalism and eventually the Industrial Revolution
New sources of mineral wealth facilitated the European shift from feudalism to capitalism
Capitalism was surely under way already, but American riches played a major role in its development
Gold/silver from America replaced land as the basis for wealth and status, increasing the power of the new merchant class that would soon dominate the world
Spanish (and subsequent European colonizers) developed a belief in white superiority to justify their subjugation of natives and Africans

Impact on Native Americans:

Impact of Columbian Exchange:
Europeans introduced horses, goats, chickens, coffee, lettuce, and wheat to the New World
These crops and animals would have far-reaching effects on native settlement patterns
By far, the most important organisms brought from Europe to the New World were germs
The peoples of the New World, having evolved and adapted away from the peoples of the Old World, had no immunities to many of these germs and the infectious diseases they caused
These diseases included bubonic plague, cholera, scarlet fever, and most importantly, smallpox
Historians disagree over what percentage of native peoples died as a result of these diseases; roughly speaking, most agree that perhaps 50% of natives died due to this “unintended tragedy”

See evidence from Las Casas Analysis
Encomienda Systemled to brutal exploitation and slavery
Spaniards were committed, by Royal decree, to convert their New World indigenous subjects to Catholicism
Indigenous people often added Catholicism into their longstanding traditional ceremonies and beliefs
Many native expressions, forms, practices, and items of art could be considered idolatry and prohibited or destroyed by Spanish missionaries, military and civilians
Although the Spanish did not force their language on the native peoples to the extent they did their religion, some indigenous languages of the Americas did adopt Spanish

Impact on Africans:

At first, Spanish settlers enslaved the local indigenous peoples
During the first decades of colonization, widespread and abusive slavery resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of indigenous peoples
Colonists needed a new source of labor and began importing African slaves
Proponents argued that the rapid decline of the native population required a consistent supply of reliable workers
The Spanish population at the time was much too small to carry out all the labor needed to assure the economic viability of the colonies
The Spanish (and Portuguese) traders reached West Africa and partnered with some African groups to recruit slave labor for the Americas
Overall, Spain would import fewer slaves to the New World than the Portuguese or British
About 250,000-300,000 Africans arrived in New Spain between 1500 and 1650
In spite of slavery, Africans’ cultural and linguistic adaptations to the Western Hemisphere resulted in varying degrees of cultural preservation and autonomy (more on this in Period 2)
The Spanish ended both Native American and African slavery in the mainland of the Americas in the 18th century, but in Cuba and Puerto Rico, where sugar cane production was highly profitable based on slave labor, African slavery persisted until 1866 and 1873