Pre-Contact Societies

• When the great civilizations declined, native peoples broke apart into small,
self-governing societies. But these groups faced difficult times. Often they had
to fight one another for land, crops, and valuable trade goods.
• Once again, people sought the advantages of living in larger communities.
Aztec and Inca Empires, two great empires dominated Mesoamerica.
• In what is now Peru, the Inca people created a vast civilization that included as
many as ten million inhabitants.
• Originally these people were part of smaller, independent groups. Over the years,
the Inca united the population under a single government and a new set of laws.
• In addition to creating a new political system, the Inca created many
important cultural and scientific advances.
• Inca achievements include an accurate calendar, an early clock, and a
system of paved roads that ran most of the length of South America’s
Pacific coast.
• To the north, in what is now Mexico, the Aztec people also created a major
civilization. The capital, Tenochtitlán, was an island in Lake Texcoco. The
city was built upon logs and mud and served as a natural fortress for a
population of more than 140,000 people.
• Like the Inca, the Aztecs united many small communities under a single
government. They did this by using military alliances and warfare to control
their weaker neighbors. Upon defeating their enemies, the Aztecs enforced
new laws, collected taxes, and demanded a share of crops and labor.
 Columbus’ Explorations(1492–1504)
• Before Vasco da Gama’s voyage, an Italian sailor and navigator
named Christopher Columbus thought he knew a faster way to reach
Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic, which he calculated to be a
shorter journey.
• Spain’s rulers, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, liked Columbus’
plan because they wanted a share of the rich Asian trade.
• The Queen also welcomed a chance to spread Christianity. After years
of waiting, Columbus assembled his ships —the Niña, the Pinta, and
the Santa María—at the port of Palos de la Frontera in southern
Spain. His fleet left the harbor on August 3, 1492.
The Fall of al-Andalus (1492)
The Columbian Exchange
 Spanish America

• Spain extended its reach in the Americas after reaping the benefits of its
colonies in Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America.
• Expeditions slowly began combing the continent and bringing Europeans
into the modern-day United States in the hopes of establishing religious
and economic dominance in a new territory.
• Juan Ponce de León arrived in the area named La Florida in 1513. He found
between 150,000 and 300,000 Native Americans. But then two and a half
centuries of contact with European and African peoples—whether through
war, slave raids, or, most dramatically, foreign disease—decimated
Florida’s Indigenous population. European explorers, meanwhile, had
hoped to find great wealth in Florida, but reality never aligned with their
imaginations.
Mustapha al-Azummouri (Estebanico)
Laila Lalami
 The Portuguese
• The Portuguese had been leaders in Atlantic navigation well ahead of
Columbus’s voyage. But the incredible wealth flowing from New
Spain piqued the rivalry between the two Iberian countries, and
accelerated Portuguese colonization efforts.
• This rivalry created a crisis within the Catholic world as Spain and
Portugal squared off in a battle for colonial supremacy. The pope
intervened and divided the New World with the Treaty of Tordesillas
in 1494.
• Lucrative colonies in Africa and India initially preoccupied Portugal,
but by 1530 the Portuguese turned their attention to the land that
would become Brazil, driving out French traders and establishing
permanent settlements.
• Gold and silver mines dotted the interior of the colony, but two
industries powered early colonial Brazil: sugar and the slave trade. In
fact, over the entire history of the Atlantic slave trade, more Africans
were enslaved in Brazil than in any other colony in the Atlantic World.
• Despite the arrival of these new Europeans, Spain continued to
dominate the New World. The wealth flowing from the exploitation
of the Aztec and Incan Empires greatly eclipsed the profits of other
European nations. But this dominance would not last long. By the end
of the sixteenth century, the powerful Spanish Armada would be
destroyed, and the English would begin to rule the waves.
•Europeans had three main goals during this age of exploration: first, they wanted
to spread Christianity beyond Europe. Many expeditions included missionaries,
or people sent to convert the native people to Christianity. Second, they wanted
to expand their empires. Third, they wanted riches.
•By increasing their wealth, European countries could gain power and security. An
economic system called mercantilism was the way Europeans enriched their
treasuries. For example, colonies provided mines that produced gold and silver.
They also produced goods, such as crops, that could be traded for gold and
silver. Finally, they served as a market for the home country.