64 pages • 2 hours read

1491

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2005

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Download PDF

Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Themes

The Pristine Wilderness Myth

One of the main themes of 1491 is upending the idea that prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Americas were an undisturbed wilderness. This theme is an example of Eurocentric narratives that underestimate and de-emphasize the abilities of the Native civilizations encountered in the Americas. This theme originates from Europeans neglecting portions from the early accounts of conquistadors and explorers that spoke to the high population density of these communities, while favoring latter accounts, which stated that population density was low and that Native cultures did little to harness the land. Mann argues that this assumption is based on ignorance of the ecological effect of the pandemics that scourged the Americas in the years prior to European colonizers encountering Native cultures. Mann refutes the idea that natives did not alter their environments by pointing to the extensive ecological manipulations brought by large-scale crop engineering and slash-and-burn techniques of agriculture—techniques that were disrupted by the pandemics that devastated these societies.

For Mann, this theory has differing ideological motivations. On one hand, the "virgin soil" theory minimizes the effect of native civilization. By trivializing the effect that Native societies and civilizations had upon their environment, and instead leaning on an image of indigenous Americans as hunter-gatherers, this theory minimizes the sophistication of Native societies. In turn, this theory minimizes the intentional and unintentional damage done by the arrival of Europeans.

On the other hand, there is a popular, ecologically-minded assumption that holds an idealized image of indigenous populations living in perfect harmony with their environments. This is not true; as with any society, Native cultures in the Americas interacted and manipulated their physical environments. Some of these were successful—such as those of the Amazon region—while others were unsuccessful, such as the mounds of the Cahokia, in the modern-day American Midwest. These represent strong counterexamples to the myth of the pristine wilderness, and speak to both the depth of the native civilizations in the Americas and the calamities that befell them in the space of less than two centuries.

The Myth of the "Noble Savage”

Mann works to address and refute the concept of the "noble savage."This myth, Mann believes, undermines and trivializes the depth and sophistication of native civilizations in the Americas. Originated in a play by the English writer John Dryden, the myth of the "noble savage" concerns idealized representations of natives and native civilization. First and foremost, this view neglects the complexity of the political, even imperial characteristics of indigenous civilizations, such as the Aztec and the Inca. Similar to the idea of the pristine wilderness myth, the motivations for the myth of the "noble savage" arise from both positive and negative assumptions of native societies; regardless of the intention, however, Mann argues that these assumptions hamper our understanding of history, and promote ignorance.

In Chapter 3, Mann emphasizes the "imperial" character of the Inca Empire, both in its size (the empire was greater in square mileage than any contemporaneous nation in Eurasia), and its ambitions (its efforts to amalgamate the different identities and economies of the region under a single throne). In following the history of the Inca Empire up to the arrival of Pizarro, Mann highlights the complex power struggles and infighting for the empire's leadership, and the subsequent centralization of power during the 15th and 16th centuries. This manifestly "imperial" approach to centralized power, Mann argues, facilitated Pizarro's coup against Atawallpa, and the Inca Empire's eventual downfall.

In describing the well-known story of Tisquantum/Squanto, Mann exposes how idealism and Eurocentrism blend together in our traditional accounts of encounter. Contrary to the image of Squanto as the "Friendly Indian," Mann's account of the complex rivalries, alliances, and resentments of North American native confederations puts Tisquantum's aid to the settlers in a new light, one that illuminates a series of personal and political machinations of a veteran negotiator. The complexity of the indigenous subject, then, is an important theme of Mann's book, and works against the notion of the “noble savage.”

Speculative Peril

In addition to these corrections to popular and incorrect ideas of native civilizations and encounter, 1491 highlights the precarious, difficult nature of anthropology and archaeology, and, specifically, the effect of speculation on methods and conclusions. Often in the book, Mann describes situations in which a leading theory is dramatically upended by a new find or breaking research, only for these new findings themselves to be abandoned soon after due to another new finding. A fundamental limitation emerges from these stories: the absolute limitation imposed by our distance to the past. In the absence of direct contact with the subjects of research, speculation and theory becomes more and more prevalent. However, these elements invite with them greater possible for errors and assumption.

In addition to this, in his discussions on the history of modern archaeology and anthropology, Mann illustrates how incorrect assumptions infiltrate the understanding of well-meaning researchers and scholars. These assumptions, when baked in to theories, can persist for generations. One example of this phenomenon is the Clovis hypothesis, which is based off of a found trove of ancient artifacts discovered in North America. Because items from the Clovis site could be dated to around the same time as the proposed window for the land bridge that had once connected Siberia to what is now the US state of Alaska, it became assumed that the Clovis trove was the earliest example of Native civilization in the Americas. This, however, was proven wrong, as earlier dates. Part of the purpose of Mann’s text is to show that fields that rely as heavily on reasoned speculation as archaeology and anthropology must be prepared for theories and ideas to be overturned or dispelled.