India and South Asia

Contact with the Americas In 1001, Viking sailors led by Leif Erikson reached the eastern tip of North America. Archaeologists have found evidence of the Viking settlement of Vinland in present-day Newfoundland, Canada. The Vikings did not stay in Vinland long and no one is sure why they left. However, Viking stories describe fierce battles with Skraelings, the Viking name for the Inuit. Evidence suggests that Asians continued to cross the Bering Sea into North America after the last ice age ended. Some scholars believe that ancient seafarers from Polynesia may have traveled to the Americas using their knowledge of the stars and winds. Modern Polynesians have sailed canoes thousands of miles in this way. Still others think that fishing boats from China and Japan blew off course and landed on the western coast of North or South America. Perhaps such voyages occurred. If so, they were long forgotten. Before 1492, the peoples of Asia and Europe had no knowledge of the Americas and their remarkable civilizations. The Voyages of Columbus Portuguese sailors had pioneered new routes around Africa toward Asia in the late 1400s. Spain, too, wanted a share of the riches. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella hoped to keep their rival, Portugal, from controlling trade with India, China, and Japan. They agreed to finance a voyage of exploration by Christopher Columbus. Columbus, an Italian sea captain, planned to reach the East Indies by sailing west across the Atlantic. Finding a sea route straight to Asia would give the Spanish direct access to the silks, spices, and precious metals of Asia. The spice trade was a major cause for European exploration and a reason the Spanish rulers supported Columbus’s voyage. They also wanted wealth from any source. “Get gold,” King Ferdinand said to Columbus. “Humanely if possible, but at all hazards—get gold.” Crossing the Atlantic In August 1492, Columbus set out with three ships and about 90 sailors. As captain, he commanded the largest vessel, the Santa María. The other ships were the Niña and the Pinta. After a brief stop at the Canary Islands, the little fleet continued west into unknown seas. Fair winds sped them along, but a month passed without the sight of land. Some sailors began to grumble. They had never been away from land for so long and feared being lost at sea. Still, Columbus sailed on. On October 7, sailors saw flocks of birds flying southwest. Columbus changed course to follow the birds. A few days later, crew members spotted tree branches and flowers floating in the water. At 2 a.m. on October 12, the lookout on the Pinta spotted white cliffs shining in the moonlight. “Tierra! Tierra!” he shouted. “Land! Land!” At dawn, Columbus rowed ashore and planted the banner of Spain. He was convinced that he had reached the East Indies in Asia. He called the people he found there “Indians.” In fact, he had reached islands off the coasts of North America and South America in the Caribbean Sea. These islands later became known as the West Indies. For three months, Columbus explored the West Indies. To his delight, he found signs of gold on the islands. Eager to report his success, he returned to Spain. Columbus Claims Lands for Spain In Spain, Columbus presented Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand with gifts of pink pearls and brilliantly colored parrots. Columbus brought with him many things that Europeans had never seen before: tobacco, pineapples, and hammocks used for sleeping. Columbus also described the “Indians” he had met, the Taino (ty noh). The Taino, he promised, could easily be converted to Christianity and could also be used as slaves. The Spanish monarchs were impressed. They gave Columbus the title Admiral of the Ocean Sea. They also agreed to finance future voyages. The promise of great wealth, and the chance to spread Christianity, gave them a reason to explore further. Columbus made three more voyages across the Atlantic. In 1493, he founded the first Spanish colony in the Americas, Santo Domingo, on an island he called Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic). A colony is an area settled and ruled by the government of a distant land. Columbus also explored present-day Cuba and Jamaica. He sailed along the coasts of Central America and northern South America. He claimed all of these lands for Queen Isabella of Spain. Columbus proved to be a better explorer than governor. During his third expedition, settlers on Hispaniola complained of his harsh rule. Queen Isabella appointed an investigator, who sent Columbus back to Spain in chains. In the end, the queen pardoned Columbus, but he never regained the honors he had won earlier. He died in 1506, still convinced that he had reached Asia. The Impact of Columbus’s Voyages Columbus has long been honored as the bold sea captain who “discovered America.” Today, we recognize that American Indians had discovered and settled these lands long before 1492. We also recognize that Columbus and the Europeans who followed him treated the ancient inhabitants of the Americas brutally. Still, Columbus’s voyages did change history. They marked the beginning of lasting contact among the peoples of Europe, Africa, and the Americas. For a great many American Indians, contact had tragic results. Columbus and those who followed were convinced that European culture was superior to that of the Indians. The Spanish claimed Taino lands and forced the Taino to work in gold mines, on ranches, or in Spanish households. Many Taino died from harsh conditions or European diseases. The Taino population was wiped out. Still, the voyages of Columbus signaled a turning point for the Americas. A turning point is a moment in history that marks a decisive change. Curious Europeans saw the new lands as a place where they could settle, trade, and grow rich. Spanish Exploration Continues After the voyages of Columbus, the Spanish explored and settled other Caribbean islands that Columbus had found. They sought gold, land for crops, people to enslave, and converts to Christianity for the Spanish crown. By 1511, they had conquered Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba. They also explored the eastern coasts of North America and South America in search of a western route to Asia. In 1513, Vasco Núñez de Balboa (bal boh uh) crossed the Isthmus of Panama. American Indians had told him that a large body of water lay to the west. With a party of Spanish soldiers and Indians, Balboa reached the Pacific Ocean and claimed the ocean for Spain. The Spanish had no idea how wide the Pacific was until a sea captain named Ferdinand Magellan (muh jel un) sailed across it. The expedition—made up of five ships and about 250 crew members—left Spain in 1519. Fifteen months later, it cut through the stormy southern tip of South America by way of what is now known as the Strait of Magellan and entered the Pacific Ocean. Crossing the vast Pacific, the sailors ran out of food: Primary Source “We remained 3 months and 20 days without taking in provisions or other refreshments and ate only old biscuit reduced to powder, full of grubs and stinking from the dirt which rats had made on it. We drank water that was yellow and stinking.” —Antonio Pigafetta, The Diary of Antonio Pigafetta Magellan himself was killed in a battle with the local people of the Philippine Islands off the coast of Asia. In 1522, only one ship and 18 sailors returned to Spain. They were the first people to circumnavigate, or sail completely around, the world. In doing so, they had found an all-water western route to Asia. Europeans became aware of the true size of the Earth. How Did the Columbian Exchange Affect the Rest of the World? The encounter between the peoples of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres sparked a global exchange of goods and ideas. Because it started with the voyages of Columbus, this transfer is known as the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange refers to a biological and cultural exchange of animals, plants, human populations, diseases, food, government, technology, the arts, and languages. The exchange went in both directions. Europeans learned much from American Indians. At the same time, Europeans contributed in many ways to the culture of the Americas. This exchange also brought about many modifications, or changes, to the physical environment of the Americas, with both positive and negative results. Changing Environments Europeans introduced domestic animals such as chickens from Europe and Africa. European pigs, cattle, and horses often escaped into the wild and multiplied rapidly. Forests and grasslands were converted to pastures. As horses spread through what would become the United States, Indians learned to ride them and used them to carry heavy loads. Plants from Europe and Africa changed the way American Indians lived. The first bananas came from the Canary Islands. By 1520, one Spaniard reported that banana trees had spread “so greatly that it is marvelous to see the great abundance of them.” Oranges, lemons, and figs were also new to the Americas. In North America, explorers also brought such plants as bluegrass, the daisy, and the dandelion. These plants spread quickly in American soil and modified American grasslands. Tragically, Europeans also brought new diseases, such as smallpox and influenza. American Indians had no resistance to these diseases. Historians estimate that within 75 years, diseases from Europe had killed almost 90 percent of the people in the Caribbean Islands and in Mexico. American Indian Influences on Europe, Africa and Asia American Indians introduced Europeans to valuable food crops such as corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, tomatoes, manioc, squash, peanuts, pineapples, and blueberries. Today, almost half the world’s food crops come from plants that were first grown in the Americas. Europeans carried the new foods with them as they sailed around the world. Everywhere, people’s diets changed and populations increased. In South Asia, people used American hot peppers and chilies to spice stews. Chinese peasants began growing corn and sweet potatoes. Italians made sauces from tomatoes. People in West Africa grew manioc and corn. European settlers often adopted American Indian skills. In the North, Indians showed Europeans how to use snowshoes and trap beavers and other fur-bearing animals. European explorers learned how to paddle Indian canoes. Some leaders studied American Indian political structures. In the 1700s, Benjamin Franklin admired the Iroquois League and urged American colonists to unite in a similar way. Positive and Negative Consequences Through the Columbian Exchange, Europeans and American Indians modified their environments and gained new resources and skills. At the same time, warfare and disease killed many on both sides. Europeans viewed expansion positively. They gained great wealth, explored trade routes, and spread Christianity. Yet their farming, mining, and diseases took a toll on the physical environment and left many American Indians dead. Despite these negatives, the Columbian Exchange shaped the modern world, including what would become the United States.

Lesson 2: Plate Tectonics There are a few handfuls of major plates and dozens of smaller, or minor, plates. Six of the majors are named for the continents embedded within them, such as the North American, African, and Antarctic plates. Though smaller in size, the minors are no less important when it comes to shaping the Earth. The tiny Juan de Fuca plate is largely responsible for the volcanoes that dot the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The plates make up Earth's outer shell, called the lithosphere. (This includes the crust and uppermost part of the mantle.) Churning currents in the molten rocks below propel them along like a jumble of conveyor belts in disrepair. Most geologic activity stems from the interplay where the plates meet or divide. The movement of the plates creates three types of tectonic boundaries: convergent, where plates move into one another; divergent, where plates move apart; and transform, where plates move sideways in relation to each other. They move at a rate of one to two inches (three to five centimeters) per year. Convergent BoundariesWhere plates serving landmasses collide, the crust crumples and buckles into mountain ranges. India and Asia crashed about 55 million years ago, slowly giving rise to the Himalaya, the highest mountain system on Earth. As the mash-up continues, the mountains get higher. Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, may be a tiny bit taller tomorrow than it is today. These convergent boundaries also occur where a plate of ocean dives, in a process called subduction, under a landmass. As the overlying plate lifts up, it also forms mountain ranges. In addition, the diving plate melts and is often spewed out in volcanic eruptions such as those that formed some of the mountains in the Andes of South America. At ocean-ocean convergences, one plate usually dives beneath the other, forming deep trenches like the Mariana Trench in the North Pacific Ocean, the deepest point on Earth. These types of collisions can also lead to underwater volcanoes that eventually build up into island arcs like Japan. Divergent Boundaries At divergent boundaries in the oceans, magma from deep in the Earth's mantle rises toward the surface and pushes apart two or more plates. Mountains and volcanoes rise along the seam. The process renews the ocean floor and widens the giant basins. A single mid-ocean ridge system connects the world's oceans, making the ridge the longest mountain range in the world. On land, giant troughs such as the Great Rift Valley in Africa form where plates are tugged apart. If the plates there continue to diverge, millions of years from now eastern Africa will split from the continent to form a new landmass. A mid-ocean ridge would then mark the boundary between the plates. Transform Boundaries The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a transform boundary, where two plates grind past each other along what are called strike-slip faults. These boundaries don't produce spectacular features like mountains or oceans, but the halting motion often triggers large earthquakes, such as the 1906 one that devastated San Francisco.

India Where Is It? India is a country in Asia. Much of it is surrounded by water. To the south and west is the Arabian Sea. To the south and east is the Bay of Bengal. The capital of India is New Delhi (DEL-ee). It is part of the much larger city of Delhi. More than twenty million people live in Delhi and New Delhi. People. More than one billion people live in India. Only China has more people than India. Most Indian people live in the countryside. The cities do not have as many people. They are very crowded, though. Around half of the people in India make their living from growing food. They grow crops or raise sheep, goats, and chickens for meat. They do not raise cows for meat. Most Indians are Hindu. Hurting a cow is against the Hindu religion. Land. India has many mountains and different kinds of flat land. The mountains are in the north. They are the highest in the world. Rich land covers the north of India. It was formed long ago as rivers flooded over and over. In the west is the dry desert. In the south is raised, flat land. This land takes up more than half of India. In May or June every year, winds bring a large amount of rain. This is called the monsoon season. Most of India's rain falls during this season. Celebrations People in India celebrate many special days. Diwali (dih-WAH-lee) lasts for five days. During this festival, people light small candles. They shoot firecrackers and give sweets to family and friends. Holi (HOH-lee) is a spring Hindu festival. During Holi, people celebrate the end of winter. They throw colored water and powder on each other. Animals. Many kinds of animals live in India. It is the only country in the world with both lions and tigers. Elephants live in the flat lands and forests. The mountains are home to bears, foxes, sheep, and wild goats. India is also home to the world's largest mangrove forest. Here, tigers swim with sea turtles, sharks, and crocodiles. Conclusion. India is a country of many people. People farm its rich soil to feed the nation. Its mountains and forests are home to many animals. Which part of India would you like to see?

hysical features of Southeast Asia The physiography of Southeast Asia has been formed to a large extent by the convergence of three of the Earth’s major crustal units: the Eurasian, Indian-Australian, and Pacific plates. The land has been subjected to a considerable amount of faulting, folding, uplifting, and volcanic activity over geologic time, and much of the region is mountainous. There are marked structural differences between the mainland and insular portions of the region. Mainland Southeast Asia The mainland is characterized by a series of generally north–south-trending mountain ranges separated by a number of major river valleys and their associated deltas. In many ways these ranges resemble ribs in a fan, where the interstices are deep trenches carved by the rivers. Although the mainland as a whole is similar in a structural sense, its various geologic components and the time periods of their orogenic (mountain-building) episodes differ. Much of the region has been affected by the gradual, continuing collision of the Indian subcontinent with the Eurasian Plate over roughly the past 50 million years, an event that—with diminishing intensity from west to east—has been responsible for deforming the land. Nonetheless, mainland Southeast Asia is relatively stable geologically, with no active or recently active volcanoes and, except in the northwest and north, little seismic activity. The ranges fan out southward from the southeastern corner of the Plateau of Tibet, where they are tightly spaced. A major rib of this system extends through the entire western margin of Myanmar (Burma); describing an elongated letter S, it consists of (from north to south) the Pātkai Range, Nāga Hills, Chin Hills, and Arakan Mountains. Farther to the south the same rib emerges from beneath the sea to become the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Another major system extends along a straight north-south axis from eastern Myanmar east of the Salween River through northwestern Thailand to south of the Isthmus of Kra on the Malay Peninsula. It consists of a series of elongated blocks rather than one continuous ridge. The core of these blocks is granite, which has intruded into previously folded and faulted limestone and sandstone. The altitudes of the ranges diminish from above 8,000 feet (2,440 meters) on the Chinese border in the north to below 4,000 feet on the Isthmus of Kra, and the ranges are spread farther apart toward the south. The easternmost major mountain feature on the mainland is the Annamese Cordillera (Chaîne Annamitique) in Laos and Vietnam. In the portion between Laos and Vietnam, the chain forms a nearly straight spine of ranges from northwest to southeast, with a steep face rising from the South China Sea to the east and a more gradual slope to the west. The mountains thin out considerably south of Laos and become asymmetrical in form. The upland zone is characterized by a number of plateau remnants. The rather neat fanlike pattern of the mountain ranges is interrupted occasionally by several old blocks of strata that have been folded, faulted, and deeply dissected. These ancient massifs now form either low platforms or high plateaus. The westernmost of these, the Shan Plateau of eastern Myanmar, measures some 250 miles (400 km) from north to south and 75 miles from east to west and has an average elevation of about 3,000 feet. The largest of these features is the Korat Plateau in eastern Thailand and west-central Laos. This area actually is more of a low platform, which on average is only a few hundred feet above the floodplains of the surrounding rivers. It consists of a string of hills that direct surface drainage eastward to the Mekong River. The hills range in elevation from 500 to 2,000 feet, with the highest altitudes occurring near the southwestern rim. The broad river valleys between the uplands and the even wider deltas at the southernmost points contain most of the mainland’s lowland areas. These regions generally are covered with alluvial sediments that support much of the mainland’s cultivation and, in turn, most of its population centers. The most extensive coastal lowland is the lower Mekong basin, which encompasses most of Cambodia and southern Vietnam. The Cambodian portion is a broad, bowl-shaped area lying just above sea level, with numerous hill outcrops jutting above the landscape; at its center is a large freshwater lake, the Tonle Sap. To the south the river’s vast, flat delta occupies the entire southern tip of Vietnam. Outside the river deltas, the coastal lowlands are little more than narrow strips between the mountains and the sea, except around the southern half of the Malay Peninsula. The Malay Peninsula stretches south for some 900 miles from the head of the Gulf of Thailand (Siam) to Singapore and thus extends the mainland into insular Southeast Asia. The narrowest point, the Isthmus of Kra (about 40 miles wide), also roughly divides the peninsula into two parts: the long linear mountain ranges of the northern part described above give way just south of the isthmus to blocks of short, parallel ranges aligned north-south, so that the southern portion trends to the southeast and becomes much wider. In areas such as the west coast between southern Thailand and northwestern Malaysia, distinctive karst-limestone landscapes have developed. Peaks on the peninsula range from 5,000 to 7,000 feet in elevation.

ASEAN on the global stage Relations between ASEAN and other countries are conducted through ASEAN Plus Three, an annual meeting of ASEAN heads of state with the leaders of China, South Korea, and Japan; ASEAN Plus Six, which includes ASEAN Plus Three and Australia, India, and New Zealand; and the East Asia Summit, a meeting of ASEAN Plus Six with Russia and the United States. ASEAN summit meetings have occurred semiannually since the adoption of the ASEAN charter, and the organization’s agenda is overseen by a permanent secretariat based in Jakarta. The bloc’s diplomatic style has been described as “the ASEAN way,” a method of decision making that emphasizes noninterference, consensus, and personal, informal diplomacy, contributing to its growing influence and role as a major geopolitical entity. ASEAN has benefited enormously from Asia’s rise as a global center of power and wealth. By balancing relationships with the U.S., China, India, and the European Union, ASEAN is geographically and politically well situated to continue its extraordinary trajectory as one of the world’s fastest-growing trade blocs. As of 2023, ASEAN accounted for approximately 8 percent of global exports, putting it on par with the U.S. It is also central to two major free trade areas: the previously mentioned Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which includes Canada, Chile, Mexico, and Peru as well as Australia, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Vietnam. ASEAN also participates in global forums such as the United Nations (UN), World Trade Organization (WTO), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), advocating for developing countries’ interests.

Need for resources Find gold More land Find faster route to India & China Spread Christianity Sailors & warriors from Scandinavia 1st Europeans in North America Reached Newfoundland, Canada, 932 C.E. Found grapes, timber, furs Quit coming around 1010 Italian sent by Spain Tried to reach Asia Landed in the Caribbean islands in 1492 Made 4 total voyages Claimed land for Spain Italian sent by England Looked for route to Asia Explored the coast of New Foundland, Canada in 1497 Claimed land for England Made 3 voyages across the Atlantic Italian navigator on Spanish ship Wrote a popular book about travels North & South America were named for him Spanish explorer Crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513 1st European to reach the Pacific through the New World French explorer Sailed up St. Lawrence River looking for a NW Passage Named & claimed Canada for France Made 3 voyages to explore Canada Spanish explorer & governor of Puerto Rico Searched for a mythical “Fountain of Youth” Claimed Florida for Spain in 1513 Spanish conquistador Conquered the Aztecs in 1519-1521 Claimed Mexico for Spain Spanish explorer & conquistador Searched for the mythical “7 Cities of Gold” 1st European to see the Grand Canyon & American southwest Claimed land north of Mexico for Spain Englishman who sailed for the English and Dutch, 1609-1611 Claimed Hudson River and modern NY for Dutch Claimed Hudson Bay area for England French explorer Explored & established forts from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi River Claimed Louisiana for France

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