EARLY AMERICAS Ice age and the Olmec

LAND BRIDGE

• Beringia- Land bridge that connects

Asia and America.

• Large glaciers during the Ice Age

locked up water so that it

was possible to walk across on land

• Animals and humans crossed the

bridge between 40,000-10,000 B.C.

HUNTERS AND GATHERERS

• Early American inhabitants hunted for their food and gathered resources to survive. • Food, Clothing, Tools, Shelter

• This made them nomads

• never permanently settled in one location

• Many animals were hunted to extinction

AGRICULTURE CREATESNEW LIFE

• People began to experiment with farming in Central Mexico• Grew maize – corn

• People had a steady supply of food and began to settle in more large permanent locations.

THE OLMEC

• First known Mesoamerican civilization-flourished around 1200 BC

• Resources along the Gulf Coast allowed the Olmec to thrive.

• Salt, tar, wood and rubber

• Created large sculpted heads that represent rulers

• Had a trade network that spread from Mexico City to Honduras

• Not fully understood what caused their decline • Outside invasion or self destruction

MAYAN, AZTEC AND INCA Rise , Fall and a little in between

MAYA EMPIRE

• Mesoamerican civilization located on the Yucatan Peninsula

• Influenced by the Olmec

• Built large urban centers with large pyramids, temples and ball court • Ruled by a god-king

• Cities thrived because of agriculture and trade

• Decline due to civil war, outside invasion and over-farming.

• Mysteriously disappeared in 800s.

• Developed concept of zero

MAYAN RELIGION

• Believed in many gods

• Pierced and cut their bodies to offer their blood to the gods • Human sacrifices thrown into sinkhole lake

• Created 365 day calendar that was used for

planting crops • Time was on the backs of gods

• Written language in glyphs kept in Codex

AZTEC EMPIRE

• Mesoamericans that established homeland on Lake Texcoco

• Tenochtitlan- Capital of Aztec Empire

• Place where eagle is perched on a cactus

• Based power on military conquest• Let local rulers govern own region

• Emperor had absolute power

AZTEC RELIGION

• Believed in many gods• over 1000

• Human Sacrifices to the Sun God • Carved out thousands of hearts

• Aztec decline under Montezuma II• War within Aztec empire

• Spanish conquistadors

INCA EMPIRE

• Civilization in the Andes mountains of Peru

• Conquered 2,500 miles of land on the west coast of South America

• Government controlled everything-similar to modern socialism• No private business

• Demanded tribute

• Civil war caused a decline of the empire

• Spanish take control

INCAN RELIGION

• Believed in many gods • Main god was the sun god

• Sacrificed llamas

• Sun temples covered in gold

• Machu Picchu-rediscovered in 1911

AGE OF DISCOVERYExplorers and Conquistadors

EXPLORATION EAST

• Europeans explored for “ God, Gold and Glory”• New trade routes established to collect exotic resources from Asia

• Wanted to spread Christianity

• Countries wanted to expand their empires

• Improved technology helped Europeans travel farther • Caravel

• Astrolabe

• Compass

PORTUGAL KNOWS HOW TO EXPLORE

• First to establish trade on the west coast of Africa • Gold, Ivory and Slaves

• Strong support of Exploration• Prince Henry “ the Navigator” – funded voyages and founded navigation

school

• Vasco de Gama- established trade around

tip of Africa to India

SPAIN WANTS IN

• Spain competes with Portugal over new trade

• Christopher Columbus- Italian explorer financed by Spain to find a trade route to Asia.

• Increased tension with Portuguese causing the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas • Created a vertical divide of new land.

• East- Portugal

• West- Spain

SPAIN EXPANDS INTO AMERICA • Christopher Columbus begins to colonize the

Caribbean Islands

• Hernando Cortes lands in Mexico and destroys the Aztecs• Wanted gold

• Had better guns, allied with local tribes and spread disease

• Francisco Pizarro- easily conquered the Inca Empire

• 200 vs 30,000

• Gained Gold

• Both men are considered

Conquistadors and not explorers

SPANISH INFLUENCE

• Relationships between Spanish menand native woman were common

• Created a large mestizo- mixed population

• Spanish leaders forced native population to farm, ranch and mine to gainvaluable resources

• Encomienda system was harsh and

many natives died

GREAT EXPLORERS Spain and Portugal weren't the only ones

ZHENG HE

• Chinese Muslim Admiral

• 7 voyages from Southeast Asia to East Africa

• Distributed silver and silk everywhere he went

to show Chinese superiority • Countries then started to pay tribute to

the Ming dynasty

• Ships were 400 ft. long

JAMES COOK

• British sea captain

• Claimed New Zealand and Australia for the British Empire

• British used the new land to place convicts from their overcrowded prisons

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN

• French explorer

• Sailed up the St. Lawrence river with 32 colonists

• Founded Quebec in New France (Canada)

FERDINAND MAGELLAN

• Portuguese explorer

• Sailed around the world

• Died during a war in the Philippines

• Only 18 men out of 250 survived the voyage

THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF EXPLORATION The Columbian Exchange

COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE

• Global transfer of food, plants and animals from the Americas to Europe • Corn, Potatoes, Livestock and Disease

VARIOUS FORMS OF TRADE • Growth of European empires createsnew systems of trade

• Capitalism- private business controlled the way that they make a profit. • Caused inflation in Europe

• Joint-Stock Company – investors combine money for a common purpose and then split the profits • risky because some ships wouldn’t make it

to the new world

• Mercantilism- power was based on wealth. • Countries wanted to be self sufficient