Contact and Colonization

1. Contact and Colonization

2. Eve of Contact - Americas • Aboriginal societies flourishing in a variety of distinct physical environments • Depended on nature and trade for survival • Maintain deep spiritual relationship with environment • Acquired new knowledge and developed new technologies based on environments • Created diverse and complex societies including government structures

3. Overview of Cultures At time of first contact Canada was divided into six cultural regions: • Boreal Forests Woodlands – Peoples on hunted land and marine animals and gathered plants • Southern Lowlands – Rolling hills and temperate climate allowed peoples planted and cultivated crops • Interior Plains – Peoples lived nomadic lifestyle while hunting bison; invented lightweight tepee • Northern Subarctic – Lived nomadic lifestyle as hunters and gatherers; temporary settlements; created birch covered wigwams • Pacific Coast – Lived in permanent settlements; built dams and depended on resources from the sea; rich artistic culture • Arctic – Harsh environment; hunters of land and marine animals; built igloos

5. Contact • Contact around 1500 CE disrupted the delicate balance of Aboriginal life in North America • At first, Europeans relied on knowledge, technologies, and skills of First Peoples to cope in unfamiliar wilderness • First Peoples found European technologies useful • Contact between Europeans and First Peoples took place over a 200 year period (1497 – 1793 CE) • Trade brought European technologies to west coast before face to face contact occurred

6. Eve of Contact - Europe • Beginning of 16th Century Europe entering the Modern Age • Political alliances and rivalries formed between kingdoms and city states; vied for supremacy of Europe • Economic growth occurred; new seafaring and military technologies developed; prompted nations to expand influence beyond Europe • Trade centered on spices, silks, and gems from Asia; Italian city states of Pisa, Genoa, and Venice dominated

7. Eve of Contact - Europe • Trade between Europe and Asia difficult and costly • Islamic empire restricted land trade routes within its jurisdiction • Western European Nations believed economic and military supremacy in Europe depended on finding a direct ocean route • Italian city states and Islamic lands could be completely avoided

8. Church and State • Roman Catholic Church greatly influenced Europe’s values, practices, and laws • Practices of Church questioned by religious leaders seeking reform • Reformation (1517 – 1555 CE) began as movement to renew Christian morals in European Society • Powerful movement spread into politics, art, science, and economics • Eventually separated reformers from Roman Catholic Church to form Protestant denominations within Christianity

9. Church and State Martin Luther’s 95 Theses (October 31, 1517)challenged the teachings of the Church on the nature of penance (desire to be forgiven), the authority of the pope, and the usefulness of indulgences. They sparked a theological debate that would result in the Reformation and the birth of the Lutheran, Reformed, and Anabaptist traditions within Christianity.

10. Church and State

11. Church and State • Separation of Church spawned Counter-Reformation in Spain, Portugal, and France • Monarchs committed to spreading beliefs and values of Roman Catholic Church • Movement would have profound role in Americas; missionaries attempted to convert First Peoples to Christianity

12. Colonialism and European Expansion • Powerful nations and empires practiced colonialism by seeking to rule over other peoples and places • During European expansionism, European powers claimed and settled territories in the Americas • Americas natural resources exploited for the benefit of the homeland • Spain, Portugal, and Netherlands were first great powers in Europe (15th and 16th Centuries); England and France dominant (17th Century) as wealth and influence of others diminished

13. Portuguese Expansion • 1450 CE, Portugal expanded trade routes down the Atlantic coast of Africa • 1488 Diaz sailed around southern tip of Africa; 1498 da Gama sailed across Indian Ocean to India to trade for spices, silks, and gems • Portuguese expanded trade routes to China, Japan, and South Asia • Aboriginal populations decimated; Africans forced into slavery to work plantations in Portuguese colonies marking the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade

14. Portuguese – Spanish Rivalry • Spain and Portugal chief rivals • Spain sponsored Italian Christopher Columbus expedition to cross Atlantic Ocean in 1492 CE in search of passage to Asia • Reach island that id today’s Haiti and Dominican Republic convinced he found India – naming the island Hispaniola and its people Indians

15. Portuguese – Spanish Rivalry • Columbus’ explorations followed by series of invasions, conquering what is now Latin America creating a vast Spanish Empire • Cortes destroyed Aztec empire (now Mexico) in 1519 and enslaved its people to mine for gold and silver • Population of Mexico at first contact was 27 million; by 1650 reduced to 1 million people through violence, disease, and overwork

16. In Search for a Passage to Asia • Inspired by Columbus in 1497, Italian John Cabot attempted to find a northern route to Asia for England after Spain denied to sponsor him • Thinking he found China, Cabot landed at either Newfoundland, Labrador, or Cape Breton claiming the “new found land” for England • Found seemingly unlimited supply of cod on the Grand Banks – by early 1500s was great source of a scarce food for England • Fishing fleets arrived from Europe and began trading with First Peoples (metal pots, knives, and knives for furs and robes worn by Aboriginals)