AR+Chapter+1

Chapter 1 - Used to be one giant continent, now many - Great ice age 2 million years ago - Formed many lakes when glaciers left - People walked on ice to get to America - 54 million people already lived there when Europeans got there. - Mexican Aztecs shaped civilization - Corn was central in Native American life - All native cultures fell into decline around A.D. 1300 - Farming helped create more communities in Native America -  First people to find America were Norsemen from Scandinavia, didn’t want to expand though - Europeans raided Africa after realizing they could sail down the coast - Portuguese traded gold and slaves from Africa - Europeans wanted Asian luxuries without the price, turned to Africa - First slaves were native Africans - Slaves forced to work on sugar islands, shapes destiny of New World - Found water route to India in 1498 - Columbus thought Bahamas were in India, though it was new world - New food discoveries fed “old world” - All slaves were compensated for after a big population boom - Landed in Haiti and worked upwards - Discoverers spread all the way to Canada in two centuries - Indians adapted to using horses - Old world people brought many organisms on their clothes, plants - Also brought diseases that killed many Native Americans - After Spanish arrival almost entire tribe was wiped out - Almost 90% of Native Americans died from foreign diseases - So sever, certain cultures and ways disappeared completely - Spain and Portugal split “New World” - Conquistadors traveled far to get new supplies - Trade created capitalism and the bank system - Indians also became slaves - Spaniards invaded Mexico and wanted Aztec treasures for themselves - Aztecs thought cortes was a god and let him in   -  Aztecs attacked first but Spaniards won - Population of Mexico went from 20 million to 2 million - First American Settlement in Florida - Spanish wanted everyone to be Christian - Spanish missionaries found California and converted the native’s there to Christianity - Spanish people crafted their culture into many future Spanish countries