Chapter 1:
● The Bering land bridge connecting Eurasia and North America was exposed,
allowing “immigrant” ancestors of Native Americans to cross. but once the ice
melted and water swept over the land bridges, they were stranded on the
American continents
● by the time Europeans arrived in 1492, perhaps 54 million people inhabited the
two American continents
● Aztecs (Mexico), Mayans (Central America), and Incas (Peru) all had
sophisticated civilizations
○ agricultural practices, cultivation of maize, talented mathematicians,
accurate astronomical observations, gods/religions, hierarchy
○ “modern society” didn’t exist - no dense populations or nation states
comparable to aztec - one of the reasons for the relative ease with which
Europeans subdued native North Americans
● native Americans revered the physical world and endowed nature with spiritual
properties
○ but not a huge impact on nature - only about 4 million native Americans on
North America
● agriculture accounted for the size and sophistication of civilizations; corn
transformed nomadic hunting bands into settled agricultural villages
○ powerfully molded the Pueblo culture: in Rio Grande Valley, constructed
irrigation systems, dwelled in multistoried, terraced buildings when found
by Spanish in 16th century
● cultivation of maize, beans, and squash led to three-sister farming led to high
population densities
○ the Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee
○ Iroquois Confederacy developed political and organizational skills to
maintain a robust military alliance that menaced neighbors
○ most native peoples lived in small, scattered, impermanent settlements
■ more settled agricultural groups: women tended crops, men hunted,
fished, gathered fuel, cleared fields
■ women had substantial power and authority
● Scandinavian-Norse Vikings happened upon the Americas in 1000 CE (L’Anse
aux Medows - Newfoundland) but later abandoned their settlements
● Christian Crusaders entered the Muslim holy land and found goods that they
wanted to transport to Europe to sell
○ Silk, drugs, perfumes, draperies, spices, sugar
○ The cost of obtaining these goods was high as they often required a
Muslim middleman
, ○ By the time the products were in Europe the cost was so high that the
profit margin was also significantly decreased
● Marco Polo, an Italian adventurer, came back to Europe in 1295 and began
telling stories of his 10-year journey to China (likely a lie) which stimulated
Europeans to begin looking for a cheaper way to obtain these goods
● Europeans used to not sail southward along the coast of West Africa as they
couldn’t fight the currents upwards until ~1450
○ The caravel was created - a ship that could sail close into the wind
○ They also discovered that they could sail northwesterly from the African
coast towards the Azores
● Arab flesh merchants and Africans had traded slaves for centuries
○ Cost more to buy an enslaved person that was from farther away so they
could not return back home or be rescued
○ Separated those from the same tribe and mixed unlike people to decrease
the chance of organized resistance
● Portuguese adopted these systems
○ Used enslaved people for sugar plantation work on the coastal islands of
Madeira, the Canaries, Sao Tome, and Principe
● 40,000 slaves were carried to the sugar islands in the last half of the 15th century
● Foundation of the modern plantation system (p. 13)
● Arab flesh merchants and Africans had traded slaves for centuries
○ Cost more to buy an enslaved person that was from farther away so they could
not return back home or be rescued
○ Separated those from the same tribe and mixed unlike people to decrease the
chance of organized resistance
● Portuguese adopted these systems
○ Used enslaved people for sugar plantation work on the coastal islands of
Madeira, the Canaries, Sao Tome, and Principe
● 40,000 slaves were carried to the sugar islands in the last half of the 15th century
● Foundation of the modern plantation system (p. 13)
★ The Colonists' Origins and Transformation:
○ European explorers and early settlers arrived in the 16th century
○ First European settlers peopled the 13 English colonies on the eastern shores of
North America in the 17th and 18th centuries
○ The colonists may have fled poverty or religious persecution in the "Old World"
(Europe)
○ They continued to view themselves as Europeans and subjects of the English
king
○ Conditions in the "New World" (North America) made the colonists different
from their European cousins
, ★ The Road to Revolution:
○ The struggle for imperial supremacy between France and Britain began in the
late 17th century
○ This culminated in the French and Indian War from 1756-1763
○ After 1763, a financially overstretched British government imposed taxes and
trade restrictions on the colonies
○ This brought the crisis of imperial authority to a head in the 1770s
★ The Revolutionary War and National Unity:
○ 8 years of the Revolutionary War (unspecified years)
○ 1 in 5 colonists remained loyal to Britain as "Loyalists"
○ The Declaration of Independence was a pivotal moment (unspecified year)
Chapter 2:
● barely 100 years after Columbus, already had European crops & livestock,
disease, armed conquest, several hundred thousand enslaved Africans, and
Spain conquering most of New World
● Three European powers planted outposts to herald the coming century of
colonization:
○ English - Jamestown, Virginia (1607)
○ French - Quebec, Canada (1608)
○ Spanish - Santa Fé (1610)
ENGLAND:
● England didn’t care too much about establishing its own overseas colonies -
wasn’t threatened by Spain bc allies
○ religious conflict after Henry VIII broke with the roman catholic church
(1530) launched protestant reformation
○ after elizabeth (protestant) ascened to throne, rivalry with catholic spain
increased
○ english soldiers didn’t like “savage natives” after fighting (and crushing)
rebel irish
● now that elizabeth was on the throne and new rivalry with spain, more english
bucaneers went out to speak protestantism and plunder spanish ships and
settlements (though england and spain at peace)
○ Sir Francis Drake, most famous of semipiratical “sea dogs”
● england failed at colonizing drastically:
○ first in newfoundland, which failed after sir humphrey gilbert died
● The Bering land bridge connecting Eurasia and North America was exposed,
allowing “immigrant” ancestors of Native Americans to cross. but once the ice
melted and water swept over the land bridges, they were stranded on the
American continents
● by the time Europeans arrived in 1492, perhaps 54 million people inhabited the
two American continents
● Aztecs (Mexico), Mayans (Central America), and Incas (Peru) all had
sophisticated civilizations
○ agricultural practices, cultivation of maize, talented mathematicians,
accurate astronomical observations, gods/religions, hierarchy
○ “modern society” didn’t exist - no dense populations or nation states
comparable to aztec - one of the reasons for the relative ease with which
Europeans subdued native North Americans
● native Americans revered the physical world and endowed nature with spiritual
properties
○ but not a huge impact on nature - only about 4 million native Americans on
North America
● agriculture accounted for the size and sophistication of civilizations; corn
transformed nomadic hunting bands into settled agricultural villages
○ powerfully molded the Pueblo culture: in Rio Grande Valley, constructed
irrigation systems, dwelled in multistoried, terraced buildings when found
by Spanish in 16th century
● cultivation of maize, beans, and squash led to three-sister farming led to high
population densities
○ the Creek, Choctaw, Cherokee
○ Iroquois Confederacy developed political and organizational skills to
maintain a robust military alliance that menaced neighbors
○ most native peoples lived in small, scattered, impermanent settlements
■ more settled agricultural groups: women tended crops, men hunted,
fished, gathered fuel, cleared fields
■ women had substantial power and authority
● Scandinavian-Norse Vikings happened upon the Americas in 1000 CE (L’Anse
aux Medows - Newfoundland) but later abandoned their settlements
● Christian Crusaders entered the Muslim holy land and found goods that they
wanted to transport to Europe to sell
○ Silk, drugs, perfumes, draperies, spices, sugar
○ The cost of obtaining these goods was high as they often required a
Muslim middleman
, ○ By the time the products were in Europe the cost was so high that the
profit margin was also significantly decreased
● Marco Polo, an Italian adventurer, came back to Europe in 1295 and began
telling stories of his 10-year journey to China (likely a lie) which stimulated
Europeans to begin looking for a cheaper way to obtain these goods
● Europeans used to not sail southward along the coast of West Africa as they
couldn’t fight the currents upwards until ~1450
○ The caravel was created - a ship that could sail close into the wind
○ They also discovered that they could sail northwesterly from the African
coast towards the Azores
● Arab flesh merchants and Africans had traded slaves for centuries
○ Cost more to buy an enslaved person that was from farther away so they
could not return back home or be rescued
○ Separated those from the same tribe and mixed unlike people to decrease
the chance of organized resistance
● Portuguese adopted these systems
○ Used enslaved people for sugar plantation work on the coastal islands of
Madeira, the Canaries, Sao Tome, and Principe
● 40,000 slaves were carried to the sugar islands in the last half of the 15th century
● Foundation of the modern plantation system (p. 13)
● Arab flesh merchants and Africans had traded slaves for centuries
○ Cost more to buy an enslaved person that was from farther away so they could
not return back home or be rescued
○ Separated those from the same tribe and mixed unlike people to decrease the
chance of organized resistance
● Portuguese adopted these systems
○ Used enslaved people for sugar plantation work on the coastal islands of
Madeira, the Canaries, Sao Tome, and Principe
● 40,000 slaves were carried to the sugar islands in the last half of the 15th century
● Foundation of the modern plantation system (p. 13)
★ The Colonists' Origins and Transformation:
○ European explorers and early settlers arrived in the 16th century
○ First European settlers peopled the 13 English colonies on the eastern shores of
North America in the 17th and 18th centuries
○ The colonists may have fled poverty or religious persecution in the "Old World"
(Europe)
○ They continued to view themselves as Europeans and subjects of the English
king
○ Conditions in the "New World" (North America) made the colonists different
from their European cousins
, ★ The Road to Revolution:
○ The struggle for imperial supremacy between France and Britain began in the
late 17th century
○ This culminated in the French and Indian War from 1756-1763
○ After 1763, a financially overstretched British government imposed taxes and
trade restrictions on the colonies
○ This brought the crisis of imperial authority to a head in the 1770s
★ The Revolutionary War and National Unity:
○ 8 years of the Revolutionary War (unspecified years)
○ 1 in 5 colonists remained loyal to Britain as "Loyalists"
○ The Declaration of Independence was a pivotal moment (unspecified year)
Chapter 2:
● barely 100 years after Columbus, already had European crops & livestock,
disease, armed conquest, several hundred thousand enslaved Africans, and
Spain conquering most of New World
● Three European powers planted outposts to herald the coming century of
colonization:
○ English - Jamestown, Virginia (1607)
○ French - Quebec, Canada (1608)
○ Spanish - Santa Fé (1610)
ENGLAND:
● England didn’t care too much about establishing its own overseas colonies -
wasn’t threatened by Spain bc allies
○ religious conflict after Henry VIII broke with the roman catholic church
(1530) launched protestant reformation
○ after elizabeth (protestant) ascened to throne, rivalry with catholic spain
increased
○ english soldiers didn’t like “savage natives” after fighting (and crushing)
rebel irish
● now that elizabeth was on the throne and new rivalry with spain, more english
bucaneers went out to speak protestantism and plunder spanish ships and
settlements (though england and spain at peace)
○ Sir Francis Drake, most famous of semipiratical “sea dogs”
● england failed at colonizing drastically:
○ first in newfoundland, which failed after sir humphrey gilbert died
