Chapter 1: A Continent of Villages Prehistory – 1500

1. Chapter 1: A Continent of VillagesPrehistory – 1500 Mr. Logan Greene AP United States History West Blocton High School

2. Chapter Objectives • List the evidence for the hypothesis that the Americas were settled by migrants from Asia • Review the principal regions of the North American continent and the human adaptations that made social life possible in each of them • Discuss the reasons why organized political activity began in farming societies • Know the factors that led to the Iroquois Confederacy • What was life like for Natives prior to European arrival?

3. Settling the Continent • Approximate population of 70 million in 1492, mostly in South America and present day Mexico • Extremely diverse populations across North America • Different language • Food • Societies • North and West: Hunter/Gatherers, mainly nomadic • Northeast: Primarily fished and gathered • South: Farmed, used mainly techniques and crops gathered from Mesoamerica (Mexico)

4. Settling the Continent • The 70 million strong native population of the Western Hemisphere were represented by approximately 2,000 differing cultures • There was not a single physical characteristic that united all the native peoples with a variety of skin colors and builds although most shared a common dark straight hair type and dark eyes • Once Europeans realized the Western Hemisphere was indeed a “New World” questions arose over the origins of the native peoples

5. Migration • As early as 1590 the idea of a land bridge being the origin of native peoples was proposed • Modern day genetic studies show high similarities between Asian and Native American peoples with movement most likely occurring approximately 30,000 years ago • This would match with the presence of a land bridge from Asia to Alaska known as Beringia

6. Migration • Beringia was dry and perfectly suited for mammoth and other large mammals • It is highly likely that the large mammals travelled over first and then nomadic Asian tribes followed their food source across the bridge into North America • Later when glaciers melted these groups travelled down a route close to the Rocky Mountains and then spread across the continent (although it is also possible they moved in boats along the Pacific coast)

7. Migration • Two further migrations • 5000 BC: Athapascan migrate and are the ancestors of the Navajos and Apaches • 3000 BC: Inuits migrate in boats across the Bering straight (Beringia had disappeared) and colonize Alaska and upper Canada • It is believed these three total migrations brought the ancestors of all later Natives to the Americas

8. North American Technology • Early archaeological finds in North America are similar to Asian finds of the same periods • However, “Clovis” technology of sophisticated blades and arrowheads appeared approximately 10,000 years ago and spread throughout the continent quickly allowing the hunting of large game more efficiently

9. Ways of Life • About 15,000 years ago there was a giant global warming trend which ended the Ice Age • The giant mammals that dominated the Ice Age could no longer sustain themselves in the drastically warmer climate • As these animals became more scarce Natives in North America became more sophisticated at hunting and also focused more on the North America bison

10. Ways of Life • As the Ice Age ended the modern day southwest United States desert formed • The cultures who settled here founded sophisticated hunting and gathering strategies to survive in the brutal conditions • Their groups were normally small and survived on roots and small plant life in addition to trapping small the small desert animals

11. Ways of Life • East of the Mississippi America was one vast forest • Groups here were larger than in the desert • These native groups survived by hunting small to medium game and gathering the berries and nuts and other edible plant life that defined the area

12. Farming • The evolution of farming in North America began in the highlands of Mexico about 5,000 years ago and radically changed the ways of life for the native cultures • Even in this early stage of farming the Mexican societies had a vast array of crops including corn, squash, beans, and cocoa with corn being by far the most important • The Mexican’s new found skills spread quickly across the continent

13. Effects of Farming • Farming drastically changed the North American continent in several ways: • Tribes became less nomadic as they stayed in areas to cultivate crops • Tribes became larger and more separated into family clans as farming could support larger units • Societies grew as crops and jobs had to be managed throughout the year • Jobs became separated by gender as men hunted and defended and women farmed • Separation of groups grew and rivalries emerged over land and territory

14. Farming Revolution? • Historians formerly attached the idea of a “Revolution” to the change over to famring in North America • This can be misleading as the term revolution implies a quick change when archaeological evidence points to a change taking thousands of years that was originally resisted by many tribes but eventually accepted

15. The Anasazi “The Ancient Ones” • The Anasazi are an excellent example of farming extending out past the fertile areas of the continent • The Anasazi existed from around 1200 BC to around 1300 AD in the deserts of the southwest United States • Midway through their existence the tribe switched from hunter gathering to densley populated areas in cliff dwellings known as pueblos and sophisticated irrigation farming

17. Other Southwestern Tribes • Other tribes that existed and successfully flourished in the southwest were the Mogollon and Hohokam • The Mogollon were the first to develop a settled farming system in the area and utilized elaborate pit dwellings to help with water conservation and to adapt to the harsh climate • The Hohokam farmed and produced beautifully detailed pots and apparently had a flourishing trade network with the giant civilizations of mesoamerica

18. The Eastern Woodlands • The Eastern Woodlands natives created sophisticated farming cultures built on hunting • The Adena began the practice of farming in the area but quickly died out • Following the Adena the Hopewell appeared and began the practice of producing large elaborate burial mounds • As well, the Hopewell established large trade networks that existed as far as the Rocky Mountains

19. Mississippian Culture • As the Hopewell declined in the 5th century AD several new innovations (the bow and arrow, a new variety of corn, and flint hoes) led to the emergence of a new native powerhouse culture: The Mississippian • The Mississippians created settled urban centers such as Cahokia and Moundville, Alabama with huge mounds and complex farm areas • Just like the Anasazi they were complex societies with, societal structure, urban centers, and trade

20. Eve of Colonization • In 1492 on the eve of colonization the American continents had vast areas of populated Native American cultures • The best way to categorize it is through regional differences of the following areas: • Southwest • South • Northeast

21. Southwest • The Southwest was dominated by the arid conditions • However, the Ansazi and other Pueblo Indians had been cultivating their fields for centuries by the time of the European arrival while also still hunting and gathering • The groups lived in familial clans and had secret spiritual groups that along with elders governed the clan groups

22. The South • The South is the most suitable area for farming in the North American region • Groups here practiced settled farming and hunting gathering societies ruled by elder chiefs in the Mississippian fashion • As the Mississippians disappeared their descendants emerged as dominant groups: • Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, Powhatan,

23. The Northeast • The Northeast has a varied geography of lakes, rivers, mountains, and valleys coupled with a shorter mild summer and cold winters • Farmers, hunter gathers, and fishermen • One group dominated the area: The Iroquois Confederacy • The group was founded when several tribes continually fought over land • By the eve of colonization the Confederacy became one of the most powerful political entities in the world

24. Chapter Objectives Revisited

25. Chapter Objectives • List the evidence for the hypothesis that the Americas were settled by migrants from Asia • Genetic testing and archaeological evident (similarity of tools) • Review the principal regions of the North American continent and the human adaptations that made social life possible in each of them • Northeast: Fishing and farming • Southwest: Irrigation to farm • Southeast: Major farming and hunting • Discuss the reasons why organized political activity began in farming societies • More people in groups close to home, must protect and manage food resources • Know the factors that led to the Iroquois Confederacy • Serious violence led to the need to create a solid political force • What was life like for Natives prior to European arrival? • Many different cultures, relatively peaceful, advanced linguistic cultures