HIS 17A Lecture 2: Before Columbus
Document Summary
Why the new world was(cid:374)"t so new: the new world was a world of its own prior to european colonization, many different empires existed, flourished, and fell. If something has history, it is constantly changing and evolving in response to pressure. Native americans have histories of their own, something disregarded when europeans colonized the americas: when the spaniards came to the americas, they enslaved indigenous people to excavate silver so that they may trade for valuable goods with china. Displacing the incas enabled the spanish to harvest silver. No civilizations were large, unified, or technically advanced enough to fight back european conquest. The people within the americas were very fragmented. Civilizations very close to being empires in the americas: cahokia was a massive mound culture that once existed in what is now known as. For about two hundred years it was the largest indian community north of. Mexico and it was a dominant force in the midwest.
