1. Three Worlds Meet

2. “Three Worlds Meet” Outline
Peopling the Americas
Coming to America
Empires Flourish
North American Societies to 1492
Native Americans and Diverse Societies
Native American Societal Structure
West African Societies to 1492
Connecting with the World
African Culture and Society
Three Major Kingdoms
European Societies to 1492
Social Order
European Religion
Changes in Europe
The Age of Expansion
The Encounter
Christopher Columbus
Major Impacts
A New Society

3. Coming to America
Over 12,000 years ago, people began crossing the Beringia Land Bridge from Asia into North America
Nomadic (traveling) societies following food
8,000 B.C. – Groups begin hunting smaller game and gathering fruits, berries, etc.
Agricultural societies begin to emerge

4. Empires Flourish
1,200 B.C. – First Americans begin to create larger communities
Three major regions: Central/South America, Southwest N. America, and Eastern N. America
Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Inca all empires in Central and South America
Hohokam and Anasazi emerge in Southwestern North America
Adena, Hopewell, and Mississippian claim Eastern North America
What would be some challenges to living in these regions?

5. North American Societies to 1492: Native American Societal Structure
Trading Networks
Spanned Mexico to the Atlantic Coast
Brought native groups into contact with each other
Regional tribes were known for specific goods
Land Use
Saw land as a part of nature that could not be bought or sold
Revered for bringing food to native groups

6. Native American Societal Structure Cont’d
Religion
Natural world was filled with spirits (living and non-living things)
Social Organization
Kinship (strong family ties) helped ensure continuation of tribal customs
Social order was divided by division of labor, or assignment of tasks based on gender, age, or status

7. Exit Slip
What major change occurred between 12,000-10,000 years ago for early groups in the Americas?
Explain the importance of trade to Native Americans.
What role did religion play in the daily lives of Native Americans?

8. West African Societies to 1492: Connecting with the World
Trade
The Sahara Highway connected West and North Africa
Through ports, Europe and Asia connected as well
Islam also spread into Africa
Portuguese Arrival
Looking for gold, Portuguese arrive in mid-1400s
Portuguese eventually enter slave trade
Slaves first used to man sugar cane plantations off coast of Africa

9. African Culture and Society
Family and Government
Close ties amongst people of the same lineage
Age influenced rank within family
Religion
Varied amongst tribes, but most worshipped spirits (present in living and non-living things)
Muslim and Christian faiths also spread into area

10. African Culture and Society Cont’d
Livelihood
Farming, herding, hunting, fishing, mining – all sources of labor for those in West Africa
Belief of collective ownership of land
Use of Slave Labor
Age, gender, and social status divided labor
Slaves at the bottom
Slaves in Africa could work to gain their freedom

11. Three Major Kingdoms Songhai Benin Kongo
A.D. – Gained power through control of Saharan trade
Wealth from trade meant more money for soldiers, weapons
Benin
Rose to power in 1400s
Another empire built on trade, dealt heavily with Portuguese when they arrived
Kongo
A group of villages ruled by one individual
Mining civilization, traded metal goods

12. European Societies to 1492: Social Order
Social Hierarchy
Monarchs, nobility and clergy, and peasants made up social structure
Peasants worked land owned by nobles through system of feudalism
Could not move out of class you are born into
Family in Society
Life centered around nuclear family, or mother, father, and children
Age and gender still played a role in labor division

13. European Religion 1096-1270 - Crusades Three consequences:
Military expeditions into the Middle East in the name of Christianity
Europeans motivated by desire to spread their faith
Three consequences:
Increase in trade with Holy Land and Asia
Weakened nobles (lost $$$ and lives through fighting), while strengthening monarchs
Decline in power of the Pope

14. Changes in Europe Economic and Population Growth Rise of Nations
New markets established through Crusades
More money + more jobs = more people
Rise of Nations
Weakening of nobles led to strengthening of monarchs and merchants
Four nations beginning to emerge at end of 1400s: Portugal, Spain, France, and England
The Renaissance
Humanism – focus on the ability of the individual
Questioning of Church policy made people more secular
Motivation for exploration bc it called for people to have confidence in their accomplishments

15. The Age of Expansion New Technology Portugal
Compass and astrolabe allow sailors to travel further
New sail designs better harnessed wind
Portugal
Prince Henry the Navigator pushed to bring these inventions to Portugal
1488 – Bartolomeu Dias rounded southern tip of Africa
Within 10 years, Vasco da Gama reaches India
Portuguese, rich off of gold and trade from travels, begin to look for a quicker path to India

16. Exit Slip Define the term Feudalism
Describe one of the three consequences of the Crusades
What types of technology led to the Age of Expansion?

17. The Encounter: Christopher Columbus
An Italian, Columbus sailed for Spain
August 3, 1492 – Columbus sets sail
October 12, 1492 – Land spotted
Three motivations for exploration:
“God, Glory, and Gold”
Columbus would return on 3 separate voyages – not as an explorer, but as an “empire builder”

18. Impact on Native Americans
Colonization
Establishment of distant settlements controlled by a parent country
Land taken, inhabitants used as source of labor or pushed out
Resistance
Some native groups resisted, fought back
Most were easily taken by Europeans
Disease
Natives had never been exposed to European diseases
Measles, mumps, chicken pox, small pox – examples of diseases that would kill millions of Native Americans

19. Impact on Europeans Columbian Exchange National Rivalries
Trading of crops native to Europe, Asia, and Africa for those native to Americas
More $$$ for merchants
National Rivalries
Countries began fighting over colonial lands
With Spain and Portugal on verge of war, Pope Alexander VI negotiates Treaty of Tordesillas
Split Americas into “East” and “West” with Portugal owning East and Spain owning West

20. Impact on Africans Slave Trade
Native Americans either refused to work or died due to disease
Need for workers in Americas had Europeans turn to Africans
Slave trade “ended” in 1800s after 12 million were taken from Africa

21. A New Society
New societies would emerge from European colonies in the Americas
U.S. History begins with a look at these 3 major peoples
Native Americans, Africans, Europeans
What kind of impact will this mulitculturalism have on the United States?