In addition to providing new food and technological items to both Native and European populations, interactions among the two populations introduced new diseases to people without immunity. One of the most significant effects of European settlement of the Americas was the Columbian Exchange. Priests out of Spain and France set up missions in different parts of the New World with often drastically different methods of conversion and varying levels of success. Of course, Europeans also migrated to the Americas in the hopes of Christianizing the Native tribes. And as events in Europe unfurled, like the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, claims to colonial territories thousands of miles away gained strategic political significance. After the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), Portugal claimed a solid foothold along the western coast of Africa, and Spain sent increasing numbers of settlers to South American silver mining and agricultural colonies.

Second and third sons of wealthy families who inherited nothing could either turn to the priesthood or find their way to wealth.Įuropean nations also did not want to come last in the increasingly intense race across the planet. Many of the Spanish conquistadors (conquerors) who ventured to the New World in the sixteenth century did so out of necessity due to laws of primogeniture, where the first born son inherited the family estate. When Europeans came to the Americas, they did so for three main reasons: Gold, Glory, and God. Tribes like the Chinooks lived in multi-family dwellings called longhouses. Native Americans in the Northwest practiced hunting and gathering as well as foraging for wild nuts and berries. Tribes like the Zuni and Anasazi lived in multi-family dwellings made of clay, which the Spanish called “pueblos,” meaning “village.” In the arid Southwest, tribes used a complex system of underground irrigation to provide water for farming. These tribes are also sometimes known as the Mississippi Mound Builders for their large earthen mounds in a variety of shapes and sizes. The Mississippi River Valley, home to tribes like the Cahokia, could sustain large and complex societies through agriculture provided by the Mississippi River’s rich sediment deposits. As a strongly matriarchal society, Iroquois women mostly tended to community affairs while men hunted. In the Northeast, tribes like the Iroquois thrived on a mixed economy of hunting and farming. The most critical knowledge for students to have of this pre-Columbian period will be the general cultural and economic traits of tribes by regional settlement, as well as an example of at least one tribe from each region. This includes the numerous Native American tribes and cultures that existed in the Americas before European exploration. The year 1491 signifies anything that occurred in the years before Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World.

In this early era, the focus is primarily on pre-British exploration and settlement of the Americas. Historical Examples of this Theme: Period 1 (1491-1607)

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