UNIT+1+-+IN+SEARCH+OF+GOLD


 * [[image:Columbian_Exchange.jpg width="270" height="293" caption="Trade ships"]] ||

Objective - After this unit the learner should be able to:

 * Define at least three events that led to the Columbian Exchange

__** Conditions in Europe 1492: **__

 * The Rise of Capitalism-** One aspect of the European Economic Revolution was the growth of ** capitalism **. Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership and the investment of resources, such as money, for profit. No longer were governments the sole owners of great wealth. Due to overseas colonization and trade, many merchants had obtained considerable wealth. These merchants continued to invest their money in trade and overseas exploration. The profits from these investments enabled merchants and traders to reinvest even more money in other ventures. As a result, businesses across Europe grew and flourished. The increase in economic activity in Europe led to an overall increase in many nations’ money supply. This, in turn, brought on inflation, or the steady rise in the price of goods. Inflation occurs when people have more money to spend and thus demand more goods and services. Because the supply of goods is lower than the demand for them, the goods become both scarce and more valuable. Prices then rise. At this time in Europe, the costs of many goods rose. Spain, for example, endured a crushing bout of inflation during the 1600s, as boatloads of gold and silver from the Americas greatly increased the nation’s money supply.


 * The Growth of Mercantilism**- During this time, the nations of Europe adopted a new economic policy known as **mercantilism.** The theory of mercantilism professed that a country’s power depended mostly on its wealth. It was wealth, after all, that allowed nations to build strong navies and purchase vital goods. As a result, every nation's goal was to attain as much wealth as possible. According to mercantilism, a nation could increase its wealth and power in two ways. First, it could obtain as much gold and silver as possible. Second, it could establish a **favorable balance of trade,** in which it sold more goods than it bought. A nation’s ultimate goal under mercantilism was to become self-sufficient, not dependent on other countries for goods. An English author of the time wrote about the new economic idea of mercantilism:

//**Mercantilism went hand in hand with colonization, for colonies played a vital role in this new economic practice. Aside from providing silver and gold, colonies provided raw materials that could not be found in the home country, such as wood or furs. In addition to playing the role of supplier, the colonies under mercantilism also provided a market. The home country could sell its goods to their colonies.**//

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 * Columbus' Voyage and His Search for Gold**-Columbus's initial 1492 voyage came at a critical time of growing national [|imperialism] and [|economic competition] between developing nation states seeking wealth from the establishment of [|trade routes] and [|colonies]. In this [|sociopolitical] climate, Columbus's far-fetched expedition scheme won the attention of [|Isabella I of Castile]. Severely underestimating the [|circumference] of the [|Earth], he estimated that a westward route from [|Iberia] to [|the Indies] would be shorter than the overland [|trade route] through [|Arabia]. If true, this would allow Spain entry into the lucrative [|spice trade] — heretofore commanded by the [|Arabs] and [|Italians]. Following his plotted course, he instead landed within the [|Bahamas Archipelago] at a locale he named //San Salvador//. Mistaking the [|North-American] island for the [|East-Asian] mainland, he referred to its inhabitants as "Indios". One of the primary goals of the expedition was to locate and recover riches from the Orient. When Columbus landed on San Salvador, he immediately began to seek out the gems and metals which the king and queen expected him to bring back to Spain. What he found, though not in large quantities, were small pieces of golden jewelry which the native people wore. He repeatedly asked them where they found the gold and demanded that they take him to the places they mentioned. On each island he visited, Columbus made finding gold a priority. =====

__**Conditions in America 1492:**__
B y 1492 people had lived in the Western Hemisphere (Americas) for tens of thousands of years. For much of this time it is believed that they experienced virtually no recorded, sustained contact with other parts of the world -- Europe, Africa, or Asia. M illions of people lived in an area some five times the size of Europe. In strikingly diverse habitats and climates they developed possibly the most varied and productive agriculture in the world. Their lifestyles and belief systems differed widely and they spoke hundreds of distinct languages. T hroughout the hemisphere, states and centers of high civilization had risen and fallen. The dynamic Mexica (Aztec) and Inca empires were still expanding at this time and internal migration and warfare were common. The peoples did not see themselves as part of an entity. Only later would this area be given a unifying name - America - and the people labeled "Indians" by Europe.

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**The following are the __five__ geographical areas of the region to represent the variety and complexity of peoples and cultures before and up to 1492: The Caribbean, Middle America, the Andean region, the South Atlantic, and North America. In order to understand what came to be called America we are often dependent on European observation.**=====

__**South America**__

 * 1) THE CARIBBEAN -- ISLAND SOCIETY**-- T he largest group of people living in the islands of the Caribbean were the Taínos. T he Taínos were known for their fine wood carving and hammocks woven from cotton. T he other major group living in the Caribbean were the more mobile and aggressive Caribs, who took to the sea in huge dugout canoes. By the late 15th century, the Caribs had expanded into the smaller islands of the eastern Caribbean from the mainland, displacing or intermingling with the Taínos.


 * 2) MIDDLE ATLANTIC CULTURES**-- B efore 1492, modern-day Mexico, most of Central America, and the southwestern United States comprised an area now known as Meso or Middle America. Meso American peoples shared many elements of culture: pictographic and hieroglyphic forms of writing; monumental architecture; a diet primarily of corn, beans, squash and chiles; the weaving of cotton cloth; and extensive trade networks. T he Mexica (Aztec) had formed a powerful state in the central valley of Mexico and conquered many neighboring states by the late 15th century.

**3) THE ANDES -- LIFE IN THE HIGHLANDS** O rganized states and advanced cultures had long flourished in the Andean mountain region. The Andean peoples had learned to freeze-dry foods by taking advantage of the daily extremes of temperature at high altitudes. They kept herds of llamas and alpacas in the //altiplano//, weaving textiles from the wool. Using irrigation and terracing, they developed varieties of potatoes at high altitudes; grew corn and coca at lower levels; and raised cotton in the lowlands. A rotating system of labor for public works that was traditional among Andean peoples was used to construct thousands of miles of roads.


 * 4) SOUTH ATLANTIC PEOPLES--** T he coastal areas of eastern South America and the interior of the Amazon basin were home to several million people at the end of the 15th century. The Tupí-speaking groups lived in villages in which related families resided together in large houses. They practiced slash-and-burn agriculture, and hunted and fished using blow guns and poison-tipped arrows. Manioc, a tuber, was their staple crop. They engaged in warfare and some groups practiced ritual cannibalism.

__North America__

 * 5) NORTH AMERICA -- DIVERSE TRIBAL SOCIETIES--** North America -- occupied today by Canada and most of the United States -- was home to hundreds of groups speaking a striking variety of languages and dialects. They lived in diverse settings, from the Algonquian of the eastern woodlands, to the Caddo and Wichita of the grassy Midwestern plains, and the Taos of the arid southwest. S ome North American tribes, like the Iroquois, were organized into large political confederations. Extensive trade networks - sometimes operating over long distances - allowed for the exchange of products such as animal skins, copper, shells, pigments, pottery, and foodstuffs.

**Activities Section**
(You should allow 15 minutes to complete the following 4 questions.)

MAKING INFERENCES
1. Why were colonies considered so important to the nations of Europe? List at least 3 reasons why you think they were so important.


 * Reflection:**
 * The philosophy of mercantilism
 * The notion of a favorable balance of trade

2. Provide an explanation of your understanding on the philosophy of mercantilism. 3. What do you think constitutes a favorable balance of trade? Provide your description of a favorable balance of trade.

**ANALYZING THEMES**
Economics- Do you think the economic changes in Europe during the era of American colonization qualify as a revolution? Why or why not?


 * Reflection:**
 * The legacy of the new business and trade practices
 * How the economic changes affected European society as a whole

4. Explain whether or not you believe the economic changes in Europe, during the era of American colonization, qualify as a revolution.

**COMPARE / CONTRAST**
(You should allow 10 minutes to review both videos and 5 minutes to complete question 5.)

Watch this video about the Columbian Exchange, as viewed through most traditional U.S. History textbooks: [|Chris Columbus and his plan to get gold]

Now, compare this to a more controversial video challenging some conventions of U.S. History textbooks on the Columbian Exchange: [|Christopher Columbus 1493 - on You Tube]


 * Reflection:**
 * Why is Columbus viewed as such a controversial figure in history?

5. Provide your historical perceptions of Columbus prior to viewing these videos. Have they changed after seeing the videos? If so, explain why? If not, also, explain why? Post your response to the Wiki Discussion Forum and reply to another student's post on this topic. Since this is an open forum, feel free to have an open discussion on this topic, however, please refrain from obscenities or racially offensive remarks out of respect for all students.

...Unit 2