
Lecture notes for 9/3/99
Key words
-Amerigo Vespucci -Waldsem�ller
-Bering Strait -Maize
-Maya -Aztec
-Newfoundland -Labrador
-Norse -Syphyllis
-Conquistador
Lecture I (cont'd)
Christopher Columbus (cont'd)
-Tried to get funding from:
-King of Portugal
-King of England
-In the end, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella gave the money
-Ended in October 1492 in the islands of the Caribbean
-Columbus thought he found the Far East
-That's why he called the people Indians
-Made three voyages looking for China
-Died in 1506, a wealthy but bitter man
-Died thinking he found the Far East instead of America
-Amerigo Vespucci realized he found a new world
-The mapmaker Waldsem�ller named America after Amerigo and the
name stuck
Myths of Columbus
-Myth I: Because of these explorations, it proved the world was
not flat
-Not true...people already knew the world was a sphere,
they just didn't know the size of the earth.
-Myth II: Queen Isabella gave up her jewels for financial
support
-Myth III: Only people willing to sail with Christopher
Columbus were prisoners
-Records show that all but three men were experienced
sailors
-Too many people think that Columbus only made one trip
-Actually made 3 subsequent trips
*Possible Essay Question*
-The development of nation-states
-Development of capital
-Advances in technology
-Why Portugal took lead
Lecture II
-"New World" was only new to people in Europe
-Land had been occupied for thousands of years
-Indians originally came from Asia and migrated across a temporary
land bridge called the Bering Strait
-People began to migrate and people came to America for a long time
-Traveled farther and further south
-Indians grew to be people who settled down
-Used to be hunter-gatherer
-Weapons became more advanced
-The clovis point was created in about 10,000 BC
-Was a weapons technological breakthrough
-With the clovis point, they could hunt large animals
-Took a team hunt
-Called a clovis point because it was found in Clovis, New Mexico
in 1893
-Began to develop agriculture
-Once agriculture begins, surplus begins
-Capable of growing more than they need
-Surplus frees up time
-Some people can devote time to:
-basket-weaving
-pottery
-Specialists begin to start up
-Artists
-People start to ask what comes next
-Religion
-People who lived in area when Columbus came were different from
those on west coast
-Some Native Americans were nomads, farmers
-In South America
-Inca - Peru
-Maya - Central Mexico
-Aztec
Maya
-Built pyramids
-Had a complex writing system based on hieroglyphics
-Advanced mathematicians
-Interested in astrology
-Calculated the exact length of a calendar year
-Calculated to 365.2405 (computers to 365.2422)
-Understood the concept of "0"
-Mayan culture disappeared about 900 AD, no one knows what happened
Spain
-Encountered the Aztecs, brought sustained contact
-Scientists have discovered an early settlement by Norse in Newfoundland
-Though Eric the Red found America first, Columbus brought a
permanent settlement
-The contact in 1492 changed life forever
-This impact is called the columbian exchange
-The columbian exchange in the transfer of products
-Life changed for the Indians and the Europeans
-Exchanged:
-Animal life
-Precious metals
-Plants
-As a result, people are eating better
-Longevity
-More healthy children
-Diseases
-Syphilis: spread through sexual contact
-Outbreak of Syphilis in W. Spain in 1493
-Brought:
-Horses, most important
-Possession of horses was a status symbol
-Transportation
-Mules
-Cows: food, milk, leather
-Burrows
-Pigs: giant rats
-Sheep, goats
Americans had:
-Turkey
-Bison, buffalo
-Cougars
-Llamas: South America
-Armadillos
-Iguanas
-Condors: South America
-Catfish
-Rattlesnakes
-Flying squirrels
-Parrots and monkeys, becamse popluar pets
Europeans brought:
-Rye
-Wheat
-Rice
-Barley
-Melons
-Citrus fruits (oranges)
-Bananas
-Sugar cane
-Olive
-Coffee
-Daisy
-Dandelions, by accident
Americans had:
-Maize (corn) and potatoes, quickly became popular
-Beans, lima and kidney
-Peanuts
-Squash
-Tomatoes
-Pumpkins
-Dyes to color clothes
-Indigo (blue)
-Brazil wood, rusty brown
-Chichineal bug, produced red color
-Started a population explosion
-Diet improved with introduction of new produce
-Eventually, Europe becomes crowded
-Most people immigrate to America
-Europeans brought products made from iron (ex. swords, armor)
-Most important was the supply of silver from Mexico
-Also gold
-Conquistadors were looking for wealth
-3 G's: God, Gold, Glory
-Native Americans were made to work in the mines
-Spanish presence in the U.S.
-St. Augustine (1565)
-New Mexico (1598), O�ate founded Santa Fe in 1610
-De Soto and De Coronado