History 161A - Winter 2004
Monday, January 05, 2004
Native America
* Native Americans encountered Europeans, but it was not an encounter from east to west. Rather there were Spaniards from Mexico, Russians from the north, and the French from what is now Canada.
Correcting Myths
* a textbook in 1987 said that the American Continents were empty and devoid of civilization
* Colonial America is a prelude to what became the United States
* hardy Europeans drawn to or pushed to the continent sought to recreate the European settlement and institutions
* Puritans sought to perfect the reform as Protestantism was created
Errands Into the Wilderness
* John Winthrop: "A City on a Hill." - the Puritans wanted the ideal Protestant colony
* view that the colonists wanted a better more perfect Europe enshrined in the 19th and 20th century
* Harvard historian Perry Miller, "Errand Into the Wilderness" (1956) - believed that the Puritans sought to build a model society
* the 2nd generation acc. to Miller lost this vision because in the 1640s, England went through civil war and looked like England was becoming the "city on a hill"
* they felt that the mission was lost to them and accomplished by others.
* After the Restoration, all of the English lost their mission.
* After the 3rd generation, they find out their mission was to found a new society which would lead to democracy and break from Great Britain.
* Prior to the 1970s, this was the dominating view.
The Atlantic World (Global narrative)
Influence of the 1992 Quincentenary
* Christopher Columbus landed on San Salvador in 1492, for Europeans it was an important watershed moment
* Smithsonian Institute launched a display to explore 1492
* Columbus Day pushed for by the Italian-American lobby
* however on the other hand, the Native Americans felt it was horrendous: to them Columbus' landing was the beginning of slavery and diseases that would wipe out 80-90% of the native population in some places.
* they suggested a more somber period of reflection and some suggested not honoring Columbus.
* To Native Americans, Columbus seen as akin to Hitler
* The Smithsonian Institution's exhibit "Seeds of Change" looked at the impact of the Atlantic World, a new global way to look at that fated year.
* Atlantic: became a bridge between the Old World and the New World.
* the exhibit looked at the ways Native Americans had to offer to Europe and the Old World, i.e. food like potatoes and emphasized exchange of unfamiliar items between the two worlds
* recognized that Native Americans were devastated by European diseases
* paradigm shift in the 1980s-90s - Atlantic World idea due to globalization (boundaries don't really matter)
The Native Americans' Old World: Pre-Columbian America
Origin Stories
* Native Americans' history began when either their ancestors fell from the sky (Iroquois) or emerged from the earth or entered the world from a log (Kiowa)
* 1492 - Population figures around 8-10 million north of Mexico.
* former ideas - they were savage and not worth learning about
* Now we have a better sense of their sophistication
* Natives emerged from the Bering Strait which was exposed as a land bridge around 75,000-8,000 years ago.
* the cooler climate froze the waters of Earth lowering the sea level, exposing the land bridge
* exhibits in Siberia found that date 30,000 years back
* the southern tip of South America - Monte Verde site in southern Chile dates back 12,500 years ago
* Clovis Points (NM) - 11,200 years ago
*Archaic Period - 8,000-10,000 years before the present, small hunting bands move into almost every area of North and South America
Conclusion
* how we think affects what we see as historians
* Different stories depending on whether you believe empty wilderness or peopled continent
* by 1492 - 375 languages, 6-8 cultural groupings.
* the stories differ whether the focus is on the nation (the United States) or global interaction with different actors, turning points, and agents.
* How do we come to know about Native American history?
* Colonial America was colonial, the encounter with Native peoples was central.
* Native Americans encountered Europeans, but it was not an encounter from east to west. Rather there were Spaniards from Mexico, Russians from the north, and the French from what is now Canada.
Correcting Myths
* a textbook in 1987 said that the American Continents were empty and devoid of civilization
* Colonial America is a prelude to what became the United States
* hardy Europeans drawn to or pushed to the continent sought to recreate the European settlement and institutions
* Puritans sought to perfect the reform as Protestantism was created
Errands Into the Wilderness
* John Winthrop: "A City on a Hill." - the Puritans wanted the ideal Protestant colony
* view that the colonists wanted a better more perfect Europe enshrined in the 19th and 20th century
* Harvard historian Perry Miller, "Errand Into the Wilderness" (1956) - believed that the Puritans sought to build a model society
* the 2nd generation acc. to Miller lost this vision because in the 1640s, England went through civil war and looked like England was becoming the "city on a hill"
* they felt that the mission was lost to them and accomplished by others.
* After the Restoration, all of the English lost their mission.
* After the 3rd generation, they find out their mission was to found a new society which would lead to democracy and break from Great Britain.
* Prior to the 1970s, this was the dominating view.
The Atlantic World (Global narrative)
Influence of the 1992 Quincentenary
* Christopher Columbus landed on San Salvador in 1492, for Europeans it was an important watershed moment
* Smithsonian Institute launched a display to explore 1492
* Columbus Day pushed for by the Italian-American lobby
* however on the other hand, the Native Americans felt it was horrendous: to them Columbus' landing was the beginning of slavery and diseases that would wipe out 80-90% of the native population in some places.
* they suggested a more somber period of reflection and some suggested not honoring Columbus.
* To Native Americans, Columbus seen as akin to Hitler
* The Smithsonian Institution's exhibit "Seeds of Change" looked at the impact of the Atlantic World, a new global way to look at that fated year.
* Atlantic: became a bridge between the Old World and the New World.
* the exhibit looked at the ways Native Americans had to offer to Europe and the Old World, i.e. food like potatoes and emphasized exchange of unfamiliar items between the two worlds
* recognized that Native Americans were devastated by European diseases
* paradigm shift in the 1980s-90s - Atlantic World idea due to globalization (boundaries don't really matter)
The Native Americans' Old World: Pre-Columbian America
Origin Stories
* Native Americans' history began when either their ancestors fell from the sky (Iroquois) or emerged from the earth or entered the world from a log (Kiowa)
* 1492 - Population figures around 8-10 million north of Mexico.
* former ideas - they were savage and not worth learning about
* Now we have a better sense of their sophistication
* Natives emerged from the Bering Strait which was exposed as a land bridge around 75,000-8,000 years ago.
* the cooler climate froze the waters of Earth lowering the sea level, exposing the land bridge
* exhibits in Siberia found that date 30,000 years back
* the southern tip of South America - Monte Verde site in southern Chile dates back 12,500 years ago
* Clovis Points (NM) - 11,200 years ago
*Archaic Period - 8,000-10,000 years before the present, small hunting bands move into almost every area of North and South America
Conclusion
* how we think affects what we see as historians
* Different stories depending on whether you believe empty wilderness or peopled continent
* by 1492 - 375 languages, 6-8 cultural groupings.
* the stories differ whether the focus is on the nation (the United States) or global interaction with different actors, turning points, and agents.
* How do we come to know about Native American history?
* Colonial America was colonial, the encounter with Native peoples was central.
