AP US History WTW David Willmore

Period 05
The Meeting of Cultures
Chapter 1

Chapter Summary:
Before European explorers arrived in the Americas, Native Americans had developed many
forms of social organizations that differed from one another in their levels of achievement.
Europeans, concerned first with exploiting the New World and its peoples, regarded the natives
as savages and set out to destroy their societies and replace them with a variation of European
culture. The biological disaster brought on by smallpox and other diseases made it easier for
the Europeans to conquer the tribes and civilizations, and to impose on the Native Americans a
number of different colonial systems. In the Spanish colonies the Catholic Church was
instrumental in this effort. To help make up for the Native Americans’ labor lost through wars
and epidemics, Europeans brought in African slaves, who added to the cultural diversity of
America. Conflicts in the Old World spilled over into the new as different nations got into the
race for colonies, and the many connections between events in the Americas and the rest of
the world became apparent. By the end of the sixteenth century, the age of discovery was all
but over, and the great era of colonization, especially English colonization, was about to begin.

Points for Discussion:

1. What was the nature of the Indian societies and their geographic distribution before the
coming of the European explorers? What relationship existed between their subsistence
patterns and their general culture?
2. What "discoveries" were made in America before 1600? Which of these led to
colonization and which did not? What contributed to the success of these colonization
efforts?
3. What did the Indian cultures contribute to the Europeans, and why, despite these
contributions, did the invaders still think of the Native Americans as savages? (The
document in the Study Guide, in which John Smith describes his meeting with the Indians
will be useful in showing the attitude of Europeans toward Native American customs and
values.)
4. How were the Spanish and English motives for colonization different? How were they
similar? How were these motives reflected in the organization of the colonies they
established?
5. What was the social and cultural background of the Africans brought to America? How did
this background differ from that of the Indians? Europeans? In what ways were the
backgrounds of these people similar?
6. In what ways did England, Spain, and other European nations use the experience gained
in earlier exploration and colonization when they attempted to colonize America?
7. European colonization has often been said to have been motivated by "gold, God, and
glory." Assess this interpretation of the motives behind the European colonization of
America.
8. The arrival of Europeans in America resulted in a complex interaction of cultures. Explain
how this interaction was harmful and/or beneficial to both Europeans and Native
Americans.
9. How did the cultural interaction mentioned in question number 8 change with the arrival of
African slaves? Examine the origins of the African slave trade and the impact that Africans
had on the economy and culture of colonial America.
10. Who were the "positivists," and why has their approach to history been rejected by most
scholars today?

Main Themes:
1. The colonization of the Americas was a collision of cultures#the European and Native
American#that had been developing along completely different lines for thousands of
years.

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AP US History WTW David Willmore
Period 05
2. A variety of ambitions and impulses (such as international rivalries, the quest for wealth
and personal glory, and a desire to spread the Christian religion) moved individuals and
nations to colonize the New World.
3. The motives of the colonizers and their experiences prior to immigrating shaped their
attitudes toward Native American cultures.

Key Terms and Concepts: be able to identify and know the significance of the following:
1. Mayans, Incas & Aztecs 17. English Reformation
2. Woodlands Indians 18. Puritan Separatists*
3. Cahokia 19. Calvinist Puritans
4. Iroquois Confederation 20. Church of England
5. Five Civilized Tribes 21. Plantation model (Ireland)
6. Nation-States 22. Coureurs de bois
7. encomiendas 23. New Amsterdam
8. Ordinances of Discovery 24. Spanish Armada
9. St. Augustine 25. Roanoke
10. Pueblo Revolt (1680) 26. Black Death
11. Columbian Exchange 27. Mali
12. African slave trade 28. Merchant capitalists
13. English Reformation 29. Huguenots
14. Enclosure Movement 30. “Sea Dogs”
15. Chartered companies 31. Utopia
16. Mercantilism

Important People
1. Richard Hakluyt
2. Elizabeth I
3. James I
4. Sir Francis Drake
5. Sir Walter Raleigh
6. Prince Henry the Navigator
7. Christopher Columbus
8. John Cabot
9. Amerigo Vespucci
10. Don Juan de Ornate
11. Francisco Pizarro
12. Hernando Cortes
13. Ferdinand Magellan
14. John Cabot
15. Henry Hudson
16. Sir Walter Raleigh
17. Sir Humphrey Gilbert
18. Virginia Dare

Internet Resources
For Internet quizzes, resources, references to additional books and films, and more, consult the
text’s Online Learning Center at www.mhhe.com/brinkley11.

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Points for Discussion:
1. Answer
2. Prior to 1600, several discoveries were made in the Americas, including the “discovery” of
the continent itself, by early voyagers - such as Leif Eriksson in the eleventh century.
Knowledge of the initial contact with the Americas did not become widespread; even if the
knowledge of the continent’s existence had propagated, there would have been little
reason to follow the initial voyagers as European outlook was not yet focused outward. By
the late 1400s, however, enough central power had developed in Europe that interest in
exploration outward began to increase. ¶ Christopher Columbus sailed in hopes of
reaching Asia with the Niña, Pinta and Santa María in 1492. Instead of reaching his target -
Japan - Columbus landed in the Bahamas. Pushing on to what he assumed to be China,
Columbus then landed in Cuba. Returning again a year later, Columbus landed a colony on
Hispaniola. Additionally, in 1500, a fleet of Portuguese ships bound for India were blown off
course and landed upon the coast of Brazil. Later, Hernando Cortés led, in 1518, a military
expedition into Mexico resulting in, at first, a failed assault. Due to the Aztec’s exposure to
the European assailants’ diseases, a smallpox epidemic ensued, allowing the Spanish to
easily capture Tenochtitlán. Much of the resulting colonization of the New World was
assisted by the practical absence of the indigenous peoples, due to the wide spread of
European epidemics. After it was reported that silver could be found in Mexico, a rush of
conquistadores from the island colonies and Spain rushed to the new world, hoping to find
a fortune, much comparable to the later gold rushes elsewhere in the Americas. In 1564,
the first permanent settlement within the bounds of the present-day United States was
established at St. Augustine, Florida, serving as both a military outpost and administrative
center for Spanish presence in the region.
3. Answer
4. Initially, many Spanish conquistadors arrived in the New World interested only in getting
rich. However, after the initial onslaught, many Spaniards emigrated to the Americas in the
hopes of creating a profitable agricultural economy, helping to build the fundamentals of
European culture and civilization in the Americas, altering both the landscape and social
structures. Like the later British colonies to the North, the Spanish colonies were under
control of the thrown by the late 1500s. However, unlike the Spanish, the British were
mostly unsuccessful in regard to extracting gold and silver, leading to a more agriculture
based society. Also in contrast, the British (as well as the Dutch and French colonies to the
North) populated their own colonies by promoting family life, as opposed to the pittance of
settlers sent from Europe to the colonies by Spain. Instead, the Spanish opted to create a
ruling class over the remaining indigenous population. Motivation for the British was
created by what became known as the Enclosure Movement, which effectively evicted rent-
paying tenants from their land, forcing them to find elsewhere to provide sustenance.
Chartered companies, such as the Muscovy Company in 1555 or the East India Company
in 1600 were granted monopolies in specific regions for certain goods, resulting in fantastic
profits. These chartered companies were fundamentally based on the concept of
Mercantilism, which assumed that the nation was the primary factor of an economy, as
opposed to the individuals within it. Richard Hakluyt argued in favor of creating British
colonies, as they would become new markets for English goods in addition to relieving
Britain of its overpopulation.
5. Answer
6. England based much of its philosophy of colonization on the earlier colonization of Ireland,
in the mid-to-late 1500s. Learning from the effectiveness of vicious techniques to subdue
native peoples, the British applied the same methodology used in Ireland to the Americas.
Instead of attempting to integrate the existing indigenous society into their own (the
Spanish technique), the British opted to create a completely new society based
fundamentally on their own. Assumptions that the native peoples, with their own language,
religious beliefs and culture were barbaric influenced the British to screen them self off from
such “unrefined” peoples. The assumption that such people could not possibly be tamed
or integrated into British society led to the belief that the entire native culture should simply
be subordinated.
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7. Answer
8. The most obvious detrimental interaction between the Europeans and the Native Americans
would be the rampant smallpox epidemics that struck down as much as 90% of the Native
American population. Further detriments include the actions of Don Juan de Oñate; his
intolerant treatment and policies strained the relationship between the Spanish and the
Native Americas. However, after Oñate was removed as the governor, relations improved
between the two parties. The Spanish cultured a strong trade relationship with the Native
Americans, further working to convert the natives to Christianity and assimilate them into
their culture and population. The French worked with the coureurs de bois - trade agents
working for the Algonquin and Huron Indians - to trade pelts and other items from the
natives. In contrast, the British mostly relied upon an intermediary for trade with the Native
Americans, keeping sharp separation between the native peoples and their own citizens.
9. Answer
10. The “positivists” were a group of scholars who believed that, if groups of scholars analyzed
and discussed historical records, a definitive history of the time could be produced,
removing any controversy from the era. Most modern historians believe that it is
controversy at the heart of the effort to understand history, making the positivist position
fatally flawed. Differences of opinion occur not because of fallacies, but because, often,
“straightforward facts” are not as simple as they appear. While some facts are not in
dispute, many others are harder to definitively answer.