MJ+Chapter+1+Notes

CHAPTER 1  Some 35,000 years ago, the Ice Age started and sapped a large amount of water from the world’s oceans. Sea levels dropped drastically and caused the land between Siberia and Alaska to become exposed. With this land bridge between the two continents, the nomadic Asian hunters of the time most likely “immigrated” unintentionally by following herds of game. For 25,000 years, these nomads populated North America. Close to 54 million people were living in the Americas by the time Columbus arrived in 1492. The Native Americans relied heavily on the crop of corn, especially in Mexico and South America. The first Europeans to stumble upon the Americas were the Scandinavians in about 1000 AD. The silks, drugs, perfumes, spices, and especially sugar were all very expensive luxuries in Europe. Muslim middlemen took heavy tolls on the goods from Asia, especially from the Spice Islands. Europeans who were buying these goods were constantly searching for a cheaper way of acquiring them. With the development of ships that could sail more closely to the wind, sailing around the southern tip of Africa was a much more realistic trade route now. It was the Spanish who looked westwards first. With the Portuguese controlling the African coast as well as the trade route along the African coast, the Spanish had no other choice. During the 15th century, the European slave trade was started and was dominated by the Portuguese. In 1488, Bartholomeu Dias rounded the Southern tip of Africa and travelled all the way to India. In 1492, Columbus stepped foot on the shores of North America on October 12. Old World Sicknesses like smallpox, yellow fever, and malaria ravaged the Native American populations, killing close to 90 percent of them. Spain and Portugal laid claim to their discovery in the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. In 1532, Francisco Pizarro conquered the Incas and brought back large amounts of gold and silver. The Encomienda System meant that large amounts of Natives were given to Spanish missionaries to convert them to Christianity. It in a sense was slavery. For several centuries, Conquistadores and Native Americans fought over food, land, and religion.