Questions tagged [new-world]
Questions related to the history of most of the Western Hemisphere, the term having originated in the 16th Century, being applied to North and South America in particular and nearby groups of islands including Bermuda and the Caribbean.
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Why was the Spanish kingdom in America called New Spain if Spain didn't exist as a country back then?
When the conquistadores arrived in America, the territory of current Spain was divided into multiple crowns/kingdoms but it wasn't what we know today as Spain. I understand at that moment the ...
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Where did the term "Indies" come from?
According to this Wikipedia article:
Exploration of the East Indies by European powers began in the last three years of the 15th century and continued into the 16th century, led by the Portuguese ...
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When did people learn that Columbus actually discovered a New World? [duplicate]
I know that Christopher Columbus never learnt that the land he discovered was actually a new continent. Until his death he thought that he reached Asia. There probably was a hypothesis in the very ...
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Did Stephen the Great know about the discovery of the New World?
I am from Romania, where Stephen the Great of Moldavia is considered a national hero, and is often talked about and studied.
I noticed that his reign coincides with Columbus's discovery of the the New ...
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What is the corruption that John Winthrop mentions in "Reasons for the Plantation in New England" (1628)
In John Winthrop's "Reasons for the Plantation in New England", we read:
The fountains of learning and religion are so corrupted that most children (besides the unsupportable charge of ...
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Were there any crops and livestock common to both the Old and New Worlds prior to the Columbian exchange?
The Columbian exchange (this is the correct spelling) transferred a diverse set of crops and livestock animals between the Old and New Worlds. However, I have begun to wonder if there were any crops ...
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What's the difference between Country Born and Mulatto people in the 18th century New England?
I have a history assignment and it's asking me to provide context of the table already provided that contains "background characteristics of New England Runaways."
To be specific, it states ...
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What does "Quivira" refer to? [closed]
I've found this term "Quivira", both here and in an old journal by some explorer published in the 1500s. What I'm confused about if is "Quivira" is a term that was applied to the ...
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What would be the pay for a child deck-hand in the 1600's?
There is this short story I am writing, and I want to be somewhat historically accurate in the details.
In the story, there is a young orphan boy who is serving as a deck-hand on a cargo ship from ...
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How did the conquistadors imagine the "lake of gold" to be like?
According to this article "Archaeology and Legend- How Old Is Acoma?", and a high school history textbook, some Spanish sent out expeditions to look for a "lake of gold". I've found scarce information ...
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Has there ever been a major migration from the New World to the Old World? If not, why?
Considerable research has been done on the ancient migration of humans from Northeast Asia to the Americas. Between that and Columbus, there were a few smaller migration events from elsewhere in the ...
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Was Columbus viewed as a failure at the time of his death?
Andrews (1984) writes:
In his day, Columbus was considered to be more or less a failure, but he opened the way for the success of others. His death in 1506 was scarcely noted.
Are the above ...
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Were there efforts made in the 19th century to inoculate the natives against smallpox?
I live in British Columbia and it is well known that, in the late 19th century, there was a massive crash of the native population. Up to 90% in some particularly unfortunate areas (Haida Gwaii, for ...
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Why did almost every ancient civilization have a found religion? [closed]
I'm studying to be an Anthropologist and I've always had this question but I cannot get a definitive answer. Almost every ancient civilization I have studied, whether it be in the Old or New World had ...
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Why didn't the Moroccans try to explore and conquer the New World?
Why didn't the Marinid try to discover and colonize the New World during the 15th and 16th centuries, like the Spanish and Portuguese?
They faced the Atlantic Ocean and had the power and the ...
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Did the people who initiated the trans-Atlantic slave trade think they were doing something new?
I'm trying to get at an insider's perspective on the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and on the institution of slavery in the New World more generally. Partly I'm puzzled by why it took until the 18th ...
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Did any civil resistence against the allied occupation of Japan exist?
I am looking for resistence against the allied occupation of Japan after the WWII.
What I've found:
There were soldiers, mainly on previously by Japan-occupied areas, who went into hiding after the ...
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Did Taíno natives ever work Spanish galleons?
Did Taíno natives work as slaves or sailors on 16th-century Spanish ships in early to mid-sixteenth century?
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What were the dominant Native American cultures in Eastern Canada and New England in the late 900s?
It's an oddly specific question, I know. Just to lay my cards on the table I'm writing a piece of short fiction about a small band of vikings that penetrates deeper into the American interior than any ...
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Did any European ever witness a major Inca religious festival?
Did any European witness an Inca religious festival?
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Why did not Spain manage to keep any colonial possessions in the new world?
It is well known that Spain had a huge presence in the colonisation and discovery of the new world. The Spanish empire is one of the largest in history and held vast territory in the Americas.
Still ...
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Were tobacco and marijuana ever competing products?
My question is whether tobacco and marijuana were ever competing products in Europe. It occurred to me that marijuana is an Old World plant, whereas tobacco is a New World plant, and therefore had to ...
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Did the treasure ship Cortes first sent from Mexico ever arrive in Spain?
When Cortes first arrived in Mexico in 1519, some of his men threatened mutiny, saying they'd return to Cuba instead of fighting Indians. To prevent this, Cortes committed one of the most daring acts ...
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Did any Native Americans adopt a script from Europe (before being assimilated)?
As far as I know, no Native Americans developed their own written language. (Correct me if I'm wrong. There may have been some numeral systems, but that's all I'm aware of.)
So now I'm wondering if ...
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Is the story "Conquistadors using plans of Constantinople in the new world" factual? [closed]
As someone from Istanbul, I have always heard stories and legends about the olden Roman city, when it was Constantinople. I am curious about the one I really like, whether it has any truth in it, or ...
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Was a copy of Bobadilla's report on Christopher Columbus really found in a Spanish archive in 2006?
As claimed in The Guardian
A transcription of the document is apparently available on JSTOR here, the section "Pesquisa Del Comendador Francisco de Bobadilla".
I cannot read Spanish and otherwise ...
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What was Pizarro's route between Spain and Peru?
What was the sea route generally used by Francisco Pizarro and his contemporaries to go from Spain to Peru (and back)?
Was it:
Sea route 1.: Through Panama Isthmus (with a passage in the land)
Sea ...
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How significant was the Fall of Constantinople as an event leading to the Age of Exploration?
I have been hearing that the Fall of Constantinople was the most important event that ultimately led to the Age of Exploration, mainly the discovery of the New World by Columbus and of the sea route ...
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What did Native Americans know, or speculate, about the Old world?
When Columbus "discovered" the New World, the Old World had little to no knowledge of it. What little was known was perhaps Greenland, and - based on accurate knowledge of the size of the world - a ...
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Did Portuguese fisherman visit New England prior to 1492?
This might blow your mind a little bit, but one thing I notice, living in New England as I do, that there are the remnants of a tiny Portuguese community here going way, way back. For example, there ...
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How quickly did the knowledge of the existence of the new world spread into the old world?
After Columbus's voyage to the new world, how quickly did this knowledge spread into the other parts of the old world? For example, when did the existence of the new world become "common knowledge" (...
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How did Europeans really conquer the Americas? [closed]
In school we (US centric students) were taught that the european settlers won over the Native Americans due to our superior technology (aka guns) and the native american's susceptibility to our ...
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Around the time of Columbus, were there other failed attempts?
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He sailed farther than anyone else had ever done, on three tiny ill-equipped ships. After days of sailing he finally reached his intended destination and ...
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How much did Native Americans steal from the Pilgrims? [closed]
In Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford mentions one instance of Native Americans stealing Pilgrims' tools while they were eating dinner. The tools were later returned after negotiating with ...
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Spain's tributary empire vs. Portugal's seaborne empire
While the Spanish built a huge colonial empire in the Americas, why didn't Portugal colonize the South Asian coast and only aimed at controlling trade?
Why did these empires pursue such different ...
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What was the role of a 'Tidy Man' and what might their duties have been?
In Hawthorne's 'Main Street' I came across the following passage:
there goes the tithingman, lugging in a couple ot small boys, whom he has caught at play beneath God's blessed sunshine, in a back ...
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Why didn't China try to explore or colonize the Americas? [closed]
The Ming Dynasty had, reportedly, one of the largest navies in the world during the 15th and 16th centuries, which is when the "New World" was being "discovered" by Europeans. They also had made ...
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What factors enabled Europe to conquer almost the whole world? [closed]
As we probably all know, after ancient and medieval times European countries traveled to almost every part of the Globe. Today's heritage are, among many others, Roman law and alphabet, Gregorian ...
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How was King Henry VIII able to get syphilis?
How did King Henry VIII get this disease when syphilis was a disease originating from the Americas?
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Could Columbus have suspected the New World lay on his path to India? [closed]
According to most historical textbooks Columbus made mistakes while measuring the size of the Earth. This led him to believe, that he can travel to India westwards in a reasonable time. This is ...
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Why did non prosecuted craftsmen go to the new world in the Roanoke era?
I've just been reading The Rise & Fall Of The British Empire by Lawrence James. In this book, James said that craftsmen, who were not prosecuted for their religion, went to the New World because ...
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Was there a bronze age in the Americas?
One of the answers to What are the factors that caused the new world civilizations to be less technologically advanced than the old world? made an interesting statement:
in terms of metalworking, ...
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What led Extremadurans to take a leading role in the conquest of Spain's territories in the Americas?
According to Wikipedia, other sources, and politically-incorrect stereotypes the majority of the famous conquistadors were from the present-day Spanish autonomous community of Extremadura:
Hernán ...
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Even though Spain and Portugal had many colonies (15th/16th C), what factors permitted UK/France to become world powers later (18th/19th C)?
Some of the first European countries to acquire colonies in the "New World" (and elsewhere) were Spain and Portugal. They "discovered America" (as the euro-centric interpretation goes), and had ...
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What are the factors that caused the new world civilizations to be less technologically advanced than the old world?
Assuming they started at the same point (maybe the split of the continents or the migration of what became the first "Native Americans" to the American continent), why did the Old World end up ...
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