Prehistory to 1492

The First Americans

Essential Question: How did agriculture change the lives of early

people?

Migration to the Americas

Archaeologists continue to piece together the story of the first Americans.

Discoveries of archaeologists suggest that early Americans travelled across a strip of land that later sank into the sea.

Archaeology and Artifacts

Earth’s most recent Ice Age ended about 12,000 years ago. caused sea levels to lower exposed a strip of land running from

Northeastern Siberia to what is now Alaska. The land bridge, called Beringia, now lies

underneath the Bering Strait.

Crossing the Land Bridge

The early Americans were nomadsPeople who moved from place to placeGathered fruits and grainsMostly relied on hunting for food

Search for food took people as far as the tip of South America.

Searching for Hunting Grounds

When early Americans arrived from Asia…Most animals were bigger! Deer, elk, bear,

buffalo, etc.What you might not expect! Sabre Tooth Tiger,

Woolly MammothEarly Americans used every part of animals

that they killed for food.

Hunting for Food

Using every part of the animal!

About 15,000 years ago, the Earth’s temperature began to rise, causing Beringia to submerge and America to be cut off from Asia.

Woolly Mammoths and other large animals began to die out fromoverhunting and climate change. This forced early Americans to change as well.

Changing Climate

How could farming improve the lives of people who were hunters and gatherers?Farming could provide a steady source of food,

which could allow people to spend time on other activities.

Examples?

As the large animals disappeared, early Americans turned to other food sources. They hunted small game, caught fish, and gathered berries and grains. They also began to farm.

Settling Down

About 9,000 years ago, people living in what is now Mexico learned to plant and raise maize (an early form of corn) along with beans, pumpkins and squash.Provided steady source of food so they no

longer had to move from place to place. Allowed early Americans to spend time on

other things, improving quality of life.

Planting Seeds and Farming

Using carbon dating (measuring the amount of radioactive carbon in an artifact to estimate an artifact’s age) scientists have discovered villages that date from about 5,000 years ago.

Eventually, early Americans developed common customs and beliefs in their villages and they formed their own cultures, or ways of life.

Establishing Unique Cultures

 1. Who were the First Americans?

2. Where did they come from?

3. Why did they come to America?

4. Answer the Essential Question: How did agriculture change the lives of early people?

Making Connections

Essential Question: How did the early civilizations of Mexico and

Central American develop socially, politically and economically?

Cities and Empires

Present day Guatemala, Honduras and Belize.Planted maize, beans, sweet potatoes and

vegetables.Population may have reached 2 million

people.

The Maya

Built stone pyramids with temples on top• religious and governmental centers

Believed gods controlled everythingOnly priests knew the gods wishesTheocracy: a society ruled by religious

leaders

Maya Religion

Developed a 365 day calendar based on their knowledge of astronomy

Developed great mathematical skillDeveloped a form of writing called

hieroglyphics Maya traders traveled on roads carved out of

the jungleUsed canoes to trade up and down the

Mexican coast.

Counting, Writing, Time, Transport, Trade

No one knows!!Around 900 A.D., the Maya civilization began

to decline. Perhaps soil became too exhausted by erosion

and overuse to provide enough food for the huge population.

Decline of the Maya

Arose in 1325 near present day Mexico City.Tenochtitlan: Major City: One of the greatest

cities in the Americas.Attracted merchants who would sell their

goods at outdoor markets.

The Aztec

Militaristic Empire whose army marched through central and southern Mexico conquering nearly all surrounding communities.

Conquered people were forced to work as slaves.

Like the Maya, Aztec society was organized around religion.

Believed human sacrifices were necessary to keep the Gods pleased and to ensure good harvests.

Aztec War and Religion

The first Europeans to see the Aztec capital were in awe. In 1519, Hernan Cortes led 550 Spanish soldiers into Tenochtitlan. Cortes wrote,“There are forty towers at the least, all of stout

construction and very lofty…The workmanship both in wood and stone could not be bettered anywhere.”

Hernan Cortes, Five Letters

Eventually, the presence of Cortes and his European soldiers led to the collapse of the Aztec Empire.

A Great City Remembered

Largest of the early American Civilization stretching from present day Colombia to northern Argentina and Chile.

Founded around 1200A.D. State built on war and conquering with a

powerful army.Men between ages 25-50 could be drafted to

served in the military for 5 years and all were skilled with clubs, spears, sling shots and spiked copper balls on ropes.

The Inca

Population of more than 9 millionBuilt over 10,000 miles of stone-paved roads

through jungle, mountains and deserts to help control the large empire.

Cut terraces, or broad platforms into steep slopes to help them farm on mountainous land. Grew maize, squash, tomatoes, chili peppers, peanuts, cotton and potatoes.

Life in the Empire

Emperor was believed to be a descendent of the sun god.

To please the sun god, they made magnificent gold jewelry and temple ornaments.

Built cities devoted to religious ceremonies including Machu Piccu.

Incan Religion

Lived roughly from 1-1300 A.D. in the four corners (meeting place of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.)

Built great stone dwellings that Spanish explorers later called pueblos.

Pueblo Bonito – 4 stories high with hundreds of rooms

Anasazi also built dwellings in the walls of steep cliffs. These dwellings were easy to defend and offered protection from weather.

North American Peoples – The Anasazi

Anasazi Cliff Dwellings

In Central and South America, prehistoric Native Americans built thousands of mounds of earth that resembled stone pyramids of the Maya and Aztec.

Some were topped with temples, others served as burial chambers.

Mounds stretched from Pennsylvania to the Mississippi Valley.

North American Peoples – The Mound Builders

Mound Builders

Not the work of a single group of people but of many different groups of people.

The Hopeland were a mound building people who built mounds in the shapes of birds, bears and snakes.

In the mounds, archaeologists have found freshwater pearls, shells, cloth and copper. What does this tell us about these people?

Cahokia was the largest settlement of Mound Builders and was located in Illinois.

Mound Builders

1. What conclusions can you make about population density in North America before the arrival of Europeans?

2. Native American cultures in North America were well suited to their environments. Explain this statement.

3. What might be the danger in North American cultures becoming well suited to their environments?

Making Connections