Haley Bracken (and friends) AP US History Summer Reading Notes 14 August 2013 Unit One: Founding the New

Nation Pages: 2-108 Test Date: Within the First Week of Class Time Range: New World Beginnings Eve of the Colonial Revolution Chapter 1: New World Beginnings (P. 3-26) 1. The Shaping of North America a. 225 million years ago, Earth exists as one supercontinent: Pangaea. i. How do we know? Identical species of fish in freshwater lakes across the globe. b. Enormous chunks of terrain began to drift away from this landmass, opening the Atlantic/Indian Oceans. i. Form Eurasia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, the Americas ii. Shifting/folding of the earths crust creates mountain ranges 1. Appalachians formed before continental separation (350 million years) 2. The Rockies, Sierra Nevada, Cascades etc. were formed later, postseparation (135-25 million years). c. Nature sculpted the basic shape of North America 10 million years ago. i. Anchored in NE corner by the Canadian Shield 1. Canadian Shield A zone undergirded by an ancient rock; first part of the N. American landmass to emerge above sea level. ii. Tidewater Region (East Coast) Narrow eastern coastal plain creased by river valleys sloped up to the Appalachians. iii. Midcontinental Basin (Midwest) West side of the Appalachians rolls down to a huge basin, with its lowest point in the Mississippi Valley bottom. iv. Roof of America From there, the land rose toward the peaks of the Rockies. Then, the land fell off jaggedly into the intermountain Great Basin. 1. Great Basin Bound by the Rockies to the East and the Sierra/Cascade ranges to the West. v. (West Coast) - Land meets the Pacific, where Coast Ranges rise from the sea. d. Great Ice Age (2 million years) i. Thick ice sheets crept from polar regions to blanket Eurasia, Americas ii. Great glaciers cover most of Canada and the US e. Glaciers retreat (10,000 years) Left the N. American landscape transformed i. Ice mantle depressed the level of the Canadian Shield ii. Grinding/flushing action of moving ice creates shallow depressions into which melting glaciers flowed to form lakes. 1. Creates the Great Lakes, which originally flow southward via the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. a. Melting ice unblocks Gulf of St. Lawrence, the water of the Great Lakes takes this exit to the Atlantic instead. 2. Leaves the Missouri-Mississippi-Ohio system to drain the midcontinental basin between the Appalachians and the Rockies. 3. West Lake Bonneville forms (spans Utah-Nevada-Idaho), draining to the Pacific via Snake River Outlet.

a. Snake River blocked Lake shrinks, grows increasingly saline, and evaporated, leaving an arid, mineral-rich desert. b. Great Salt Lake reminds of Bonnevilles former vastness. 2. Peopling the Americas (via the Bering Land Bridge) a. Great Ice Age contributed to the origins of Americas human history. i. Most came by land Massive Ice Age glaciers lower sea level and expose a land bridge between Eurasia and North America (Siberia/Alaska) 35,000 years ago. 1. Small bands of nomadic Asian hunters follow migratory herds of game a. Become immigrant ancestors of the Native Americans. b. Slowly begin peopling the American continents. ii. Ice Age ends, glaciers melt and the sea level rises again, covering the land bridge 1. Nature bars the door to further immigration, isolates the Americas iii. Climatic warming opens ice-free valleys, and nomads move eastward/southward 1. Eventually reach the tip of South America 2. By the time of the arrival of the Europeans in 1492, 54 million people inhabited the American continents. a. Evolved and developed diverse religions, languages, cultures b. Early Civilizations Incas (Peru), Mayans (Central America), Aztecs (Mexico) have sophisticated civilizations. i. Advanced agricultural practices based on maize/corn fed large populations. ii. Lacked large animals (horses, oxen) and the simple technology of the wheel iii. Still, built elaborate cities and carried on commerce iv. Mathematicians make accurate astronomical observations. v. Religion Aztecs seek the favor of their Gods by offering human sacrifices. 1. People ritually slaughtered by cutting hearts out of chests. 3. The Earliest Americans a. Agriculture (Corn) accounted for the size/complexity of Native American civilizations. b. 5000 BCE Hunter-gatherers develop wild grass into the staple crop of corn. i. Foundation of the complex, centralized Aztec/Incan civilizations ii. Spread across the Americas from Mexico iii. Transformed nomadic hunting bands into settled agricultural villagers. iv. Reached American Southwest by 2000 BCE; molded Pueblo civilization 1. Rio Grande valley constructed irrigation systems to water cornfields v. Corn cultivation reaches other parts of North America much later. 1. Timing of its arrival in different localities explains the relative rates of development of different Native American peoples. 2. Social life was less elaborate to the north and east of the Pueblos. a. Societies scarcely existed no nation-states comparable to the Aztec empire existed outside of Mexico when Europeans arrived i. Lack of society allowed the European colonizers to subdue the Native Americans with ease. 3. After the incorporation of corn planting into their ways of life, peoples in these areas were able to sustain some large settlements. a. Mississippian Settlement Cahokia b. Anasazis built an elaborate pueblo in New Mexico i. Fell into decline by about 1300 CE c. Cultivation of maize, beans and squash reached Atlantic seaboard by about 1000 CE. i. 3-sister farming: Involves the growing of beans, corn and squash simultaneously 1. This farming technique produced some of the highest population densities on the continent i.e. Creek, Choctaw and Cherokee peoples.

d. Iroquois (NE woodlands) created a civilization reminiscent of the great empires of Mexico and Peru (like a North American version). i. Known as the Iroquois Confederacy, this state developed the political/organizational skills necessary to sustain a military alliance 1. Menaced their neighbors for more than a century e. For the most part, native peoples of North America lived in small, scattered and impermanent settlements on the eve of European arrival. i. Women tended the crops ii. Men hunted, fished and cleared fields for planting 1. Substantial authority was given to women (matrilineal cultures) a. Power and possession passed down the female side of the family f. Europeans Arrived with the presumption that humans had dominion over the earth and were technologically advanced enough to manipulate nature. i. Native Americans had neither the desire nor means to do so. ii. Revered the physical world, endowed nature with spiritual properties 1. However, they did ignite forest fires for hunting purposes a. Created a park-like appearance in the E. woodlands iii. Land was not particularly affected by Native Americans 1. Few in number, thinly spread across the continent 2. Vast areas were untouched by human presence 4. Indirect Discoverers of the New World a. Europeans were unaware of the existence of the Americas. i. Norse Vikings from Scandinavia had landed in the NE in 1000 CE. 1. LAnse aux Meadows in Newfoundland lots of wild grapes, so the Vikings named the spot Vinland. No strong nation-state supported them. a. Flimsy settlements were soon abandoned and forgotten ii. Restless Europeans, with the power of ambitious governments seeking expansion, sought contact with a wider world (for conquest/trade). 1. Set in motion a chain of events that led to a drive towards Asia, then Africa, and then the accidental discovery of the New World. iii. Christian Crusaders (1000 -1300) Tried to take the Holy Land from Muslims 1. Though they failed, they acquired a taste for the exotic delights of Asia a. Sweet Tooth Goods unknown to Europe (silk, drugs, perfumes, draperies, and spices) are craved by Europeans. 2. Luxuries of the East were expensive in Europe. a. Transported enormous distances from the Spice Islands, China and India via camels, treacherous caravan routes and oceans. i. Journey ended at the ports of the E. Mediterranean 3. Middlemen exacted a heavy toll en route. iv. European consumers and distributors were eager to find a less expensive route. 5. Europeans Enter Africa a. Enter Marco Polo Returned from China in 1295 and told tales of his experience there. i. Travels of Marco Polo (described the beautiful treasures of the East) whetted European appetites further for a cheaper route to the East. b. Before the mid-1400s, European sailors refused to sail southward along the coast of W. Africa for fear of winds and currents. i. Portuguese mariners lead the way around the tip of Africa 1. Caravel: Ship that could sail more closely into the wind 2. Discovered they could return to Europe by sailing in a different direction ii. Sub-Saharan Africa now came within the grasp of Europeans.

1. Northern Africa had been known to Europe since antiquity. Travel down the Africa coast had been virtually impossible, so Africa south of the Sahara had remained remote and mysterious. a. Legends of the W. African kingdom of Mali, gold in the West iii. Until now, Europeans had no direct access to sub-Saharan Africa until the Portuguese navigators began to creep down the West African Coast. c. Portuguese on the W. Coast Set up trading posts for the purchase of gold and slaves i. Arabs and Africans had traded slaves for centuries before the Europeans arrived 1. Slavery inhibited the expression of regional African cultures ii. Portuguese adopted these Arab/African practices. 1. Built up their own traffic in slaves to work the sugar plantations that they had established on African coastal islands. a. Slave trading became big business (40,000 slaves carried away) b. Millions more would be taken post-discovery of the Americas. 2. Origins of the plantation system based on large-scale commercial agriculture and slave labor a. Shape the destiny of much of the New World d. Portuguese push farther southward in search of a water route to Asia. i. Bartholomew Dias rounds the Cape of Good Hope. ii. Vasco de Gama reaches India and returns with spices/jewels. e. Spain is united with the marriage of Ferdinand (Aragon) and Isabelle (Castile), who pursue an expansionist policy under the strong influence of radical Catholicism. i. Reconquista Expel infidel Muslims Moors from Spain after years of Christian-Islamic warfare, especially in the Spanish city of Granada. 1. War nurtures an obsession with status, honor and intolerance results in the generation of conquistadores ii. Spaniards enter the race to tap the wealth of the Indies. 1. However, Portugal controlled the African Coast, and thus the gateway to India. Therefore, Spain looked to the West. 6. Columbus Comes upon a New World a. Africa had been established as a source of cheap slave labor. b. The Portuguese voyages had demonstrated the feasibility of long-range ocean travel. c. In Spain, a modern, national state was taking shape. i. Had the unity, wealth and power to pursue colonization. d. Dawn of the Renaissance nurtures spirit of optimism and adventure. e. Printing presses facilitate the spread of scientific knowledge. f. The mariners compass (Arab invention) eliminated uncertainties of sea travel. g. Enter Christopher Columbus Went to Ferdinand and Isabelle to get that cheddar. i. Equipped with three relatively tiny ships (Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria) ii. Believed he could reach India through the West iii. 1492 He and his crew sight an island in the Bahamas. 1. The Most Successful Failure in History a. Confident he had landed in the Indies when he reached America. i. He even labeled the Native Americans as Indians b. Took a few decades to realize continents had been discovered. iv. Still, as a result of his voyage, an interdependent global economic system would emerge. This system included every shore touched by the Atlantic Ocean. 1. Europe provides markets, capital, technology 2. Africa the labor (slaves) 3. New World raw materials, i.e. precious metals and soil for sugar cane 7. When Worlds Collide 4

a. Columbian Exchange (collision of two different ecosystems) i. In the Americas, explorers marveled at exotic beasts and new plants like tobacco, corn, beans, tomatoes and (especially) the potato. 1. These foods would ultimately change the European diet and revolutionize the international economy. 2. Created a population boom, even in Africa, where the introduction of New World crops offset the losses inflicted by the slave trade. ii. In exchange, the Europeans introduced Old World crops and animals. 1. Columbus and his Virtual Noahs Ark return to Hispaniola to drop off men and animals (swine, horses, cattle) a. North American Indian tribes adopt the horse, becoming wideranging hunter societies that roamed the Great Plains b. Columbus brought sugar cane, which thrived in the Caribbean i. Sugar Revolution Forced migration of millions of Africans to work the sugar plantations of the New World iii. Europeans also bring diseases; particularly smallpox, yellow fever and malaria. 1. Old World diseases quickly devastated the Native Americans. a. Indians were not immune to these diseases, like Europeans. i. Indians died in droves; disease proved to be the deadliest killer, not enslavement or armed aggression. 1. Estimated 90% of Native Americans die. 2. Depopulation so severe that entire cultures were wiped out and extinguished forever. 2. Indians, in return, introduce the deadly STD syphilis. You go Indians. 8. The Spanish Conquistadores a. Europeans realize the American continent was a goldmine. i. Legends of gold and silver in the Indian civilizations in Mexico and Peru b. Treaty of Tordesillas Spain and Portugal divide the New World into spheres of influence. They basically split up the New World didnt exactly last. c. Spain became the dominant exploring/colonizing power. i. Why? The Portuguese didnt have the government, population, or means to support full-blown colonization in the New World. Poor Portuguese. ii. Motives: God, gold and glory iii. Spanish conquistadores fanned out across the Caribbean/Americas. d. Who were the conquistadores (conquerors)? i. Within 50 years of Columbus arrival, conquistadores had extinguished the Aztec and Incan empires, claimed their land for the crown. 1. Conquerors signed contracts with the Spanish monarch, raised money, and built up an army. 2. Only a small fraction of conquistadores were nobles. ii. Motives? Royal titles and favors by bringing honor to the Spanish crown, ensure Gods favor by spreading Christianity, bring about a fresh start, and others wanted an adventure like those described in classical antiquity. iii. Armed with horses, gunpowder, and preceded by disease, the conquistadores overpowered the Indians with ease. 1. Most never achieved their dreams of glory. 2. Many conquistadores married Indian women, and created a new race of mestizos, forming a bridge between Indian and European races. e. Notable Conquistadores: i. Vasco Nunez Balboa Panama, discovered the Pacific Ocean ii. Ferdinand Magellan Circumnavigated the globe (kind of) 5

iii. Juan Ponce de Leon Ventured into North America, discovered Florida 1. Seeking gold and possibly the mythical fountain of youth iv. Francisco Coronado Wandered through Arizona and New Mexico in search of fabled golden cities (really just the adobe pueblos) 1. Discovered the Grand Canyon and herds of buffalo there v. Hernando de Soto Gold-seeking expedition, discovered the Mississippi River 1. Horribly mistreated the Indians (like many other conquistadores) vi. Francisco Pizarro South America, crushed the Incas of Peru f. Spain is fabulously rich (for now) from acquiring New World bullion (gold/silver) i. Flood of precious metal sparked a price revolution that increased consumer costs 1. Some see this as fuel that fed the growth of capitalism. a. Why? Stimulated surplus money supplies, laid the foundation for the development of the banking system, stimulated the spread of commerce/manufacturing, financed international trade w/ Asia. ii. New World bullion transformed the world economy. 1. Foundations of commercial banking system (bankers had more money) 2. Merchants stimulated the spread of commerce/manufacturing 3. Paid for international trade with Asia g. Islands of the Caribbean (West Indies) came to serve as the base for the staging of the Spanish invasion of the Americas. i. Supplies were stored, men/horses could be rested/acclimated ii. Vulnerable native tribes in the West Indies were test subjects for the encomienda system. 1. Allowed the government to give Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to try to Christianize them. 2. Basically slavery; it was extremely corrupt. Nobodys watching! a. Bartolome de Las Casas monk that worked in favor of the Indians; called the system a moral pestilence 9. The Conquest of Mexico a. Hernan Cortes 16 horses, several hundred men, superior firepower i. Meets an Indian slave named Malinche that would serve as a translator. 1. Note: Malinchista now means traitor in the Mexican language. ii. Learned of unrest within the Aztec empire; nearby tribes were oppressed by their cruel regime. The Aztecs were a tribute empire, meaning they demanded tribute from various peoples. iii. Legends of gold and wealth stored in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan 1. He is a greedy badass, and burns his ships to prevent retreat. 2. Allies himself with Indians opposed to oppressive Aztec rule a. Marches on Tenochtitlan iv. Moctezuma Believes Cortes to be a God (Quetzalcoatl), presents him with gifts 1. We Spanish suffer from a strange disease of the heart, for which the only known remedy is gold. Moctezuma lets him enter the capital! a. Amazed by the sophistication and beauty of the capital. v. Spaniards eventually wear out their welcome with their thirst for gold. 1. Noche Triste Aztecs attack, driving the Spanish out. a. Cortes laid siege to the city, and the capital capitulated. b. The same year, a smallpox epidemic took a grisly toll on the Indian population. i. Aztec empire finally gives way. 2. Temples of Tenochtitlan were destroyed, and Christian cathedrals built. a. Native population shrank from 20 to 2 million people. 6

b. The positive? Cortes brought crops, animals, language, laws, customs, religion i. Intermarried with the surviving Indians, creating mestizos ii. Today, Mexican civilization remains a blend of Old World and New World. 10. The Spread of Spanish America a. Spains colonial empire grows quickly. Hundreds of Spanish cities flourish, especially in silver-producing centers like Peru and Mexico. i. Spaniards had subjugated millions of Indians. ii. Majestic cathedrals were built; printing presses turn out books, universities built. b. These imperial possessions werent very secure other countries were already looking into exploration and colonization; namely, England, France and the Dutch Republic. i. Caboto/John Cabot (English) Explored the northeastern coast of America ii. Giovanni da Verrazano (Dispatched by French) Explored eastern seaboard iii. Jacques Cartier (French) Journeys up the St. Lawrence River c. Spanish want to protect their New World territories, and begin to fortify and settle their North American borderlands. i. Spanish erect a fortress at St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565 in a move to block French ambitions and protect sea-lanes to the Caribbean. d. Conquistadores continue moving northward after tales of Coronados expedition arise. i. Don Juan de Onate leads wagons/men to the Rio Grande valley. 1. Spaniards cruelly abused the Pueblos they encountered. a. Battle of Acoma Found New Mexico, w/ capital at Santa Fe 2. Found few furs and little gold, but plenty of opportunity to Catholicize a. Roman Catholic mission became the central institution i. Suppressed native religious customs b. Popes Rebellion Pueblo rebels destroy every Catholic church, murder priests and Spaniards i. Revolutionary Indians build a kiva, or religious chamber, on the ruins. You go Pueblos, you go. e. Robert de La Salle (French) sent down Miss. River, and Spaniards are on the defensive. i. Spanish begin developing settlements in Texas, including one at San Antonio (Alamo). Missions were established there as well. ii. Still, Spanish control was weak in the distant NE outpost of Spanish empire. f. No threat in the West, so Spanish attention there was minimal. i. Cabrillo explored the California coast but found nothing interesting. ii. Father Junipero Serra founded at San Diego a series of missions that would wind up the California coast nearly 200 years later. 1. Franciscan friars attempted to Christianize Californians 2. Diseases doom many, and native cultures were lost g. Black Legend The misdeeds of the Spanish gave rise to the belief that the Spanish conquistadores only tortured and butchered the Indians, stole their gold, infected them, and left misery in their wake. They did indeed do this, but also created a colossal empire. h. Spaniards were genuine empire builders and cultural innovators. i. The Spanish had a century head-start over England. ii. Compared to Anglo-Saxon rivals, their colonial establishment was larger/richer. iii. Spanish often integrated indigenous culture with European culture, whereas their English adversaries shunned and isolated the Indians.