Historical Presentation

of africa, the americas, siberia, and oceania

The disruption

Ch. 16 Mid-Term Project Jaclyn Rose HIST 115

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Table of Contents

1. The Carribean

2. Mesoamerica + Andes

3. Ecological, Social, and Economic Factors

4. New Empires

5. The Plantation Zone

6. Silver

7. Hybrid Societies

8. Fur: A Lucritive Export

9. Another Disease Disaster

10. Australia

11. New Zealand

12. Hawaii

European discoveries of oceanic routes led to a globalization that will take a toll on the indigenous populations ranging from the Americas to Australia to The Netherlands. Conquests led by the British, Spaniards, Portuguese, and Dutch will leave a trail of disruption.

Background

The Indigenous or Taino people of The Caribbean (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico)

The Caribbean

• The densely populated island of Hispaniola was the perfect place for unfamiliar disease to spread
• More than 99% of the population within 3 or 4 gens was dropped due to infection

• In 1492, hundreds of thousands of Tainos populated the island, but with Spanish violence, enslavement, along with disease, this number plummeted
• By 1514, 26,000 Tainos were recorded
• By 1550 5,000 remained
• European migrants and African slaves came together to evolve the culture and language of not only Hispaniola, but other, less populated Caribbean islands like Jamaica, Cuba, and Puerto Rico

Montezuma, 9th Ruler of the Aztec Empire

Mesoamerica and the Andes

• While the loss of the Indigenous population in Mesoamerica and The Andes was smaller than in the Caribbean in terms of proportion, it was a bigger loss overall than other places in the Americas
• Disruption of political order and life in the village along with constant epidemics put the population of each region of Mesoamerica down 90% in just a century
• Attack on Tenochtitlán, led by Spanish Adventurer Hernán Cortés along with reoccurring epidemics left less than 1 million Mesoamericans by 1620
• In the Andes, waves of epidemics combined with civil war led to the overthrowing of the Inka Empire
• the Indigenous population plummeted
• in 1532 12-15 million lived, but by 1630 just under 1 million people remained.

Sustainable Development

• Indigenous populations in the Americas were impacted based on 3 factors: Ecological, Social, and Economic
• Ecological factors such as climate can determine the intensity of demographic catastrophe. Malaria introduced from Africa, carried by mosquitos will affect warmer parts of the Americas more than cooler parts. Fewer mosquitos = fewer cases of malaria
• Social chaos caused by settlers will affect the Indigenous population, as seen with Hispaniola
• Economic factors like warfare and enslavement will tamper with the population. From 1500s-1800s, 2 to 4 million Indigenous people were enslaved
• With these factors the Indigenous populations in the Americas will continuosly collapse.

Ecological, Social, and Economic Factors

• Cortés and Pizarro sought after gold and silver
• used advancements to sought after these metals in Mexico and Peru
• Large-scale silver mining was organized in Zacatecas and Potosí
• 40,000 TONS of silver came out of Potosí between 1540 and 1780s
• Through wage work and forced labor, silver was minted into coins
• Silicosis and other lung diseases, hunger, and pain prevailed
• mineworkers would work with wads of coca leaves in their cheeks to ease their hunger, thirst, and pains

SILVER

The Plantation Zone

• A transatlantic economy that stretched from the Chesapeake to Brazil, where the majority of African Slaves who were shipped across the Atlantic
• The Caribbean and northeastern Brazil acted as the heart of the zone, with sugar becoming the most profitable crop.
• the highest death rates came from the sugar plantations, leaving millions of Africans dead and millions more to replace them

HYBRID SOCIETIES

• Social and cultural changes were measured by changing languages in the Americas
• By 1800 many Indigenous tongues died out
• In the Plantation Zone, a combo of European and African languages developed, Creole
• Ex: Haitian Creole, Papiamento, and Patois
• Blending in Religion also occurred
• By 1800, people in the Americas mostly practiced forms of Christianity
• In the Plantation Zone, African religions were blended with Christianity, ex: Vodun and Catholicism

Yermak

FUR: A LUCRATIVE EXPORT

• Outsiders wanted fur from Siberia
• 16th Century East Asian and European elites demanded Siberian Fur
• Yermak, a Cossack, was a successful river pirate
• In 1580 he became a Conquistador drawn to Siberian fur
• Was hired by the Stroganovs to expand the fur trade from Siberia
• Died in 1585, but inspired Russians and other Cossacks into Siberia

• Pacific Islands like Australia harbored few diseases in the beginning, and locals lived free from infection.
• 1778 - European contact with these islands brought disaster
• Measles outbreaks in Fiji dropped 1/3 of remaining Fijians
• Epidemics were constant, killing fractions at a time
• Indigenous populations will continuously drop for 150 years after first contact

Another disease disaster

• Like Australia, there were few disturbances like disease and outside interaction in New Zealand
• In 1642, a Dutch captain visited but was soon driven away by the Maori
• 1840 is when the organized colonization began
• By 1885, the population was now at 1/2 million
• Due to new diseases and constant violence, there was a decline in the population until 1890
• The Treaty of Waitangi - the Maori agreed to become British subjects in exchange for land
• British settlers will break this treaty
• War from 1845-1872 will eventually end Maori independence, establishing NZ as part of British Empire

New Zealand

Australia

• In the 18th Century, the Aboriginal population of Australia divided
• 250 groups with their own languages
• In 1788, 1,000 settlers came to Australia, supported by the British Government
• Along with migrants and squatters, these settlers caused Aboriginals to be pushed off their land
• Through war and force, they were dominated and became part of the British Empire

Queen Lili'uokalani

Hawaii

• Before contact, the Hawaiian population stood at 400,000
• In 1778, the British will turn up
• King Kamehameha kept control over weapons with all his rivals being defeated from the 1780s - 1810
• The population will still decline due to diseases introduced by sailors and dropped birth rates
• By 1850 the population was at 75,000, 40,000 by 1890
• Settlers will soon outnumber the Indigenous population
• In 1890, the US deposed Queen Lili'uokalani, ending all Hawaiian monarchy
• In 1898 the US annexed Hawaii

Page 4: https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/pre-colonial-history/taino-indigenous-caribbeans/#:~:text=The%20Ta%C3%ADno%20were%20an%20Arawak,Haiti)%2C%20and%20Puerto%20Rico. Page 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moctezuma_II Page 9:https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yermak-Timofeyevich Page 12: https://www.biography.com/royalty/liliuokalani

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