Exploration, Discovery, Settlement

1. Exploration, Discovery, Settlement 1492-1700

2. The original exploration, discovery, and settlement of North and South America occurred thousands of years before Columbus. • Many archeologists believe first people to settle the North America arrived as much as 40,000 years ago. • Waves of migrants from Asia may have crossed a land bridge that then connected Siberia and Alaska ( a bridge now submerged under the Bering Sea). • Over a long period of time successive generations migrated from the Arctic Circle to the southern tip of South America • First Americans- or Native Americans- adapted to the varied environments of the regions they found. - divided into hundreds of tribes - spoke different languages - practiced different cultures • Estimates of Native population in the Americas in the 1490s vary from 50 to 75 million persons.

3. Small Settlements Most of the Native Americans lived in semi-permanent settlements Small populations seldom exceeding 300. Gender roles - Men spent time making tools, hunting for game - Women grew crops such as corn, beans, tobacco Some tribes more nomadic than others - Sioux and Pawnee followed buffalo herds Larger Societies Several tribes developed more complex cultures and societies in which thousands lived and worked together - Pueblos in the Southwest lived in multistoried buildings and developed intricate systems of irrigation - East of the Mississippi, Woodland tribes prospered with a rich food supply - Mound building cultures evolved in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys -In the Northeast (present-day NY), Iroquois formed a political confederacy, the League of the Iroquois Cultures of North America- estimates of the population in the region north of Mexico (present day U.S. and Canada) in the 1490s vary from under a million persons to over 10 million people

4. Cultures of Central and South America • Exact population of Native Americans in this region in the 1490s is unknown, most historians agree it was greater than that of North America. • Great majority of Native Americans-estimates vary widely, to as many as 25 million people-lived in Central and South America • Three peoples developed complex civilizations - The Mayas (b/w A.D. 300 and 800) built remarkable cities in the rain forests of the Yucatan Peninsula (present-day Guatemala, Belize, and Southern Mexico) - Centuries later, the Aztecs in central Mexico and the Incas in Peru ruled over vast empires -all three civilizations developed highly organized societies, carried on an extensive trade, and created calendars that were based on accurate scientific observations. - the Aztecs’ capital of Tenochtitlan was equivalent in size and population to the largest cities of Europe.

5. Until the late 1400s, Americans had no knowledge of the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Europeans and Asians, moreover, had no knowledge of the Americas. Voyages and settlements such as those of the Vikings around the year 1000 Greenland and North America had no lasting impact. It was the voyages of Christopher Columbus in the 1490s that finally brought Europe and the Americas into contact. Europe moves toward Exploration

6. Objective What factors contributed to the oceanic crossing and the advent of the Age of Exploration during the late 15th century and early 16th century?

7. Brainstorm Activity Based on your knowledge of social studies, list at least 4 factors that contributed to the rise of the Age of Exploration. 1. 2. 3. 4.

8. Improvements in Technology In Europe, there occurred a rebirth of classical learning and scientific activity known as the Renaissance. The Renaissance brought about gradual increase in scientific knowledge and technological change • gunpowder (invented by the Chinese) • sailing compass (adopted from the Chinese by Arab merchants) • improvements in shipbuilding and cartography • invention of the printing press, which also aided the spread of knowledge across Europe

9. The later years of the Renaissance were a time of intense religious zeal and conflict. The Roman Catholic Church that had once dominated the culture of Western Europe was threatened from without by Ottoman Turks from within by a Protestant revolt against the pope’s authority Religious Conflict

10. Catholic victory in Spain In the Middle Ages, Spain had been partly conquered by Muslim invaders Only one Moorish stronghold remained when Isabella and Ferdinand united their separate Christian kingdoms In 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand succeeded in defeating the Moors of Granada. The uniting of Spain was a sign of new leadership, hope, and power for European Catholics Protestant Revolt in Northern Europe In the early 1500s, certain Christians revolted against the pope’s authority Their revolt is known as the Protestant Reformation. Conflicts b/w Catholics and Protestants led to a series of religious wars. These conflicts caused the Catholics of Spain and Portugal and the Protestants of England and Holland to want to spread their own versions of Christianity around the globe. Religious Conflict (continued)

11. Expanding trade • Economic motives for exploration grew out of a fierce competition among European kingdoms for increased trade with Africa, India, and China. • In the past, trade had travelled from Italian city-state of Venice and the Byzantine city of Constantinople on to an overland route to China • Land route became blocked when Ottoman Turks seized control of Constantinople • Might a new route to the riches of Asia be opened up by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean or south along the West African coast? • Voyages sponsored by Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal eventually succeeded in opening up a long sea route around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. • In 1498, the Portuguese sea captain Vasco da Gama was the first to reach India by that route. • By that time, however, Columbus had already attempted what he thought would be a shorter route to Asia.

12. Developing Nation-States(a nation state is a country in which the majority of people share both a common culture and common political loyalties toward central government) • Europe was changing politically in the 15th century • Monarchs were gaining power and building nation-states in Spain, Portugal, France, England, and the Netherlands. • Monarchs of the emerging nation-states depended on trade to bring in needed revenues and the Church to justify their right to rule. - for example, both Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain and Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal used their power to search for riches abroad and to spread the influence of the Roman Catholic church

14. What you thought you knew about Columbus before reading Zinn What you know about Columbus after reading Zinn ColumbusShould Columbus be celebrated as a great figure in history?

15. List what you knew or thought you knew about the Native American Indian peoples Columbus encountered before reading Zinn? List what you learned about the Native American Indian peoples Columbus encountered after reading Zinn? Native American Indians

16. What are the five most important things Zinn says about Columbus? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Think-Pair-Share Compare your list with a classmate. What do you think is the purpose of this exercise?

17. What are the two most important things Zinn says about history? 1. 2. How does Zinn’s approach toward history differ from that of other historians? What arguments does Zinn use to support the idea that his approach toward history matters? Do you agree? Why might Zinn’s approach be controversial?

18. Columbus’ Legacy • At the time of his death, many Spaniards viewed Columbus as a failure because they suspected he had not found a route to the riches of China and the Indies , as he claimed, but a “New World.” • One of the most important effects of Columbus’ voyages is, for the first time in history, Europeans and Native Americans were brought into permanent interaction. • The contact between the peoples of the Americas and the Europeans had both immediate and long-term effects.

19. Columbian Exchange

20. Exchanges • Native-Americans introduced Europeans to many new plants and foods, including corn, potatoes, and tobacco. • Europeans brought sugar cane, livestock, horses, etc. - Also introduced the wheel, iron implements, and guns • Deadlier than all the guns was the European importation of diseases such as smallpox and measles, which within a century decimated the Native American population. Millions died. With mortality rates over 90 percent, entire tribal communities were wiped out.

21. Dividing the New World • Spain and Portugal were the first kingdoms to lay claim to territories in the New World. • Catholic monarchs of both countries turned to the pope in Rome to help settle their dispute over the ownership of the New World. • In 1493, the pope drew a vertical, north-south line on a world map, granting to Spain all the lands west of the line, to Portugal all the lands to the east. • In 1494, the two kingdoms signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which moved the line a few degrees to the west, helping to establish (along with Portuguese explorations Portugal’s claim to Brazil. Spain claimed the rest of the Americas. (Other European countries, however, would soon challenge these claims.)

22. Spanish Exploration and Conquest • Spain owed its power and initial supremacy in the New World to feats of explorers and conquistadores such as - the journey across Isthmus of Panama by Balboa - the circumnavigation of the globe by one of Magellan’s ships - the conquests of the Aztecs in Mexico by Cortes and the Incas in Peru by Pizzaro • Conquistadores sent ships loaded with gold and silver back to Spain, increasing the gold supply by over 500 percent and making Spain the richest and most powerful nation of Europe. • Other nations were encouraged to turn to the Americas in search of wealth and power.

23. Spanish Exploration and Conquest (continued) • The Spanish turned to an encomienda system, with the King of Spain granting land and Indians (Native Americans) to individual Spaniards. • Indians were forced under a harsh labor system to work on farms or mines. Fruits of their toil went to their Spanish masters. • When brutality and diseases decimated the Native American population, the Spanish brought slaves from West Africa. • Under the asiento system, the Spanish were required to pay a tax to their King on each slave they imported to the Americas.

24. English Claims • England’s earliest claims to territory rested on the voyages of John Cabot, an Italian sea captain - under contract to England’s King Henry VII Cabot explored the coast of Newfoundland in 1497 • England did not follow up Cabot’s discoveries with other expeditions of exploration or settlement. England’s monarchy in the 1500s was preoccupied with other matters, including Henry VIII’s break with the Roman Catholic Church. • In the 1570’s and 1580’s, under Queen Elizabeth I, England began to challenge Spanish shipping in both the Atlantic and Pacific. - Sir Francis Drake attacked Spanish ships, seized the treasure they carried, and boldly attacked Spanish settlements on the coast of Peru. • Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to establish a settlement at Roanoke Island off the coast of present-day North Carolina in 1587, but the colony was “lost”

25. French Claims • The French monarchy first showed interest in exploration in 1524 when it sponsored a voyage by an Italian navigator, Giovanni da Verrazano. • Hoping to find a northwest passage, Verrazano explored part of North America’s eastern coast, including present-day New York harbor. • French claims to American territory were also based on the voyages of Jacques Cartier, who explored the St. Lawrence River extensively. • Like the English, French were slow to develop colonies in the New World, preoccupied with internal religious conflict b/w Catholics and Protestant Huguenots. Only in the next century did France develop a strong interest in following up its claims to North American Land.

26. French Claims (continued) • The first permanent French settlement in America was established by Samuel de Champlain, the “Father of New France,” in 1608 at Quebec, a fortified village on the St. Lawrence River. • In time, other French explorers extended French claims across a vast territory - in 1673, Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette explored the upper Mississippi River - in 1682, Robert de La Salle explored the Mississippi basin, which he named Louisiana

27. Dutch Claims • During the 1600s, the Netherlands also began to sponsor voyages of exploration. • Dutch government hired Henry Hudson, an experienced English seaman, to seek a northwest passage. • In 1609, Hudson sailed up a broad river, an expedition that established Dutch claims to the surrounding area that would become New Amsterdam. • A private joint-stock company, the Dutch West India Company, was given the privilege of taking control of the region for economic gain.

28. Early English Settlements In the early 1600s, England was finally in a position to colonize the lands explored more than a century earlier by John Cabot. • Defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 secured England’s position as a major naval power. • Rapid population growth coupled with economic depression gave rise to a large number of landless people attracted to the idea of economic opportunities in the Americas. • English also devised a practical method for financing the costly and risky enterprise of founding new colonies. - Joint-stock companies pooled the savings of many investors, including those of modest means, to support trading ventures that seemed potentially profitable. • Thus, in the 1600s, various colonies on the North Atlantic Coast were able to attract large numbers of English settlers.

29. Jamestown England’s King James I chartered the Virginia Company, a joint-stock company that established the first permanent English colony in America at Jamestown in 1607. • Majority of investors looked toward legitimate profits - precious metals or minerals - valuable plants for dyestuffs or medicines - opening of a northwest passage to the Pacific • But the investors were “prepared to settle for less spectacular goods like glass, iron, furs, pitch, and tar, things that England needed and mostly had to import from other countries.” (Morgan, 45) • Though the promoters of the company hoped for “instant success,” according to Morgan, they stressed “the country’s future promise.”

30. “Idle Indian and Lazy Englishmen” The plan • send settlers who would pool their labors to produce whatever proved feasible • After “riches , whatever they may be began pouring into England,” the company would pay out dividends to all members in proportion to the number of shares they owned. • With money from sales of shares the company would send over shiploads of England’s unemployed laborers as well as some specialists. Such men would be servants of the company and not entitled to share in the profits. • They would work for the company for seven years and then be free to take advantage of the “limitless” opportunities of the New World

31. “Idle Indian and Lazy Englishmen” “Intention of the sponsors of the colony that benefits for the settlers and their backers would march hand in hand with beneficence toward the Natives.” (Morgan, 46) • colony would “bring the infidels and salvages lyving in those partes to humane civilitie and to a setled and quiet governmente.” • To bring them the gospel, and “to cover their naked miserie, with civil use of foode, and cloathing, and to traine them by gentle means, to the manuall artes and skill, which they…doe admire to see in us.” • “welcome to conjoyne their labors with ours, and shall enjoy equal priviledges with us.”

32. “Idle Indian and Lazy Englishmen” According to Morgan, the members of the company believed the Virginia Company was not like other joint-stock companies, “the ends for which is established beinge not simply a matter of Trade, butt of a higher Nature.” • “Although they hoped for profits, theirs was a patriotic enterprise that would bring civility to the savages of North America and redemption from idleness and crime to the unemployed masses of England” • Jamestown “did not work out as the company” had hoped - the “adventurers who ventured their capital lost it” - most of the settlers who ventured their lives lost them and so did most of the Indians who came near them

33. Objective How does Morgan account for the failure of Jamestown?

34. It failed, according to Morgan, because the neither Indians nor the English lived up to expectations (Morgan, 48). • What were those expectations? • According to Morgan, were those expectations unrealistic?

35. Idle Indian Lazy Englishmen According to Morgan, “Indian and Englishmen in Virginia” seem to have had different expectations of themselves than the company had. Before examining what went wrong, “it is necessary to look more closely at the life each had led and the expectations that life had engendered in them before the encountered one another on the banks of the James River.” Some things you may wish to consider are “force of government” in their lives, role of religion, work, gender roles, and warfare.”

36. Focus Questions What does Morgan mean when he writes the Virginia Company had sent the “idle to teach the idle” and “bring freedom to the free?” Do you agree with Morgan that this was a “formula for disaster?”

37. “The Jamestown Fiasco” Morgan writes the “first wave of Englishmen reached Virginia…on April 26, 1607. The same day their troubles began.” According to Morgan, for ten years the settlers seem to have made “nearly every possible mistake and some that seem almost impossible.” What are some of the mistakes Morgan highlights? Did the settlers’ relations with the Natives reflect the Virginia Company’s hopes for friendship?

38. “Shoteinge owtt their Braynes” What “puzzling episodes” does Morgan cite to document English atrocities against the Indians?

39. “How to explain the suicidal impulse of the English to destroy the corn that might have fed them and the people who grew it?” “And how to account for the seeming unwillingness or incapacity of the English to feed themselves?” Morgan goes on to argue that “it is not easy to make sense” out of the behavior of the English settlers.

40. How does Morgan account for the failure of the English to grow food? (Morgan, 75) • Poor organization? - “cannot”, he writes, “blame the colony’s failures on lax discipline and diffusion of authority. Failures continued and atrocities multiplied after authority was made absolute and concentrated” in a governor (Morgan, 81). • Collective organization of labor? - If the colony’s failure to grow corn arose from its communal organization of production, Morgan points out the failure was not overcome by the switch to private enterprise.

41. How does Morgan account for the failure of the English to grow food? • Another explanation for the failure to grow food is the character of the immigrants - Morgan refers to this as “overload” of gentlemen and specialists According to Morgan, why is the character of the immigrants to blame for the failure to grow food?

42. Gentlemen Specialists Their daily and usuall workes, bowling in the streets

43. Gentlemen No manual skill Could not be expected to work at ordinary labor “unruly gallants” Accompanied by personal attendants who “never did know what a dayes worke was.” “Specialists” As skilled specialists “they expected to be paid and fed for doing the kind of work for which they had been hired.” Some may have been useful, but many were not “not suitable for a perfumer or a jeweler or a goldsmith to put his hand to the hoe.” Joined the gentlemen in what Morgan calls “genteel loafing.” Their daily and usuall workes, bowling in the streets

44. Morgan cites one more problem, apart from the “overload” of gentlemen and specialists. According to Morgan, the major part of the colonists’ work time was supposed to be devoted to processing the “promised riches of the land,” but during the early days of Jamestown, they found no “riches to extract.” • Sent back some cedar wood, but lumber was too bulky and impractical a product • Sassafras was available in such quantities the market collapsed • No gold or silver • Not even enough iron to be worth mining • Silk grass and silk proved to be a delusive, elusive, or misleading hope Did Virginia meet the “high expectations” of the settlers?

45. How did the frustration of the failure of Virginia to meet the expectations of the servants and employers manifest itself in regard to the treatment of the Natives? “If you were a colonist…

46. “The Jamestown Fiasco” Morgan writes that after ten years the colony was a “total loss to the men who had invested their lives and fortunes in it.” What was the only “ray of hope” that appeared?

47. Rise of Tobacco • John Rolfe, husband of Pocahontas, experimented with tobacco of the West Indian variety, giving settlers a merchandisable good • “the colonists stopped bowling in the streets and planted tobacco in them- and everywhere else they could find open land. • In 1617, ten years after the first landing at Jamestown, they shipped their first cargo to England that sold at three shillings a pound • “Was Virginia to supplement England’s economy and redeem her vogues by pandering to a new vice?” • Would the dream of the Virginia Company’s “patriotic enterprise” go up in smoke?

48. At first, the Virginia Company hoped to meet the need for more labor by sending indentured servants to the colony. An indentured servant was often a person (usually a young man) who, in exchange for passage to a colony, was obligated to work on a plantation for a certain number of years (usually seven). In 1619, first boatload of Africans arrived aboard a slave ship operated by a Dutch trader. The growing of tobacco on Jamestown plantations requires a large supply of labor.

49. Transition to a royal colony • Plagued by mismanagement, debt and a frighteningly high death rate in the colony, the Virginia Company was dissolved by the king and placed under the control of King James I. • Thus Virginia became England’s first royal colony (a colony under the control of a king or queen.)