Unit 1: The Exploration and Settlement of North America Topic 1: European Exploration

Paleoindians

Period: 10,977 BCE to 7977 BCE

These were the earliest people in what is now Ohio. They arrived at the end of the Ice Age after the Wisconsin Glacier retreated north.

Archaic People

Period: 7997 BCE to 477 BCE

The climate had warmed around 10,000 years ago after the Ice Age. Cuyahoga Valley began to resemble what you see today. The amount and variety of food increased dramatically but varied with the seasons.
Archaic people stayed in their seasonal base camps longer and lived in larger groups.
They used atlatls (spear-throwers) to hunt, stone axes to make canoes, and nets and bone hooks to fish.

Woodland People

Period: 477 BCE to 923

New belief systems became popular. Some Early Woodland people were part of the Adena culture. The Middle-Weblands period was the height of the Hopewell culture. People in Cuyahoga Valley did not leave behind the finely made objects found at southern sites.
The Woodland people are best known for building complex earthworks for ceremonies and as burial sites. Some of the most famous ones are in southern Ohio. In Cuyahoga Valley, these include unique hilltop enclosures that overlook the river.

Whittlesey People

Period: 923 to 1623

During the Late Prehistoric period, the Whittlesey people lived in Northeast Ohio. The Rocky River appears to be their territorial boundary to the west.
By 1650, the Whittlesey had abandoned their sites in the Cuyahoga Valley, about 100 years before the first Europeans arrived. They were likely displaced by warfare caused by the beaver fur trade. Their descendants are probably still alive, but call themselves by another name.

The First Crusade

1096

The First Crusade was formed to recapture Jerusalem for Christendom. Two groups of Crusaders take up the mission. The first was an informal band of brothers called the “People’s Crusade,” made up of untrained peasantry from across Europe and led by Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless. The second force comprised official fighters, also known as the “Princes’ Crusade.” it was led by the nobility, such as Raymond of Toulouse and Bohemond of Taranto, with better money, training, and equipment.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem is created

1099

The Kingdom of Jerusalem is created.
The First Crusade goal is accomplished.

Battle of Ascalon

Aug 10, 1099

The Crusaders, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, defeated the Fatimid army and its attempts to recapture Jerusalem. With the Muslim forces repelled the battle marks an end to the fighting and the conclusion of the First Crusade.

Launch of the Reconquista in Spain

1147

Launch of the Reconquista in Spain.

Launch of the Second Crusade

1149

Launch of the Second Crusade in response to the fall of the County of Edessa which had been founded by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1098.
Pope Eugenius III makes the announcement of the Second Crusade which was to be led, for the first time by European kings, Louis VII of France and Conrad of Germany. Islamic forces led by Zangi’s son, Nu red-Din.

End of the Second Crusade.

1149

The Muslim Seljuk leader Nur al-Din captures Antioch which was previously held by the Crusaders.

Beginning of the Third Crusade Known as the Kings Crusade

1187

Jerusalem falls to Saladin, who now has a mighty combined fighting force. Pope Gregory VIII called for the Third Crusade to recapture Jerusalem. Three European monarchs, Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, led the charge to capture the Holy City; for this reason, the Third Crusade is also known as the Kings’ Crusade.

End of the Third Crusade

1192

In September 1192, Richard and Saladin signed a peace treaty that reestablished the Kingdom of Jerusalem (though without the city of Jerusalem) and ended the Third Crusade.

Pope Innocent III called for a New Crusade

1198

Though Pope Innocent III called for a new Crusade in 1198, power struggles within and between Europe and Byzantium drove the Crusaders to divert their mission to topple the reigning Byzantine emperor, Alexius III, in favor of his nephew, who became Alexius IV in mid-1203.

Fourth Crusade Officially Begins

Nov 10, 1202

Zara laid siege by the Crusaders and taken from the Hungarians on the Dalmatian Coast. This was the first attack against a fellow Christian city by the Crusaders. Zara (Zadar) was a constant battleground between Venice on one side and Croatia and Hungary on the other, whose king, Emeric, pledged himself to join the Crusade. Pope Innocent III forbids such an action and threatens excommunication however the attack goes ahead anyway and Zara falls on 24 November.

End of the Fourth Crusade

May 9, 1204

The Fourth Crusade ended with the devastating Fall of Constantinople, marked by a bloody conquest, looting, and near-destruction of the magnificent Byzantine capital later that year. Count Baldwin of Flanders, as a result, is made the first Latin Emperor of Constantinople and crowned in the Hagia Sophia.

The Children’s Crusade

1211

It was an unofficial Crusade(never received papal approval). Nicholas of Cologne and Stephen of Cloyes of Northern France led their peers to form a band of child crusaders. Some who marched across the Alps to arrive in Rome even had an audience with the Pope.
Sadly, many did not survive the journey. Some would decide to stay in Italy to make their fortunes, while many of the French children were exploited by William the Pig and Hugh the Iron, who sold them into slavery and sent them on to Tunis.

Fifth Crusade

1216

Pope Innocent III called for the Fifth Crusade.
After the failure of the Fourth Crusade, Pope Innocent III began organizing armies led by Andrew II of Hungary and Leopold VI of Austria, soon to be joined by John of Brienne, titular King of Jerusalem.
The plan is to conquer Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by al-Adil, Saladin’s brother.

End of the Fifth Crusade

1221

The Crusaders surrendered Damietta and agreed to an eight-year truce in exchange for allowing the Crusader army to pass and free the prisoners of war.
The war ends, and the Crusaders return to Europe, achieving nothing for their efforts.

Sixth Crusade

1228

Under the ambitious leadership of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, who was keen to see his power restored.

End of the Sixth Crusade

1230

Emperor Frederick II returns to Europe demonstrating that success could be achieved without military intervention.

Seventh Crusade

1248

The Seventh Crusade was formed to attack Muslim-held cities in North Africa and Egypt and led by Louis IX.

Seventh Crusade Ends

May 6, 1250

Louis IX, leader of the Seventh Crusade, is released by his captors, the Ayyubid Dynasty.

Eighth Crusade Begins

1270

The Eighth Crusade was formed to attack Muslim-held cities in North Africa and led by Louis IX.

Eight Crusade Ends

1270

Troops disbanding led by Charles of Anjou. Caught up in a storm with many lives lost.

Final Crusade Begins and Ends

May 18, 1291

In 1291, one of the only remaining Crusader cities, Acre, fell to the Muslim Mamluks. Many historians believe this defeat marked the end of the Crusader States and the Crusades.
The Church organized minor Crusades with limited goals after 1291. Support for such efforts diminished in the 16th century with the rise of the Reformation and the corresponding decline of papal authority.

Spanish Exploration

1492

Explorer Christopher Columbus, funded by Spain, landed in
Present-day Bahamas in North America.

Christopher Columbus Journal Entry After Arriving in the Americas

Oct 11, 1492

The first encounters between Europeans and Native Americans were dramatic events. In this account, we see the assumptions and intentions of Christopher Columbus as he immediately began assessing the potential of these people to serve European economic interests.

Christopher Columbus Second Journal Entry After Arriving in the Americas

Oct 14, 1492

He also predicted easy success for missionaries seeking to convert these people to Christianity.

Christopher Columbus, letter to the King and Queen of Spain

1494

The following primary source is a letter written by Christopher Columbus to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, in which he advised that the Spanish Crown capitalize on the newfound lands by creating colonies and setting up structures for governance, focusing on the island of Hispaniola (Espanola), which is today Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

British Exploration

1497

Henry VII of England funded John Cabot’s voyage to find a northern route to Asia. Cabot reached what he called Newfoundland.

Spanish Exploration

1519

Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés marched on
Tenochtitlán and encountered Aztec ruler Montezuma II.

Spanish Exploration

1532

Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrived in South
America and encountered the Inca Empire.

French Exploration:

1534

Jacques Cartier sails to the New World for France in hopes of finding the Northwest Passage. Instead, he reaches what is now known as Canada.

Francisco Våzquez de Coronado explores the Interior of the USA

1540

Francisco Våzquez de Coronado explored the interior of the United States in what is now Kansas. Coronado was motivated by tales of seven fabulously wealthy cities with gold-paved streets. Coronado was one of a long list of conquistadors who set out to find Cibola. But gold was not their only motivation. It was also their intention to convert the indigenous people to Catholicism.

Bartolomé de Las Casas Describes the Exploitation of Indigenous Peoples,

1542

Bartolomé de Las Casas, a Spanish Dominican priest, wrote directly to the King of Spain, hoping for new laws to prevent the brutal exploitation of Native Americans. Las Casas’s writings quickly spread around Europe and were used as humanitarian justification for other European nations to challenge Spain’s colonial empire with their schemes of conquest and colonization.

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés sails to the Americas

1565

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, one of Spain's top naval officers in the 1500s, took up the challenge of finding gold in Florida. Four weeks later, he landed off Florida's east coast. Menéndez established a Spanish base. He named it Saint Augustine after the feast day Spanish Catholics observed on the day of the landing. A colony was built around this fort, becoming the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement anywhere in North America.

Richard Hakluyt, A Discourse Concerning Western Planting, Written in the Year 1584

1584

Richard Hakluyt used this document to persuade Queen Elizabeth I to devote more money and energy into encouraging English colonization. In twenty-one chapters, summarized here, Hakluyt emphasized the many benefits that England would receive by creating colonies in the Americas.

Samuel de Champlain explored the Caribbean for France

1601

Samuel de Champlain made great strides in French exploration of the New World. He explored the Caribbean in 1601.

Samuel de Champlain

1603

Samuel de Champlain explored the coast of New England in 1603 before traveling farther north.

British Settlement

1607

The first permanent English colony in North America was
founded in Jamestown, Virginia.

French Settlement

1608

Samuel de Champlain founded the first French settlement in North America. It was called Quebec and is in modern-day Canada.

Dutch Settlement

1610

Fort Nassau, a trading post near modern-day Albany, New York, was the first Dutch settlement in North America.

Autumn Harvest Celebration

1622

One day that fall, four settlers were sent to hunt for food for a harvest celebration. The Wampanoag heard gunshots and alerted their leader, Massasoit, who thought the English might be preparing for war.
Soon after their visit, the Native Americans realized that the English were only hunting for the harvest celebration. The meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat, different from today's traditional Thanksgiving feast.

FIRST ENCOUNTERS of the HO-CHUNK NATION and the FRENCH*

1634

Account of the first contact of the Ho-Chunk
(Winnebago) with explorer Jean Nicolet in
Green Bay in 1634, and the later marriage
of a French soldier to the daughter of a
Ho-Chunk chief, as related in the early
twentieth century to ethnologist Paul Radin.

King Philip’s War begins

1675

In the Northeast, colonists are aggressively encroaching on Wampanoag land and trying to establish settlements. Metacomet (also known as King Philip of Wampanoag) works with neighboring Wampanoags, Narragansetts, Nipmucks, Mohegans, and Podunks and leads a military action against the English. They respond violently, capturing and assassinating him. King Philip’s War begins.

Bacons Rebellion

1676

Historians often connect this event to the decline of indentured servitude and the corresponding rise of slavery within the British American colonies. The central figures in Bacon's Rebellion were opposites. Governor Sir William Berkeley, Berkeley's antagonist, young Nathaniel Bacon, Jr.egan with a local dispute with the Doeg Indians on the Potomac River. Chased north by Virginia militiamen, the Indians began raiding the Virginia frontier.

Pueblo Indians Revolt Against Spanish Presence

1680

Pueblo Indians mounted a massive resistance against the Spanish presence. The revolt is known as Pope's Revolt after Popé, the medicine man of the San Juan Pueblo, who led it. The Spanish were forced to flee, and for twelve years, the members of the pueblo resumed their lives without the cruel treatment of the Spanish.