Heimler History APUSH Notes

Unit 1

Topic 2
Big Idea: Before Europeans arrived, Native Americans organized themselves into diverse
cultures depending on where they lived.
●​ Some lived in fishing villages, some were nomadic hunter gatherers, some did
agriculture, others congregated in city-based empires

Geographic Locations:
●​ Central and South America - Boasted large urban centers, complex political systems,
and well formed religions
○​ Aztecs
■​ Lived in Central America, or Mesoamerica, called themselves Mexica
■​ Massive capital city called Tenochtitlan, 300,000 people
■​ Complex systems of irrigation
■​ Written language
■​ Priests upheld fertility
■​ Fertility upheld by human sacrifice
○​ Maya
■​ Occupied Yucatan peninsula
■​ Developed large cities
■​ Complex irrigation and water storage systems
■​ Giant stone temples and palaces for rulers
■​ Believed rulers were descended from the Gods
○​ Inca
■​ South America, established in Andes Mountains along Pacific Coast in
modern day Peru
■​ Massive empire, ruled 16 million people, covered 350,000 square miles
■​ Cultivation of fertile mountain valleys, grew crops like potatoes, watered
by elaborate irrigation systems
○​ All three cultivated maize (corn like crop), very nutritious crop, as it spread into
North into the NA Southwest it supported economic development, settlement of
people, irrigation, and social diversification
●​ Southwest of NA
○​ Pueblo people
■​ Lived in present day Mexico and Arizona
■​ Sedentary population, didn’t move around
■​ Farmers of maize and other crops
■​ Built adobe and masonry homes into open and sides of cliffs
 ■​ Highly organized society, administrative offices, religious centers, and
craft shops
●​ Great Plains and Great Basin
○​ These peoples were nomadic, not sedentary
○​ Needed a lot land because of aridity
○​ Ute People
■​ Lived in small egalitarian (equality), kinship based bands
●​ Pacific Northwest
○​ Settled into fishing villages
○​ Relied on elk in forests
○​ Chinook People
■​ Used cedar trees to construct giant plank houses, could house 70
members of same kinship band
○​ Chumash People
■​ Lived in present day California
■​ Hunters and gatherers lived in permanent settlements though. But had
enough game to support this
●​ Mississippi River Valley
○​ Larger and more complex society, because fertile soil allowed societies to stay
put and develop
○​ Hopewell People
■​ Lived in towns of 4-6k people
■​ Traded extensively with other regions
○​ Cahokia People
■​ Largest settlement in this region, counted between 10-30k people
■​ Government led by powerful chieftains, centralized government
■​ Extensive trade, great lakes to gulf of mexico
●​ Northeast
○​ Iroquois
■​ Lived in villages made of several hundred people
■​ Grew crops like maize, squash and beans (Three Sisters)
■​ Lived in long houses, between 30-50 of family members

Topic 3
Big Idea: Why did European states start exploring America, what happened what they did

Reasons for Exploration:

1.​ Population increase (rebound from Black Plague)
2.​ Political unification
3.​ Desire for luxury goods (imported from Asia)
Land based trade routes controlled by Muslims, Europeans couldn’t establish exchange with
goods on own terms
●​ Portugal is first major pioneer
○​ Prince Henry the Navigator attempts to find passage to Asia via Atlantic Ocean
(around Africa)
○​ Portugal established trading post empire
○​ Dominated indian ocean trade
○​ Harnessed maritime technology
■​ Caravels (nimble), dedicated only for trade
■​ Used updated maritime charts and astronomical tables for planning
■​ Used astrolabe and stern-post rudder, improved navigation
●​ Spain wanted to be involved
○​ Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand joined the trading game, with a goal of
spreading Christianity
○​ After establishing trading posts, Christopher Columbus seeks sponsorship to find
route to Asia by sailing West
○​ In 1492 Columbus set sail and a few months later landed in NA
■​ Thought was East Indies, but it was Caribbean, San Salvador
■​ Called inhabitants Indians
○​ NAs wear gold jewelry, Columbus knows they’re rich
○​ Columbus sails back and tells king and queen of the riches, enslaved some
Natives
○​ More Spaniards set out to explore, gave way to Colombian Exchange

Topic 4
Colombian Exchange - Transfer of food, animals, minerals, people, and diseases between
Africa, Europe, and Americas
●​ Transformed societies, economies, and environments of all three continents

Tenochtitlan fell to Hernan Cortes (conquistador) and his forces (only 1000 men!) due to
disease.

Things in Colombian Exchange:

●​ Disease
○​ When Spanish showed up with smallpox, it ravaged Native Peoples.
○​ Africa, Europe, and Asia built up immunity to these diseases
○​ Americas were isolated, so they had no immunity
○​ For example, when Spanish landed on Hispanolia, native Arawak and Taino
people were ravaged (300,000 people!)
○​ Also, in 1530 Inca had population of 9 million and and dropped to 500k a year
later.
 ○​ Aztecs, Maya, and surrounding regions had combined 40 million people, but 150
years later had population of
●​ Food/Animals
○​ America → Europe
■​ Maize
■​ Tomatoes
■​ Potatoes
■​ Cacao
■​ Tobacco
○​ Europe/Africa → Americas
■​ Rice
■​ Wheat
■​ Soybeans
■​ Rye
■​ Oats
■​ Lemons
■​ Oranges
■​ Pigs
■​ Cattle
■​ Chickens
■​ (These animals transformed diet of NAs)
■​ Horses (transformed farming and warfare)
●​ Minerals
○​ After Incan and Aztec empires were conquered, Spanish plundered for gold and
silver
■​ Spain became very rich, this motivated Europeans to return
○​ Wealth transformed the Americas and Europe itself.
■​ Experienced unprecedented economic growth
■​ Before this, feudalism was common, where peasants worked for
protection
■​ Capitalism took its place, free and open exchange of goods, private
ownership
●​ People
○​ Native Americans enslaved, taken back to Spain
○​ Transfer of enslaved Africans to America
■​ Captured and sold on African coast
■​ Crammed to ships
■​ Brutal Middle Passage (Atlantic), many died of disease and starvation
■​ Sold into bondage to highest bidders

Spanish colonization driven initially funded by Mercantilism - Depended on governmental

direction and intervention
●​ Exploration later privatized by Joint-stock companies - various shareholders own stock,
receive profits
 ○​ Limited liability - if the venture failed, nobody suffered full consequences

Topic 5
Big Idea: Labor system, societal hierarchy

Selling of people to slavery had long history before this

●​ Usually POW
●​ Slaves had some rights, not permanent
●​ Rarely inherited

Europeans transformed this, traded goods for peoples

●​ Most notably guns
●​ Many Africans came from communities, conquered by powerful Africans
●​ Further intensified raids
●​ Europeans saw them as strange beings
●​ Europeans adopted thought systems, justified slavery by inferiority
○​ For example, in the Bible, Noah’s son Ham gossipped about him being drunk,
Noah curses his son to be a slave. Europeans believe Africans descended from
the son Canaan, so it justified it.
●​ Spanish did this to solve labor problem, NAs were bad slaves
○​ Encomienda system - Introduced by Columbus, leading men called
Encomenderos granted portion of land, Natives that lived there became labor
force.
○​ Justification for this was spread of Christianity. Isabella and Ferdinand issued
legal document called Requerimiento. Issued by Pope, allowed to convert
whoever was found. To do this, priests were sent. If Natives cooperated, they got
protection. Otherwise, they were killed/subjugated.
○​ This system did not work, as Natives died, and knew land well, so they could
escape
○​ Solution was Africans to replace Natives, because they had good immunity and
didn’t know land
○​ Wealth coming to Spain transformed economy, silver prices rose and contributed
to poverty of poor
●​ Spanish imposed “caste system”
○​ Spanish government did this for taxes, determine who was at bottom
○​ Based on racial ancestry
○​ Lower you were, taxes were higher
○​ Peninsulares on top - born in Spain
○​ Criollos - Spanish, but born in America
○​ Castas
■​ Mestizos - mixed Spanish and NA ancestry
■​ Mulattoes - Spanish and African
○​ Africans
 ○​ Native Americans

Topic 6
Big Idea - How shaping of culture took place between Europeans, NAs and Africa, and
resistance to this.

Hegemony - Domination of one nation or group by another nation or group.

After 1573, Spain changed their methods of conquest - Instead of sending soldiers they sent
missionaries to convert Natives.
●​ Known as mission system

Missionaries had different worldviews regarding religion, land use, and family
●​ Natives were Pantheists/Animists, believed in natural world and spirits
●​ Spanish were Catholic, taught belief in single deity
●​ Natives believed land was spiritual, not a commodity
●​ Spanish believed land existed for private ownership
●​ Natives had kinship networks, up to 70 people
●​ Spanish focused on nuclear family, set of parents and children

Both groups adopted parts of each other’s culture

●​ Native Americans wanted European metal tools - farming, hunting
●​ Also wanted horses and guns for warfare
●​ Europeans wanted fur trade, arranged marriages with NA women for trading rights

However, differences led to misunderstandings

●​ The mission system worked at times
○​ For example, Pueblo were converted
○​ However, Pueblo still worshiped their “natural” gods, didn’t understand exclusivity
to Christ
○​ When priests tried to end this, some Native groups resisted, while others revolted
○​ Pueblo revolt
■​ In 1610, conquistadors established rule in New Mexico area, through
mission system FORCED conversion Pueblo to Christianity
■​ Pueblo faced problems like drought and invasions and blamed it on
Spanish and Christ (led by Po’pay)
■​ They revolted, killing ~400 Spaniards and burned down churches,
Spanish fled
■​ Spanish came back and reconquered 12 years later
○​ News reached back to Spain, King Charles brought priests, philosophers and
jurors to discuss this
■​ Many believed Indians were inferior, the invasions were good for them,
believed they were less than humans
■​ Some defended Indians, main guy was priest named Bartolome de Las
Casas
●​ Argued if Spain kept brutalizing, their souls would be lost to God
●​ Those that survived would had Christianity
●​ De Las Casas argued that Encomienda system and slavery was
bad for them
●​ Suggested that Africans replaced Natives in enslaved labors,
Spain did this.