Chapter 1: New World Beginnings (33,000 B.C.E.—1769 C.E.
Read the chapter 1 handout.
Complete the 15 identifications. An identification involves both identifying what a thing is and why it is
important. These are to be written in complete sentences. Be concise while providing pertinent
information (these are not paragraphs but may require 2-4 sentences total per term). You are not
required to, but if you use a source beyond the reading, you must include that source below your
identification (a link is fine). See below for further explanation, an example, and the terms.
Complete the Summarizing and Connecting task to tie everything together. Directions are found below.
Term Identification Significance
Who/What/When/Where is Consider the following questions when you're trying to
this? When writing the ID determine significance. Your response should answer ONE
portion of the task you are of the following ideas: Why is this important in history?
looking for cold hard facts. What impact did it have? Why do we care? This is critical
This tends to be straight thinking; it will most likely not come directly from the
answers from your reading. reading.
However, be sure you are not
copying word for word. Read
and then write your own
sentences.
(example) The Aztecs represented one The Aztecs represent both the height of Native American
Aztecs of the largest civilizations in civilization and the devastation wrought by the arrival of
North America at the time Europeans. Their empire likely encompassed 5-6 million
Europeans arrived on the people and relied on advanced irrigation techniques, but it
continent. Their capital city was destroyed by Hernan Cortes and his men, leading to
had 300,000 residents and Spanish control of the area.
was made possible by their https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aztec
system of agriculture based
upon the cultivation of maize.
Land bridge During the Ice Age, about The land bridge between Eurasia and North America is
35,000 years ago, a bridge of important because it is believed to have brought people to
land connected Eurasia and the continent of North America. This gave people another
North America. As animals land mass to live on and discovered another continent that
migrated across the land people did not know previously existed. As a result of
bridge, small groups of Asian people inhabiting new land, this led to the creation of
hunters followed the animals, different tribes in all areas of North and South America.
bringing people to North
America.
Maize The cultivation of maize Maize supported the growth and construction of multiple
allowed civilizations to grow, civilizations. However, the spread of maize did not reach
since there was a steady some civilizations, which made it easier for Europeans to
source of food. It also turned conquer those areas.
some nomadic hunters into
villagers that settled and
practiced agriculture.
Mississippian The Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was thought to have had around
culture located in the lower Midwest 25,000 people near Cahokia, making it the largest Indian
were one of the groups that group north of Mexico. This group of people is thought to
had larger settlements in have grown corn, beans and squash, or the three-sisters.
North America. They act as a representation as to how large a civilization
can be with the help of agriculture.
http://www.nativehistoryassociation.org/mississippian.php
Three-sisters Three-sisters farming is the The use of this method of farming allowed for a rich diet,
farming farming of maize, beans and which led to the development of high populations in the
squash. Maize was planted area.
first, then at a certain length,
beans would be planted next.
The squash would then be
planted on the mounds to
maintain the moisture of the
soil and stop the growth of
weeds.
Iroquois The Iroquois Confederacy Because the Iroquois Confederacy were able to develop
Confederacy were the largest North military alliances, this could have aided them when
American civilization by the defending against European invasion. As a result of the
time of European arrival. way their society was shaped, the society was matrilineal
They were able to establish because women were given more authority in the villages
organizational and political when men would do the hard labor.
skills which gained them
military allies.
Native Native Americans gave nature The Native Americans’ pacifism towards nature helped to
American spiritual properties and preserve the way the land was before Europeans would
view of respected it. They chose not change it drastically. The Native American view on nature
nature to aggressively control often clashed with the European and eventually White
nature. American view, which led to conflicts on land.
https://www.tutor2u.net/history/reference/beliefs-about-
nature-and-land
Portuguese The Portuguese designed As the Portuguese set up posts along the African coast,
ships that could sail into the they bought gold and slaves. They then used the African
wind with more ease. slaves to work on sugar plantations on African islands. This
Combined with a new route, led to the development of the modern plantation system.
they explored Sub-Saharan In 1498, Vasco de Gama went around the tip of Africa,
Africa allowing them to set up finding a new route to India. Because the Portuguese
trading posts along the shore. controlled the east, the Spanish began to look to the west.
Because the Portuguese
controlled the east, the
Spanish began to explore
towards the west.
Christopher Columbus convinced the King The voyage of Christopher Columbus created problems,
Columbus and Queen of Spain to fund but it also created new opportunity. As a result of arriving
his voyage to India. After in a new continent, trade was established, and the
incorrectly calculating the Columbian Exchange was created. His voyages also allowed
circumference of the earth Europeans to realize that another land mass existed and
and the distance to India, he not just Europe and Asia.
set sail and arrived in the
Americas in 1492.
Columbian The trade of goods, crops, Crops from the New World dramatically boosted the
Exchange disease, people, animals, population in the Old World. Simultaneously, the
ideas and technology across introduction of cattle, pigs and horses revolutionized how
the Atlantic Ocean. the Native Americans lived. With horses, many groups
became mobile warrior societies. However, with all the
good, came disease. Native American civilizations were
devasted by European diseases, such as smallpox, malaria,
and the flu.
Treaty of The Treaty of Tordesillas This treaty allowed Spain and Portugal to concentrate on
Tordesillas divided the world between their spheres of influence, without worrying about
Portugal and Spain. Portugal competition from one another. Because of the treaty,
had control over Africa, Asia Spain can gain riches from the New World and Portugal can
and Brazil and Spain had establish ports in Asia. However, this treaty proves to be
control of the rest of the New obsolete because Spain and Portugal are not the only
World. nations in the world. So, when other countries try to
colonize, the treaty is no longer effective.
Capitalism Capitalism is when trade and As capitalism evolved, so did the system for modern
industry are controlled by a banking, the spread of trade and manufacturing. The
private investor, instead of development of capitalism in the Old World transformed
the country itself. Capitalism the economy.
grew in the Old World due to
the influx of gold and silver
from the New World.
Encomienda This system gave the Spanish This system was essentially slavery, as the Native
system colonists Native Americans ifAmericans worked for the Spanish. The thought of
they Christianize them. Christianizing the Native Americans was part of the quest
of the New World discovery. The Spanish wanted to bring
Christianity to Native American civilizations in exchange for
ownership of the natives.
Mestizos Mestizos are the people of The Mestizos represent the blending of culture that
mixed European and Native occurred in the New World. Because they were so close
American descent. and interacted with one another, their cultures and
traditions blended to form a different culture.
Missions Missions were constructed to Because of the continuous building of missions and
bring Catholicism to the pressure to adopt a new religion, the Native Americans felt
Native Americans. that their native customs were being threatened.
Eventually, the Native Americans decided to fight back
against the Spanish, resulting in rebellion.
Popé’s Popé was a shaman that Popé’s Rebellion is a representation of what can happen
Rebellion gathered around 17,000 when a group of people band together to fight against the
Pueblo people to destroy enemy. They felt as they their culture was being stifled, so
every Catholic church in the they decided to fight back. After the initial destruction, it
area. They also killed took around 50 years for the Spanish to gain control of the
numerous priests and Spanish area again.
settlers. After the
destruction, the Pueblo
people built their own
religious structures on top of
the destroyed Spanish ones.
Summarizing and Connecting
For this portion, you are to think about the chapter as a whole. What are your main takeaways from the chapter? The
more you think about it now, the more likely you are to remember it later. What do you think you most need to
remember from this chapter? Write 2-5 sentences summarizing the chapter and the key ideas.
In future chapters, you will also be asked to make some connections to things we have already learned about. We’ll
begin that with chapter 2.
Summarizing: write your main takeaways in the box below
Preceding the arrival of the Europeans, the Native Americans were either nomadic or settlers. The settler villages used
agriculture, with the three-sisters farming method that provided a rich diet, to grow their civilizations. Before
Columbus, the Portuguese wanted to find another way to India and Vasco da Gama found a route to Sub-Saharan
African, by being the first to sail around the tip of Africa. The Portuguese then established ports along the African
coasts where they sought gold and slaves, creating the foundation for the plantation system. In 1492, after incorrectly
calculating the circumference of the earth, Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World to find other civilizations.
Trade boomed between the Old and New Worlds, with the Columbian Exchange. With the European discovery of the
New World, the Treaty of Tordesillas was put into effect to divide the world between Spain and Portugal. The Spanish
conquistadors wanted gold, God and glory in North America. Spanish influence in the New World led to the making of
a new group of people, with the creation of Mestizos, but also slavery with the development of the encomienda
system. Spanish influence was not widely accepted as there were cases, such Pop é’s Rebellion, where the Native
Americans rebelled.
