0.2: Pre-Colonial America

Pre-Colonial America

North America was home to a wide variety of Indigenous tribes pre-colonization.
Before contact, "classical-style" civilizations did not exist
(eg. no specialized architectural styles, widespread empires, etc.)
no metalwork, gunpowder, wheels, written languages, or domesticated animals
Did have some components of modern-day society
Farming, sociopolitical structures, trade networks
Roughly 2-10 million Native inhabitants were here before contact. Roughly 80% were killed essentially immediately due to disease.
Environmental degradation often leads to the decline of civilizations.
Most Native groups were organized in tribes and lived off of natural resources available to them from the land they lived on.
Some came together to form confederacies (eg. the Iroquois Confederacy)
The concepts of higher powers and property were perceived very differently by Native peoples than by Europeans. Property was assigned for use rather than for ownership.
Although class distinctions existed, they were much less defined than those in Europe.
Women could be in charge of things (maybe Europe should've taken notes on that one) and were often religious leaders, and premarital sex was not taboo in most Native cultures.
(Generally less emphasis on female chastity + control than in Europe)
Many early Europeans viewed Native peoples as physically (in terms of attractiveness) and morally above themselves, a view which (though is fairly accurate), was short lived as Indigenous people were deemed "savages" by the majority of European settlers.
Many early-1500s Spanish colonizers came to the Southern US in search of gold, to no avail, but did however manage to kill millions of Native people with the diseases they brought.
Conversion efforts by the Spanish towards Indigenous peoples were often resisted and many eventually failed.
Although relatively unsuccessful in Florida, Spain was able to effectively colonize much of the Southwestern United States. Santa Fe was one of the most notable settlements, as well as the site of the first major uprising against European colonization.
Following this uprising, the Spanish once again began to use a less-binding approach to converting Natives, allowing them to retain at least some of their previous spiritual values.
The Black Legend is the idea that the Spanish unleashed "unspeakable cruelty" onto Native Peoples. While the concept is widely accepted as fact, the degree to which it is true is a point of controversy, and used by later European colonizers to justify their own repulsive behaviors.
As Indigenous peoples didn't have a written language, we have no record of their perspectives of everything that they experienced.
Most colonizers believed that Native peoples were "heathens" and deserved whatever cruelties they were subjected to.
When reading up on American history (and history/news in general) it's important to keep in mind the source material - who wrote it, why, and whose opinions are left out (and why?)?

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0.2: Pre-Colonial America

Pre-Colonial America

North America was home to a wide variety of Indigenous tribes pre-colonization.
Before contact, "classical-style" civilizations did not exist
(eg. no specialized architectural styles, widespread empires, etc.)
no metalwork, gunpowder, wheels, written languages, or domesticated animals
Did have some components of modern-day society
Farming, sociopolitical structures, trade networks
Roughly 2-10 million Native inhabitants were here before contact. Roughly 80% were killed essentially immediately due to disease.
Environmental degradation often leads to the decline of civilizations.
Most Native groups were organized in tribes and lived off of natural resources available to them from the land they lived on.
Some came together to form confederacies (eg. the Iroquois Confederacy)
The concepts of higher powers and property were perceived very differently by Native peoples than by Europeans. Property was assigned for use rather than for ownership.
Although class distinctions existed, they were much less defined than those in Europe.
Women could be in charge of things (maybe Europe should've taken notes on that one) and were often religious leaders, and premarital sex was not taboo in most Native cultures.
(Generally less emphasis on female chastity + control than in Europe)
Many early Europeans viewed Native peoples as physically (in terms of attractiveness) and morally above themselves, a view which (though is fairly accurate), was short lived as Indigenous people were deemed "savages" by the majority of European settlers.
Many early-1500s Spanish colonizers came to the Southern US in search of gold, to no avail, but did however manage to kill millions of Native people with the diseases they brought.
Conversion efforts by the Spanish towards Indigenous peoples were often resisted and many eventually failed.
Although relatively unsuccessful in Florida, Spain was able to effectively colonize much of the Southwestern United States. Santa Fe was one of the most notable settlements, as well as the site of the first major uprising against European colonization.
Following this uprising, the Spanish once again began to use a less-binding approach to converting Natives, allowing them to retain at least some of their previous spiritual values.
The Black Legend is the idea that the Spanish unleashed "unspeakable cruelty" onto Native Peoples. While the concept is widely accepted as fact, the degree to which it is true is a point of controversy, and used by later European colonizers to justify their own repulsive behaviors.
As Indigenous peoples didn't have a written language, we have no record of their perspectives of everything that they experienced.
Most colonizers believed that Native peoples were "heathens" and deserved whatever cruelties they were subjected to.
When reading up on American history (and history/news in general) it's important to keep in mind the source material - who wrote it, why, and whose opinions are left out (and why?)?