The Collision Of Civilizations Chapter 1 Summary

Prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) the Americas were already a home to millions of natives that had already been there for thousands of years. The original natives of America before the arrival of Europeans were descendants of groups of hunters and fishers that crossed the Bering Strait between 15,000-60,000 years ago. Over time these natives developed their own techniques for farming, hunting and fishing. In addition, they had also developed their own religious beliefs, political structures, trading networks and hundreds of different languages. The natives, mostly lived on corn, squash, beans, and some fish, deer and turkey. They lived in 3 different kinds of societies. The three different kinds of societies were nomadic, semi-nomadic and

Culture wasn’t the only thing that the Europeans brought over to the Americas. Along with their customs and rules, came the diseases that the Native American’s have never been exposed to. The Europeans brought many communicable diseases such as small pox and measles which were transmitted to the Native Americans through trade goods or someone infected with them. This quickly annihilated most of the Native American population.

Before Europeans landed in the Americas, Native Americans lived within various complex societies across modern day North and South America. Two of the greatest empires that existed at the time were the Aztecs located in modern central Mexico or at the time it was called Mesoamerica and the Incas located in modern Peru, these societies were unique because they were ruled by kings, nobles and warriors whereas most North American Natives were ruled by chiefdoms. North American Native’s religion consisted of animist quality- a belief that the natural world had spiritual powers. They applied this belief to everyday life- praying to be exempt from disease, good crops, and plenty of food. Some societies amongst many North American Natives were matriarchal for example in the Iroquois society power and possessions were passed down through the female line of authority. Most women were gatherers and watched over the towns and men hunted for food for their families, maize agriculture was popular amongst the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes Natives. The Native Americans traded extensively before the Europeans arrived, for example there were annual trade fairs between the Navajos, Apaches and the Pueblos. In 1521, Hernan Cortes arrived in Mesoamerica and quickly overcame the Aztecs, not only by force but also disease. Europeans unknowingly brought many diseases, such as smallpox, influenza and measles, that the Native Americans were never exposed to and it was one of the biggest killers of the Natives. At first, Europeans forced Native Americans to be slaves and work on their plantations but soon they were replaced with the African slave.

The exchange between the Old World and the New World, which was referred the Columbian Exchange, have been changing the lives of the people both in the America and the Europe. Many crops, plants and animals were introduced and had an important influence in the world history. Otherwise, it brought dangerous diseases which killed a lot of the native Americans due to not having natural immunity. Aside new diseases, the Spanish also carried the resources from the Old World, and it has changed both natural and human in the Americas. Being different from other European colonization, the royal Spanish pacified the Indians by Catholic missionaries. In fact, to the natives, these men were killing their families, taking their lands, and destroying their earth. The conquests shaped the emerging system of land ownership. The hacienda system developed because conquistadors fought seeking wealth and land grants. Castas, people of mixed blood, became the largest social class in the 18th century. In the result, the present-day Americas are more mixed races than anywhere on the planet, and it becomes one of the defining characteristics of the Americas today. The conquest of America, although progressive, should not be considered a positive movement. From its beginning after discovery, to its end in 1825, the conquests led to

Before contact with the America’s many European countries were battling to have the most pristine country of all. Europe at this time was struggling with population loss from the Black Death and famine. Meanwhile the Native Americans, who were thought to be primitive and underdeveloped, inhabited the Americas. This need for the best empire started the Age of Exploration and soon the French, the Spanish, and the British all had control of parts of the New World giving us the nickname The Melting Pot.

Closely followed by Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World in 1492 were the establishments of European colonies with the French primarily in the north and down the Mississippi, and with the British along the east coast. As a result, the Native Americans’ lives changed drastically. Before 1750, in terms of economically, French responded mutually in terms of economy, culturally befriended them and in terms of religion, responded benignly by encouraging Catholicism through missionaries and on were on the best terms with the Natives; the British by contrast, economically

The Americas and their people were isolated for thousands of years from the rest of the world which created for them technological barriers and biological consequences; no one yet had discovered a way to connect the American and European continents until 1492 when Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain to the Americas and brought the European people and their advancements with him. They exchanged ideas, cultures, plants, animals, and diseases which became know as the Columbian Exchange. Within this exchange the two countries and their people greatly benefited and advanced from each other. The Europeans brought livestock that changed how the Indians transported and the labor that they did. The Indians introduced the Europeans to maize and potatoes

The encounter is a term used to describe the collision when Europeans came into contact with indigenous Americans in 1492. The encounter had many demographic, social, and political effects on Europe and the Americas. The Europeans discovered the Americas when in search of gold and glory and they set up forced labor systems. After the initial encounter, the Native Americans and Europeans began to exchange ideas, crops and goods. Through these ideas of mercantilism the Columbian exchange developed. The Columbian exchange was an international exchange of food, disease, and manufactured products. The encounter had many positive and negative impacts on both regions. In 1492 the encounter between the Americas and the Europeans developed. These two regions differed in their population were differently affected. The Europeans population greatly increased due to the influx of food they received because through trade with afro Eurasia. The Native Americans population greatly decreased because the Europeans introduced many new diseases when they conquered the Americas. These two regions were similar in that due to the encounter economic prosperity between both regions increased due to trade and businesses flourishing. The encounter had a greater long last impact on Europe than the Americas because its economic and demographic impacts outweighed the Americas impacts.

There have been a great number of ways in which the lives of many different cultures have been affected between the years 1492 and the early 1700s. It is widely understood that Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the Americas in 1492 during his worldly expedition, which lead to historical events such as the rise of Jamestown in 1602. During this moment in history, both the European and Native American cultures experienced significant changes.

European and Native American interactions began when Christopher Columbus sailed over to the Americas in 1942. His voyage kicked off centuries of exploration and the exchanges of new ideas. These exchanges and interactions were very clear in the native and European societies that different started to emerge in both. The Dancers Masks and A Native American Blouse are two artifacts that explore European and Native American interactions in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

The lands named the Americas, eventually by the European, were long home to many societies before their arrival. Archeological evidence implies not all early migrants set to the Americas via the Bering Strait. Migrants from Asia appear to have settled far South as Chile and Peru. Later rise the great civilizations of the Mayas and Aztecs and the Inca in Peru. These civilizations were more advance than land north, but even North American natives (the Indians) manage to rise civilization and expand. European looks westward for two reasons, (a) significant growth in population during the fifteenth century and the deadly epidemic of the Black Death. (b) Emergence of new governments. A century after contact much

Battle between European kingdoms incited to an eagerness for states and trading posts that may sustain the rising nations. This expansionism familiar Europeans with African and American social requests that had created over several years, and the social correspondence that took in the wake of starting contacts between these human headways fundamentally affected western history. American Societies first there was Paleo (Indians) Paleo Indians arrived some place in the scope of 12,000 to 14,000 years earlier and made due by pursuing sweeping preoccupation. As the distinctive items, and wherever cultivating ruled the economy, complex human progressions flourished. Horticulture was an essential key as of now fundamentally that is the place most the cash and nourishment supply originated from. Mesoamerican Civilizations Early municipal foundations created in what is by and

The shape and geography of the Americas was formed over hundreds of millions of years by processes including continental drifting and the Great Ice Age. Through the exposure of the Bering Land Bridge, early immigrants reached the Americas and created diverse populations and cultures. Agriculture, especially the cultivation of corn/maize, played an important role in these early civilizations. European desires for Asian goods sparked an interest in finding a faster route to Asia, which led Christopher Columbus to land in the New World. The Columbian Exchange transformed life in both the New and Old Worlds with the introduction of new animals, plants, and diseases. With Spain and Portugal leading, the European countries began

Before encountering with the Europeans in about 1000 c.e., roughly fifty-four million Native Americans took over the two American continents. This all happened following the Ice Age; making sea level drop exposing the bridge connecting Eurasia with North America. Asian hunters, also known as “ immigrant” ancestors of Native American decided to explore crossing the bridge. Over the centuries the people decided to split into innumerable amount of tribes. Listing the commonly known and or familiar tribes, The Incas in Peru, Mayans in Central America, and Aztec in Mexico. All producing different languages and developing different senses of religion, cultures and ways of life.

As for the America’s in their advanced agriculture system led to modern society’s agriculture as well. This system was put to use by Ancient Peru after hunters were in search to consume foods other than meats. Ancient Peru created the spread of corn, cassava, and potatoes (Adas, 1992), this resulted in the growth population in the Americas, because people who only had access to cassava were able to eat this new thing called corn. This sense of spreading food is similar to how we can get Florida oranges, and Georgia peaches to Delaware, by trade. Lastly, Contemporary society and the Americas both served as a melting pot for existing civilizations. People of many descents migrated to the Americas in search of something new, and today people from other countries migrate to the many states of America to start a new life with new opportunities. Once all the newcomers came and got settled in the Americas, a defined culture had set in as well, which was different from the rest. Today you still hear people refer to our “American culture” across many different areas of life.