Unit 1: 1491-1607

By Sarah Bradstreet in 9 APUSH Historical Thinking Skills

The early interactions between the European explorers and the Native Americans are not as simple as many make it out to be. In this live stream, I cover what North America looked like prior to 1492. We also explore the various Native American tribes that inhabited North America prior to first contact. This live stream covers the first contact between Columbus and the Native Americans, and the video reviews key English, French, and Spanish explorers that came after Columbus. Lastly, this video delves into an explanation of the Columbus Exchange and a comparison of the views of Europeans and Native Americans. As a bonus, I also give students a chance to try their skills at a practice AP U.S. History SEQ on Period 1.

Join teacher Caleb Lagerwey for a review of the most important content of Period 1 plus study tips and sample questions.

Browse slides from the stream 'Recap of Period 1 for Quizzes. Potential Multiple Choice Questions,' where we cover topics including Colonization of North America, and review.

Columbus is such a controversial historical character. The Columbian Exchange led to dramatic changes around the world including a devastating decrease of native populations in the Americas while the rest of the world profited and increased populations because of the trade of new goods. In this review, Tom unpacks the historical lenses in which Christopher Columbus has been understood. No person in history has a straight forward story, but Columbus’ legacy is one of the most complex of any other figure.

Browse slides from the stream 'Columbus & the Legacy of Discovery,' where we cover topics including Colonization of North America.

By Sarah Bradstreet in 9 APUSH Historical Thinking Skills

The marker of 1491 serves a division between the Native American world and the world that came after European exploration, colonization, and invasion. In 1491, both North and South America were inhabited by flourishing, and highly complex civilizations. In particular, North America was home to hundreds of tribes, cities and societies. First Nations Peoples in North America are often grouped by similarities in their adaptations to the environments (desert vs arctic vs woodland societies).

New ships, such as the caravel, allowed for longer exploratory voyages. In August of 1492, Columbus used three caravels (la Niña, la Pinta, and Santa Maria), supplied and funded by the Spanish crown, to set sail towards India. After an arduous voyage, Columbus and his men reached land on October 12, 1492. At dawn Columbus went ashore and encountered a group of people who called themselves the Taino. He renamed their island San Salvador and claimed it for Spain. 

The Age of Exploration had a tremendous impact on the Native American populations of both North and South America. Diseases such as mumps, measles, typus, and smallpox ravaged the Native American populations. The Taino people, who greeted Columbus in San Salvador, numbered approximately 300,000 in 1492. By 1508, fewer than 100,000 survivors lived on the island. 

As disease and years of fighting diminished the Native American populations in North and South America, Europeans began looking for a new labor force. Africans were brought to the new world first to South America and then eventually to North America. An estimated 12 million African Americans were forcibly brought to North and South America during the slave trade (1500s-1800s). The conditions aboard the ships were horrendous. Slaves were kept chained in the steerage and it is estimated that millions of African Americans died during the voyage. The most brutal part of the voyage came to be known as the Middle Passage (the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean). Here is a first-hand description of the conditions inside the slave ships:

The clash of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans produced a new society in both North and South America. Columbus’ voyage started a long chain of events that led to the decline of Native Americans, introduction of new plants and animals, and the forceful removal of millions of Africans. The story of the United States of America began as these three worlds converged. In 1607, a group of English settlers arrived in Jamestown, Virginia as part of a joint-stock company. Like Columbus, these English settlers encountered a Native American tribe (Powhatan).

Causation is a chronological reasoning skill. It involves understanding cause-and-effect relationships throughout history. To demonstrate this skill, you should be able to: