Print bookPrint book

Lesson 2.1

Site: MoodleHUB.ca 🍁
Course: PAVE Social 10-1
Book: Lesson 2.1
Printed by: Guest user
Date: Monday, 15 September 2025, 2:14 PM

Description

Introduction

Table of contents

Module 2 Introduction

Introduction

What are the origins and consequences of historical globalization on Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples?

Some historians trace the historical beginnings of globalization to the first centuries of world history. Global contact for trade purposes was well-established throughout the world. The goods and technologies from one part of the world were very popular to the inhabitants of other parts of the world. There are historical maps of trade networks between Europe and Asia. From the perspective of many European empires, this trade network was vital to their power and wealth.

old-style world map

As demand for goods and technologies increased, those wishing to trade looked outward to new areas for such resources. European and Asian explorers embarked on voyages westward. This sparked the initial contacts between Europeans and Asians and the original inhabitants of the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Module 2 focuses on the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. You will explore primarily the early relationships between the Aboriginal peoples of North America, the Indigenous peoples of these lands, and the Europeans, the non-Indigenous peoples who arrived in these lands.

 

Old fashionned picture

Indigenous peoples: the original peoples of a region

Non-Indigenous peoples: inhabitants who arrived and settled in the land of the original peoples

Aboriginal peoples: defined by the Constitution Act (1982) to refer to Indian, Inuit, and Métis peoples of Canada

Module 2 Introduction Con't

The settlement of Canada by Europeans during the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries is the result of expeditions by European explorers to seek resources in North America. Other European explorers navigated routes in other directions that led to contact with the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Asia, and Australia. The relationships that emerged were diverse in nature. These relationships could be economic, social, and/or political in nature depending on the ideas, values, and beliefs each group brought with them. In some circumstances there were mutual benefits to contact between Aboriginal and European peoples. In other circumstances the resources were valued more than any possible relationships with Aboriginal peoples. These circumstances placed Aboriginal peoples in unequal relationships where the relationship to the land, the ways of life, and the resources were exploited for the benefits of European consummation and power.

First Nations Image

There are many perspectives on the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples or, as explored in this module, the Aboriginal and European peoples as they interacted in North America. You will develop understandings of the origins of globalization and the relationships and legacies—economic, political, and social—between these groups.

Newfoundland Map

What were the historical reasons and legacies?

Many of the global issues today have a basis in the historical contact and relationships that develop between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. In this section you will explore contacts and relationships. You will examine the factors that led historically to cultural contact between groups. You will explore the world views that shaped those relationships and the foundations that created historical globalization. You will analyze the relationship between historical globalization and the economic, political, social, and cultural legacies evident in the world today.

Lesson 1

Lesson 1—First Contacts

What led to contact between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples?

In this lesson you will examine the factors that fostered contact between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Geographically, you will examine the variables of location, distance, and resources of the Americas that led Western European voyageurs to travel across the Atlantic Ocean. You will look at how population growth and religious values and beliefs in Western Europe also influenced the drive to make contact with the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. As well, you will examine the economic factors that led countries such as Spain, Portugal, France, and England to approve of voyages of exploration and discovery to achieve economic wealth and power. The information you gather will support your inquiry into these questions:

 

  • What factors made contact possible?

  • Contact between the groups: what, where, why, when, and how?

  • In what ways did contact shape how each group interacted with each other?

sailing ship

Americas: the land of the Western Hemisphere: North America, Central America, and South America; also referred to as the New World in fifteenth-century European perspective

This will help you respond to the section question: What were the historical reasons and legacies?

The development of relationships can succeed or fail depending on first impressions. Consider your first impressions when you attended your first class. How did the impressions of your teacher and fellow classmates influence whether or not you looked forward to being in the course?

 More than just the fact that these were strangers to each other guided how the historical relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the Americas would develop. In the twenty-first century, much thought and effort is devoted to educating diplomats, businesspeople, and travellers about cultural etiquette, protocol, and body language. Taking the wrong step or making the wrong move could lead to failed diplomacy or business deals—even to an unsuccessful job interview.

Cirque du Soleil Artists Prepare for Performances in Macau

In August 2008, the famous acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil began a year-long schedule of performances in Macau.

Macau is a former Portuguese colony of Chinese–Portuguese heritage whose sovereignty was returned to the People’s Republic of China in 1999.

Acrobat

Explore 1

What factors made contact possible?

Although the story of Columbus is often told in the context of an “accidental” landing on the shores of North America instead of India, were there possible factors, such as geography, that led to first contact?

Fill in this chart while you read the following information and do your "Multimedia" activity.

Travel prior to the fourteenth century often took a long time and was challenged by physical terrain. Journey outside of one’s European community was a lengthy process, and any goods brought back were valued for their rarity as well as for the effort required in transporting them back to the community.

India and China were considered key suppliers of goods highly sought after by Western Europeans. Travel from Portugal and Spain was typically eastward to India and China. Advances in ship and navigation technologies by the fourteenth century offered opportunities to travel faster and further. You can view such advances by researching the background behind the astrolabe, caravel, and carrack.

When you look at a map, note that travel overland would cross through many countries and that sailing would require circling Africa to reach India or China. With the new technologies, countries began to compete to find faster access to supplies to profit from sales to markets at home. The Crusades made overland routes increasingly less friendly for European travellers.

Sparked by adventure and competition, a series of expeditions set out to find new routes around the globe. Prince Henry of Portugal (also known as Henry the Navigator) financed many sea ventures that made Portugal the leader of expeditions around the world. In 1492 Christopher Columbus petitioned the ruling monarchs of Spain to finance his own expeditions of discovery westward in search of a new route to India. Financed by the British monarch, John Cabot (a Venetian explorer also known as Giovanni Caboto of Italy) reached the coast of Newfoundland in 1497. Jacques Cartier sailed to North America under the French flag in 1534.

legacies: passed on from the past

In the perspectives of Western Europeans at the time, this was the Age of Discovery. These were voyages of discovery because Europeans knew very little about what laid to the west. They were unaware that they would find people who already inhabited these continents. These were peoples who were indigenous to the lands that Columbus and other explorers would discover. Many Europeans would refer to their lands as the New World. From first contact, diverse groups would enter into relationships that would create legacies that continue to be evident to this day.

The groups you explore are known by diverse names. Use this list for reference:

  • Indigenous peoples – the original people in any region

  • Non-Indigenous peoples – inhabitants who arrived and settled in the land of the original people

  • Aboriginal peoples – defined by the Constitution Act, 1982 to refer to Indian, Inuit, and MĂ©tis peoples of Canada

  • First Nations – the name used by the member nations of the Assembly of First Nations (as adopted by all chiefs in Canada in an Assembly of First Nations declaration, 1980)

  • Western Europeans – generally refers to members from countries such as England, France, Spain, and Portugal

  • Europeans – generally refers to members from the continent of Europe

Explore 1 Con't

Multimedia Component

Click HERE to complete the TWO multimedia activities - you need to scroll all the way to the bottom to complete both.(Learn Alberta)

Europe During the Age of Discovery

Read about the perspectives and economic, social, and political ideas that influenced Europeans during the fifteenth century.

Motives Leading Europeans to Explore Beyond Their Lands

  • the Renaissance ideals to learn, experience, observe, and understand other cultures

  • the extension of the religious motivations of the twelfth- and thirteenth-century Crusades to further the expansion of Christianity in the world

  • a belief that exploration and exploitation on the part of Europeans would acquire the luxuries, resources, gold, and silver that would rival the wealth of the kingdoms of the Far East

  • a belief that Europe was primed to claim empires in lands yet to be conquered

Significance of the Roman Catholic Church

Across Europe and Asia, three major religions existed in 500 BCE: Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. The religion of Europe in the eleventh century was primarily Roman Catholic. The Crusades of the eleventh to fourteenth centuries were in response to the growth of Islam.

The Roman Catholic Church was represented by members in the upper levels of feudal society. A village looked to the local priest for guidance at a time when very few could read the Bible. The pope and bishops of the Church held much power, land, and wealth. Catholicism was an accepted way of life up until the 1500s. It was the foundation of education, morality, and everyday life. To further spread the Roman Catholic faith, the Church endorsed many of the fifteenth-century expeditions such as those of Christopher Columbus and Bartholomew Diaz.

Religions Map

Explore 1 Con't 2

Rise of the Middle Class

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, European societies were based on the feudal system. This system clearly delineated an individual’s place in society. This structure is illustrated in the diagram.

Pyramid 

Monarch – This position in society was recognized as bestowed by God. The actions of the monarch were unquestioned because it was believed that the monarch’s actions were answerable only to God.

Clergy – Members of this group were recognized as the only authority capable of interpreting the word of God. Most of the clergy were drawn from the nobility.

Nobility – Members of this group held their land, privileges, and status through right of birth. The family passed down membership through the generations.

Serfs – The majority of society were grouped as serfs. Their relationship to the land and the noble who owned the land was passed down through the generations. Their major role was to work the noble’s land. Their well-being was dependent on the good will of the noble who owned the land.

The majority of the population would be found in the lower-ranking portion of the pyramid. Social status determined your identity and was passed down through generations.

With increasing life expectancy due to improved agricultural practices and urbanization, a middle class emerged in the fifteenth century. This middle class grew in numbers and in education. The structure of feudal society began to alter. These educated members of society were open to the ideas embraced by the Renaissance thinkers. These were ideas that held the ancient Romans and Greeks as role models, embraced life, and enjoyed the arts, music, and lifestyle of a member of Renaissance society. The shift in thinking also influenced how society was structured. Monarchs gained political power, and citizens identified closely with belonging to the monarch’s kingdom. The quality of life was improving in most of Europe. This led to surplus labourers. The colonies became the outlets for growing populations.

Mercantilism

Some form of capitalism existed in the Roman and Byzantine Empires as part of the system of commerce and trade. In feudal Europe, lending and building profit were discouraged. By the fifteenth century, capitalist activities grew out of increased trade and simple manufacturing of goods. Money was necessary for manufacturing and trade. The acquisition of money meant that profit had to be accumulated.

The business of outfitting armies for the Crusades generated a trade network that encouraged capitalism. A class of merchants and bankers emerged to finance new commerce ventures. The monarchs of Portugal, Spain, France, and England emerged from the feudal system with greater political powers and were quick to enter into the business of financing international expeditions in search of new sources of wealth. This created the system of mercantilism. Expeditions were sent to claim new colonies and sources of gold and silver for the monarch’s country. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this time period of intense European mercantilist activity became known as the Age of Mercantilism. 

Global Competition

tribute: payment imposed on the people for protection

Portugal was one of the first European empires to travel the ocean and enforce strict systems of tribute and taxation on each port it visited. Spain, France, and England joined in the search and control of wealth in new lands. This led to a fierce competition for colonial territories that resulted in many wars both in Europe and in America. The Seven Years’ War between France and England is one such example.

Notes for Explore 1

Notes

Capitalism is generally understood as an economic system based on four characteristics:

  • People have the right to private property.
  • The necessities of production, distribution, and ownership were in the hands of individuals and companies.
  • Individuals engage in economic activity primarily for profit.
  • Individuals compete to reach their economic goals.

Understandings of Mercantilism

  • The wealth of a country like Spain could be measured by the amount of bullion such as gold or silver that it possessed, supported by influx of bullion from the New World.
  • It was necessary to export more than import in order to maintain a balance of gold in its possession.
  • A system of international business ventures sponsored by the monarch to ensure the supply of bullion
  • Trade activities were strictly regulated.
  • Naval power was essential to maintaining the wealth and power, especially overseas.
  • Colonies could provide captive markets for manufactured goods and sources of raw material.
  • A large population was needed to provide a domestic labor force to people the colonies.

Explore 2

Explore 2

Contact between the groups: what, where, why, when, and how?

In this Explore you will work in a group to examine the contact established by Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups.

Stone Carvel

Assignment

Please see your First Contacts Assignment assignment.

Explore 3

Explore 3

In what ways did contact shape how each group interacted with each other?

Continue your exploration of first contacts. How did first contact shape how groups viewed and interacted with each other?

Cartier

Download to print or save a copy  – Comparing the Impacts of Contact. Record your observations about the two accounts of contact between Indigenous peoples and Europeans.  This is not for marks, but should be done.

In what ways did contact shape how each group interacted with the other? Research and analyze two historical accounts of contact between Indigenous peoples and Europeans. It may be about the contact between Aboriginal and European peoples in the Americas or between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples elsewhere in the world. You may use suggested resources available in the Online Reference Centre at LearnAlberta.ca. Contact me for suggestions for additional websites available in the Teacher Resource.

Lesson Summary and Going Beyond

Lesson Summary

Whether globalization affects people economically, socially, or politically, the outcomes for a group’s culture or language will vary. Drastic economic, social, or political impacts of globalization may lead to language and cultural loss for a collective identity. There are also opportunities to embrace and sustain a unique culture and language through the technologies that globalization can offer.

Going Beyond (not required)

Find out more about the issue of globalization, culture, and identity. Choose from the following activities to develop more understandings of how globalization can be an opportunity and/or challenge for groups of people.

  • Susan Aglukark and how she responds to issues of marginalization, assimilation, accommodation, and cultural revitalization from an Inuit perspective
  • Research the opportunities and/or challenges of one of these collective identities:

    • Ahwaz refugees in Iraq and Syria
    • San Paulo Apaches in the United States
    • Wamba Wamba peoples of Australia