The Americas, Europe, and Africa Before 1492

US History Summary Historical Themes (HST 200) The Americas, Europe, and Africa Before 1492 OVERVIEW Although the world's expanding interconnection, or globalization, is not a new phenomena, it picked up speed as western Europeans learned about the wealth of the East. Europeans exchanged fur, lumber, and Slavic people they had abducted and sold (thus the name slave) in exchange for spices, silk, porcelain, sugar, and other luxuries from the East during the Crusades (1095–1291). However, Europeans began looking for a more effective and affordable commerce route across water, which is how the lengthy overland Silk Road—which connected China with the Mediterranean—became increasingly expensive and risky to travel. This led to the formation of what is now known as the Atlantic World. In their quest for trade in Asia, traders from the fourteenth century unintentionally came into a "New World" that was home to millions of intelligent and diverse peoples. West Africa is a varied and culturally rich region that quickly came to prominence as other countries took advantage of its slave trade and sent its peoples to the New World in chains. These early explorers mistakenly believed they had reached the East Indies and named its population "Indians." The New World would eventually be ruled by Europeans, but they could not have done so without Native Americans and Africans. The Americas The majority of Native American origin legends claim that Native nations have always been in the Americas; nevertheless, some researchers think that between nine and fifteen thousand years ago, a land bridge known as Beringia existed, connecting Asia and North America. In quest of sustenance, the earliest settlers of the region that would become known as the Americas crossed this bridge. The Bering Strait was created when water invaded Beringia as a result of the glaciers melting. Subsequently, settlers crossed the little strait by boat. Moving southward, the settlers eventually populated both North and South America, creating distinct cultures that ranged from the highly developed and urbanized Aztec civilization in what is now Mexico City to the woodland tribes of eastern North America (the fact that Asians and Native Americans share genetic markers on a Y chromosome lends credibility to this migration theory). It has been suggested by recent studies conducted along South America's west coast that migratory groups may have migrated down this coast both by land and by sea. Scholars assume that about 10,000 years ago, people initiated the domestication of flora and fauna, including agriculture as a method of subsistence with hunting and gathering practices. Due to the increased abundance and stability of food sources brought about by this agricultural revolution, populations increased and individuals were able to establish more permanent settlements and a more established way of life. This was more evident in Mesoamerica than anywhere else in the Americas. THE OLMEC, THE FIRST AMERICANS The region known as Mesoamerica stretches from the north of Panama to the central Mexican desert. Despite its remarkable topographical, linguistic, and cultural variety, this area gave rise to several comparable civilizations. The people of Mesoamerica were polytheistic; their gods were both male and female in nature, and they required ritual bloodletting or the sacrifice of foes killed in combat. Domesticated by 5000 BCE, corn, or maize, was the staple food of their diet. They created enormous structures, a mathematical system, and a calendar that priestastronomers used to schedule crop planting and harvesting. The calendar also precisely predicted eclipses and solstices. The fact that these peoples invented the sole written language in the Western Hemisphere is crucial to our understanding of them, and scholars have come a long way in deciphering the inscriptions found on their pyramids and temples. Long-distance trade contributed to the spread of culture even if the region lacked a cohesive governmental framework. Trade consisted of weapons made of obsidian, jewelry made of jade, feathers braided into garments and decorations, and cacao beans whipped into chocolate drinks. The Olmec civilization was the progenitor of Mesoamerican civilizations. From around 1200 to 400 BCE, the Olmec people flourished along Mexico's torrid Gulf Coast, producing a multitude of important pieces of sculpture, architecture, and ceramics. Their enormous head sculptures (Figure 1.4) and the pyramid at La Venta are the most famous. To irrigate their farms and bring water into their towns, the Olmecs constructed aqueducts. They raised tomatoes, beans, squash, and maize. In addition, they raised tiny, tamed dogs, which gave them protein in addition to fish. The Olmec civilization served as the foundation for both the Maya and the Aztec civilizations, despite the fact that little is known about their fate beyond about 400 BCE—partially due to the forest reclaiming many of their towns. The Olmec people revered a rain deity, a god of corn, and the feathered serpent that would play a significant role in the pantheons of the Aztecs, known as Quetzalcoatl, and the Maya, known as Kukulkan. A system of commerce was also established by the Olmec throughout Mesoamerica, which led to the emergence of an aristocratic class. THE MAYA In Mesoamerica's bountiful central highlands, a metropolis emerged following the demise of the Olmecs. Teotihuacan, one of the greatest pre-Columbian American cities, was around thirty miles northeast of present-day Mexico City and was home to over 100,000 people at its peak in 500 CE. It is debatable what ethnicity the people living in this hamlet were; some researchers think it was a multiethnic metropolis. Because of large-scale agriculture and the resulting plenty of food, individuals had more time to learn specialized trades and other talents outside of farming. More than two thousand residential complexes for many families and over a hundred temples were built by builders. The two hundred-foot-tall Pyramid of the Sun and the one-hundred-fifty-foot-tall Pyramid of the Moon were among them. Burials found close to the Temple of the Feathered Serpent indicate that people may have been sacrificed for religious reasons. Additionally, the city served as the hub for trade, which reached communities around the Gulf Coast of Mesoamerica. One Mesoamerican culture with close links to Teotihuacan was the Maya. The contributions made by the Maya in mathematics and architecture were substantial. The Maya, who flourished in what is now Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Guatemala from around 2000 BCE to 900 CE, refined the calendar and written language that the Olmec had started. They came up with a written mathematical system to help with commerce and to record population density and food output. They constructed the city-states of Copan, Tikal, and Chichen Itza along their principal trading routes, surrounded by fields practicing primitive agriculture, together with temples, sculptures of gods, pyramids, and astronomical observatories (Figure 1.5). However, their civilization began to crumble around 900 CE, and they abandoned their big population centers due to poor soil and a drought that lasted over two centuries. THE AZTEC Upon reaching the location of modern-day Veracruz on the Mexican coast in the sixteenth century, the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés learned of a vast metropolis governed by a powerful figure known as Moctezuma. Rich beyond belief, this gold-filled metropolis collected tribute from neighboring tribes. When Cortés arrived in that city—known as Tenochtitlan—he and his warriors were astounded by the wealth and sophistication he had never seen before. Legend has it that the Aztecs, also called the Mexica, were a warlike people who, after leaving the city of Aztlán, marched south to the location of modern-day Mexico City. They started building Tenochtitlan in 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco. With over 200,000 residents by the time Cortés arrived in 1519, this population was undoubtedly the biggest in the Western Hemisphere and maybe even the largest in Europe (Figure 1.6). Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a soldier under Cortés, wrote forth his initial thoughts upon viewing it: "We were astounded to see so many cities and villages built in the water and other great towns on dry land, saying it was like the enchantments." ....due to the enormous masonry towers, cues, and structures that rise out of the ocean. Even some of our men questioned whether or not what they were seeing was really a dream. ......I'm not sure how to put it; we were witnessing things that no one had ever heard of, seen, or even thought of. Tenochtitlan was a well-planned, tidy, and ordered city, in contrast to the filthy, fetid towns of Europe at the time. The city had marketplaces, two aqueducts bringing in fresh water, public buildings and temples, neighborhoods designated for particular vocations, and a waste collection system. The Aztecs, in contrast to the Spanish, had daily baths, and some affluent residences even had steam rooms. Built by enslaved laborers from subdued surrounding tribes, the magnificent metropolis and its three causeways connecting it to the mainland were constructed. The Aztecs built reed boats and filled them with good soil to cultivate. These chinampas, or "floating gardens," are still in operation and can be found in the Mexico City neighborhood of Xochimilco. Lake water was used to irrigate them continuously. Every deity in the pantheon of the Aztecs symbolized and governed a feature of the natural world, including the skies, agriculture, rain, fertility, sacrifice, and warfare. Every day, ceremonial human sacrifice was carried out by a governing class of military lords and priests to feed the gods, support the sun on its arduous voyage across the sky, and increase agricultural output. Using an obsidian knife, the criminal or captive warrior's chest was sliced open, and the beating heart was extracted as part of the sacrifice rite (Figure 1.7). The following is an excerpt from the writings of Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, a priest and early writer of Aztec history, found in the sixteenth-century Florentine Codex. The Aztecs predicted the arrival of the Spanish. An elderly man from Xochimilco told Moctezuma, the Aztec king, about a previous dream he had had before he first saw the Spanish in Veracruz. "Oh mighty lord, if because I tell you the truth I am to die, nevertheless I am here in your presence and you may do what you wish to me," Quzatli exclaimed to the king.He told the story of how mounted warriors would arrive on this region in large wooden houses, or ships. These were built to accommodate many men and serve as their homes, where they would sleep and eat. They would eat, stroll, and play as if they were on solid ground on the surface of this home. Ten years before to the arrival of the Spanish, Moctezuma got a number of omens that he was unable to decipher. They were to be White, bearded men who were clothed in various colors and had circular covers on their heads. Moctezuma also experienced dreams and premonitions of impending disaster. A fiery object appeared in the night sky, a spontaneous fire broke out in a religious temple and could not be put out with water, a water spout appeared in Lake Texcoco, and a woman could be heard wailing, "O my children we are about to go forever." These prophecies were documented following the fall of the Aztecs. Nonetheless, they do shed light on the significance of omens and signals in pre-Columbian society. THE INCA The most advanced and intricate culture in South America was that of the Incas, whose name in the Andean language of Quechua means "lord" or "ruler." Situated on the Pacific coast and spanning the Andes Mountains, the Inca Empire spanned approximately twenty-five hundred kilometers during its zenith in the 15 and sixteenth century. The region spanned from the north of present-day Colombia to the south of Chile, with settlements constructed at a height of 14,000 feet above sea level. Its road network, maintained clear of waste and maintained by workmen stationed at different intervals, was on par with the Romans' and effectively linked the vast empire. The Incas did not employ axle-mounted wheels for transportation, nor did any other pre-Columbian society. To navigate the high Andean hills, they constructed stepped roadways that were ideal for pedestrian use but problematic for wheeled vehicles. The well-trained Incan army was able to march quickly because to these roadways. The Incas were skilled administrators, much like the Romans. Chasquis, or runners, used a constant relay system to cross the roadways and provide prompt communication across great distances. But the Incas had no writing system. They used a quipu, a system of colorful ropes and knots, for record-keeping and communication. The Incas revered their lord, who ruled over all spheres of existence as a member of an exclusive governing class. The ruling class, like the feudal rulers of that era's Europe, derived their immense riches from the work of the peasantry and carried it with them into the afterlife in the form of mummified bodies. On terraced soil they carved from the high slopes, the Inca planted corn, beans, squash, quinoa (a grain cultivated for its seeds), and the native potato. Merely one-third of the crops were given to the peasants for themselves. A third was needed by the Inca emperor, and the remaining third was put away in a sort of welfare system for the unemployed. Food was kept in large storehouses for emergencies. In addition, each peasant fulfilled a duty known as the mita by working several days a month on public works projects for the Inca sovereign. For instance, peasants built grass-based rope bridges to cross freezing rivers that flowed quickly across mountains. In exchange, the lord gave rules, defense, and food during famines. The Incas referred to gold as the sun's "sweat" and adored the sun deity Inti. They rarely offered human sacrifice, unlike the Maya and the Aztecs, and instead gave the gods food, clothes, and coca leaves. But they turned to prisoner sacrifice during extreme emergencies, including after earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or agricultural loss. Children, who were handpicked and provided with excellent nutrition, were the ultimate sacrifice. The Incas thought these kids would instantly enter a far better afterlife. The ancient Incan metropolis of Machu Picchu was discovered in 1911 by American historian Hiram Bingham (Figure 1.9). Situated at an elevation of around 8,000 feet and approximately fifty miles northwest of Cusco, Peru, the city was founded in 1450 and mysteriously abandoned almost a century later. According to scholars, the priesthood was located in the city and it was utilized for religious ceremonial reasons. This city is unparalleled in its architectural splendor. The Inca built walls and structures of polished stones, some weighing over fifty tons, that fit together flawlessly without the need for cement, using just the might of human labor and no machinery. The destroyed city was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983. Native Americans With very few exceptions, the Native American cultures of North America were far more scattered and lacked the structured social systems and large populations of the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan empires. Many Native Americans continued to hunt and gather even while maize farming had moved north. The Plains Native Americans were able to more readily track and hunt the enormous herds of bison when the Spanish brought horses to the region. When Christopher Columbus arrived, a handful of these cultures had already begun to fall despite having developed into rather complex forms. A number of people who are generally referred to as the Pueblo lived in the southwest region of the modern United States. They were originally given this name by the Spanish, which translates as "town" or "village," since they resided in towns or villages made up of enduring thatched roofs made of stone and mud. These structures included numerous levels, each with multiple rooms, much like modern apartment complexes. The Mogollon, Hohokam, and Anasazi peoples made formed the three primary Pueblo ethnic groupings. In the Mimbres Valley in New Mexico, the Mogollon people flourished from around 150 BCE to 1450 CE. They created a unique painting technique for bowls that included intricately rendered geometric shapes and black-on-white depictions of nature, particularly birds. The Hohokam developed a vast network of canal irrigation systems starting around 600 CE in order to water the desert and cultivate crops of maize, beans, and squash. By 1300, the most populous communities in the southwest were being sustained by their grain output. The Hohokam fashioned turquoise jewelry and adorned ceramics with a red-on-buff pattern. The Anasazi, whose name means "ancient enemy" or "ancient ones," constructed dwellings out of steep cliffs that could be accessible at night or in the event of an enemy attack by ropes or ladders. The Anasazi lived in the high desert of New Mexico. Around 180 miles of roads linked the smaller Pueblo urban centers to one another and to Chaco Canyon, which by 1050 CE had developed into the political, religious, and cultural hub of the Pueblo people. But a century later, the Pueblo people left their towns, most likely due to drought. The Hopi and Zuni tribes are among their modern descendants. The Hopewell civilization is the collective name for the Native American tribes who flourished in the modern-day Ohio River Valley between the first century and the fourth century CE. Unlike the southwestern villages, theirs were little hamlets. They engaged in agriculture, which they complemented with hunting and fishing, and lived in wattle-and-daub dwellings, which were constructed from braided lattice branches that had been "daubed" with wet mud, clay, or sand and straw. By making use of rivers, they created trade routes that connected Louisiana to Canada. Along these channels, they engaged in multilingual negotiations and exchanged commodities with various tribes. They got shells from the ocean, copper from Canada, and obsidian from the Rocky Mountains. They made beautiful sculptures, woven mats, and jewelry out of these materials. Today, the only remnants of their society are massive earthworks and burial mounds. Artworks and other items that suggest their civilization was socially stratified were found in many of the mounds that archaeologists have excavated. Located along the Mississippi River close to modern-day St. Louis, this area was home to what was arguably the biggest indigenous cultural and demographic hub in North America. Over ten thousand people resided in this five-square-mile metropolis, now known as Cahokia, at its peak in approximately 1100 CE; tens of thousands more were employed on the farmland that surrounded the city. The city also had one hundred and twenty earthen mounds, or pyramids, each of which dominated a certain neighborhood and was home to a leader with control over the community. The biggest mound was fifteen acres in size. The center of governmental and commercial activity along the Mississippi River was Cahokia. But by 1300 CE, this civilization began to disintegrate, maybe as a result of the area's inability to sustain such a vast population. EARLY EASTERN WOODLAND NATIVE PEOPLE English, Dutch, and French explorers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were encouraged by the wealth discovered by the Spanish in the civilized civilizations to the south to expect the same in North America. Instead, they discovered tiny, dispersed villages, many of which had already been devastated by illnesses brought over from Europe by the Spanish and passed down among the Native Americans. There was an abundance of land and the timber and fur that land could yield instead of gold and silver. The vast and intricate cultures of the Native Americans living west of the Mississippi were not built by those east of the river. Each group adapted to the particular environment in which it lived since they were small independent clans or tribal groupings (Figure 1.11). These tribes were by no means cohesive, and conflicts arose often as they fought to expand their territories for fishing and hunting. These tribes did, however, have several things in common. Decisions were taken by a leader or group of tribe elders; often, the women chose and advised the male, despite the fact that the leader was a man. Compared to the patriarchal cultures of Europe, Mesoamerica, and South America, gender roles were less rigid. Men usually hunted, fished, and provided protection, while women farmed maize, beans, and squash and gathered nuts and berries. However, both were responsible for rearing offspring, and matriarchy predominated in the majority of significant Native American tribes in the east. Women held positions of authority and influence in tribes including the Cherokee, Lenape, Muscogee, and Iroquois. They gave advice and transmitted the tribe's customs. With the arrival of the Europeans, who occasionally forced their own traditions and practices onto the indigenous, these complimentary gender roles underwent a significant shift. The main points of contention with Europeans would be divergent views on land ownership and environmental use. Native Americans did not practice private property ownership, nor did they generally even understand it, despite the fact that tribes frequently asserted their right to certain hunting grounds, which were typically designated by some sort of geographic feature. In contrast, the European Christian worldview saw land as the source of riches. The Christian Bible teaches that after creating humans in his likeness, God gave us the task of using and subduing the rest of creation, which included all animal life in addition to the land. They thought the land was theirs to take, as was the wildlife that lived there.