THE NEW WORLD AND EARLY SPANISH EXPLORATION I Columbus and Discovery 1492 Trade with the far east was very lengthy and dangerous when traveling through land looking to get cloth silk medicine perfume spices and precious stones ect highly valued items needed Believed if you sail west from Europe you will eventually reach the far east Had no knowledge of America Which was found by accident Earth was flat Myth 1492 Columbus discovers America II Native Americans A Migration Theory Development of Settlements Theory Believed the people inhabiting the Americas are Mongolian and there was a Bridge between Asia and Alaska called Bering Strait 2000 B C E and they crossed over for food ect Migration Last Ice age ended so land bridge is covered or under water Nomadic Hunter gatherers move southward by 18000 B C E reached the tip of South America Natives in Meso America Developed new product called Maize founded in 5000 B C E become agricultural revolution that changed life Caused settlement Permanent and semi permanent Not everyone needs to search for food others in community are provided jobs such as making baskets Specialization developed due to stable food source Population explosion due to significance to the development of Maize Cultivate beans squash ect Which helped broaden diet and lead to a well balanced and healthier diet and reproduction Develop of an advanced civilization There was another civilization and complex sophisticated society Mayans in America gone by the time of Columbus 300 400 A D B Advanced Civilizations the Mayans Pyramid builders built aqueduct above ground water ways bridges 300 900 A D Developed written language based on hieroglyphics Several cities with 4000 8000 population Sophisticated complex system civilization Management of cities Great mathematicians Knew and understood concept of zero 700 years before Observed skies Developed an extremely accurate calendar with 365 2422 days Today s computers use 365 2405 for calendars Theory Mayans could have been destroyed by drought or by Native Americans Native cultures rival European cultures able to create complex sophisticated civilizations Lived in Meso America area Americas had complex sophisticated civilizations before Europeans came Spanish first to establish sustained contact with Natives Other explorers from Scandinavia traded with native Americans but did not maintain contact Polynesians Life will not be same A few nations will die Sustained contact with Spanish changed the world III The Columbian Exchange Transfer of products from one continent to another 4 elements animals plants metals and disease A Animals Bringing animals that were not in either world relocating animals from America to Europe and Europe to America European brought cattle goats sheep pigs horse which were unknown to the New World Natives adopted the new animals except pigs thought they looked like giant rats Introduction of horses changed life in American south west Horses provided transportation work Labor military advantage and status symbols Previously there was Mongolian ponies but were extinct by time Europeans came reintroduction of horses to Americas Animals encountered by Europeans in America Turkey Found and introduced to Europe Buffalo Took a few for examples South America Llamas Alpacas became profitable and valuable armadillo rattlesnakes and cougars B Plants Europeans brought wheat oats rye which adapted well in America and became common to natives Island of Caribbean s Fruit trees bananas sugar cane Tragic element that caused labor force Europeans forced natives to refine cane to sugar Death rate became high natives eliminated in some Islands At that point Europeans brought slaves Death rate of slaves became high and started the slave trade Africans brought to the Islands New World supplied Maize corn and broadened diet white potato sweet potatoes South America Ireland depended on Potatoes which were the main source of food by 1800 Potato famine squash and certain kinds of beans Lima snap and kidney Improved European diet Pumpkin Peanuts tomatoes Cacao produced chocolate and became popular added sweetener to taste Economic influence Products introduced to Asia and Africa by mid 1500 Corn and potato reached china and became 1 3 of worlds food supply Diet improved and became well rounded Europeans became healthy and productive European population grew Long term consequence helped people migrate and become a big population Europe s economy Dye plant used for textile products producing cloth indigo vibrant blue Profitable enterprise to use indigo to create dye to sell clothe Caused impaction in Europe s economy Europe wanted red dye Found Brazil wood product that improved the red color Spanish invaded Mexico 1519 Found Mexican people wearing red clothing But didn t find food Red dye was produced form bugs lived in cactus plant Forced native American labor to get red dye becomes economically important Red clothe was expensive to create and only wealthy could afford important in Spain Portugal and England C Metals Europeans brought guns bronze refining iron ore Created weapons guns swords crossroads Didn t help natives but destroyed them Spanish took with them millions of dollars in Gold and copper Forced natives in labor which caused death and then brought slaves from Africa Europeans became rich Turquoise found in large quantities D Disease Most tragic When Europeans arrived they brought disease typhus measles cholera smallpox and typhus Europeans built antibodies to these diseases Natives were exposed to them before but this was different Disease killed millions of natives 1492 1592 estimate of 90 natives population died due to conflict majority from disease due to no immunity People would escape to other communities when others got infected therefore spread the disease as well to other communities Disease made conquest easy in Mexico Syphilis sexually transmitted natives immune to it conquistadors brought more deadly form back to Europe and killed 15 million Europeans 1493 IV Advance of the Spanish Into North America A Early Settlements in the Caribbean 1508 Puerto Rico 1510 Cuba 1519 ready to make first move to mainland Mexico conquest of Mexico Defeated Aztec Empire Controlled Central Mexico included natives outside Aztecs Aztecs brutal demanded feathers human sacrifice B Conquest of Mexico Coming from Cuba Cortez and 400 conquistadors make 1 and coast of central Mexico Within 2 years defeated Aztecs main city tenochitia