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Christopher Columbus

• An admiral that led seven large naval expeditions in the Indian Ocean. Explored the cost of East Africa. His purpose was not discovery, but to impress other people with China's might.
• Italian explorer, hoped to reach Asia by the west. Landed on an island in the Bahamas in 1492 thinking he had reached the East Indies in the Pacific.
• The capital of the Aztec Empire & largest indigenous city ever built in the Americas; located in the Valley of Mexico --> First step towards independent societies with good infrastructure

Date: 1492

• Dates: 1502
• Area Explored: Hispaniola
• Mixed of Indian and European ancestry, focused in Canada and America.
• Date: 1492

Area Explored: Caribbean and Central America

• Area Explored: Hudson River and New York
• Italian explorer, hoped to reach Asia by the west. Landed on an island in the Bahamas in 1492 thinking he had reached the East Indies in the Pacific.
• The French were hoping to find gold and a Northwest Passage to the Pacific, but only found a barrier. The Dutch encountered an abundant amount of fur-bearing animals and the Native Americans were willing to trade furs for European goods.
• Area Explored: Caribbean and Central America

Conquistadores

• Conquerors from Spain who went to Mexico and Peru in the 16th century.
• Dates: 1502
• -Examples:
• Dates: 1497

-Most famous: Cortes (Aztecs) established lasting reputation as most brutal, devastated the natives (smallpox)

• Before the Europeans arrived, the native population of North America consisted of numerous tribes with their own languages, religious beliefs, and economic and social structures. The Aztecs and Myians were the expection where they had centralized states.
• -Most famous: Cortes (Aztecs) established lasting reputation as most brutal, devastated the natives (smallpox)
• The Spanish empire one of the most populous parts of the New World and the regions richest in the natural resources. Spanish America an urban civilization, an "empire of towns." Encomienda system had a social hierarch: Spanish born, cueole class (Spanish blood but born in the Americas), Mestizos: mixed blood, slaves, and Indians. The Spanish were the first to include slavery in the Americas, needed labor intensive.
• King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain completed the "reconquest" of Spain from the Moors. African Muslims occupied part of the Iberian Peninsula for centuries. The capture of Grenada accomplished Spain's territorial unification

Cortes

• Native American Rebellion against the spanish. 2,000 spanish vs. 30,000 Pueblos -- priests were angry at native practices (not Catholicism), Spanish made them assimilate, but they were given more freedoms because of the revolt
• Area Explored: Caribbean and Central America
• The first explorer to encounter a major American civilization, arrived in Tenochtitlan. Conquered Aztec empire.

Aztecs/Incas

• Had freedom of the press, religious toleration, slavery (half freedom), married women retain legal identity, diversity, patroons at the top of the hierarchy, and recognized sovereignty over land.
• The Aztecs built Tenochtitlan largest city built at that point. The Incas was Peru, largest empire in the Americas.
• Mixed of Indian and European ancestry, focused in Canada and America.
• --from America: potatoes, maize, tomatoes

Tenochititlan

• The Spanish empire one of the most populous parts of the New World and the regions richest in the natural resources. Spanish America an urban civilization, an "empire of towns." Encomienda system had a social hierarch: Spanish born, cueole class (Spanish blood but born in the Americas), Mestizos: mixed blood, slaves, and Indians. The Spanish were the first to include slavery in the Americas, needed labor intensive.
• Dates: 1608
• Area Explored: Hudson River and New York
• The capital of the Aztec Empire & largest indigenous city ever built in the Americas; located in the Valley of Mexico --> First step towards independent societies with good infrastructure

Cahokia

• Major city, peaking at 1200AD, with a population of 10,000. Start of agricultural societies.
• Area Explored: Panama Isihmus
• The French and Dutch empires were primarily commercial ventures that never attracted large numbers of colonists. Both were more dependent on Indians as trading patterns and military allies. The French and Dutch settlements allowed Native Americans greater freedom than the Eng
• King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain completed the "reconquest" of Spain from the Moors. African Muslims occupied part of the Iberian Peninsula for centuries. The capture of Grenada accomplished Spain's territorial unification

Zheng He

• Area Explored: Mississippi River
• Area Explored: Caribbean and Central America
• Dates: 1513
• An admiral that led seven large naval expeditions in the Indian Ocean. Explored the cost of East Africa. His purpose was not discovery, but to impress other people with China's might.