Roots of the American People: The Earliest Americans

1. Ch. 1, Sec. 1 (Prehistory-1500 Roots of the American People: The Earliest Americans

2. Lesson Objectives • 1. Students will understand how people may have first reached the Americas • 2. Students will find out how people learned to farm • 3. Students will explore the civilizations of the Mayas, Aztecs and Incas.

3. Outline • The First Americans • The Land-Bridge Theory • Other Theories • Learning to Farm • Three Civilizations • Mayas • Aztecs • Incas

4. Key Terms • Glacier – thick sheets of ice • Irrigate – a method to water crops by channeling water from rivers or streams • Surplus – extra • Civilization – an advanced culture in which people have developed cities, science, and industries

5. The Land-Bridge Theory • Between 10,000 and 100,000 years ago, much of the world was covered by glaciers • As more water froze, the water level in the oceans dropped • Areas where shallow water had been turned into dry land • One of these such areas stretched between Siberia and Alaska • A bridge of land, many miles wide appeared, now it lies under a narrow waterway called the Bering Strait

6. The Land-Bridge Theory • The Land-Bridge may have appeared and disappeared several times • Scientists believe that the first people came to the Americans 20 to 30,000 years ago • They also believe that they were probably hunters, searching for large mammals such as the wooly mammoth • Hunting bands slowly spread across North and South America

7. The Land-Bridge Theory The Land-Bridge Theory (Video)

8. Other Theories • Not everyone accepts the Land-Bridge theory as truth, some believe that people may have first crossed the arctic waters by boat and traveled southward along the Pacific Coast • Known as the coastal route theory • Many Native Americans also dispute both theories, having their own creation stories which differ among each tribe

9. Learning to Farm • For most of early civilizations, hunting was the primary means of survival. • Game animals provided food, furs for clothing, and bones for tools • In time, after much hunting, many larger animals began to disappear • Deprived of their primary food source, hunters had to change their patterns

10. Learning to Farm • In many place, hunters became gatherers, moving from place to place looking for small game & plants • Around 8,000 years ago, gatherers in Mexico began growing food plants, including squash and lima beans. • The discovery of farming transformed life and led to the development of modern civilizations

11. Changes with Farming • No longer did families have to wander in search of food • In dry regions, farmers began to develop systems of irrigation. • They also learned how to raise animals such as cattle, pigs and llamas • With a more dependable food supply, the population grew much more rapidly • Native Americans began producing a surplus and trading with other groups

12. Changes with Farming • No longer did families have to wander in search of food • In dry regions, farmers began to develop systems of irrigation. • They also learned how to raise animals such as cattle, pigs and llamas • With a more dependable food supply, the population grew much more rapidly • Native Americans began producing a surplus and trading with other groups

13. Checkpoint Question How do scientists think people first reached the Americas? ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________

14. Checkpoint Question How do scientists think people first reached the Americas? Most scientists believe that the first people arrived by land.

15. Three Civilizations • The development of farming led to the development of cities • The development of cities led to the beginning of civilizations • Over the centuries, several significant civilizations rose and declined in the Americas. • The largest 3 were the Mayas, Aztecs, and the Incas

16. Mayas(250A.D. – 900A.D.) • The Mayas existed in what is now Mexico and Central America • They built splendid cities containing large public plazas lined with pyramids, temples, ball courts, and palaces. • They also developed arts, a system of government, and a written language. • Their observation of the stars led to the most accurate calendar available, until modern times

17. Mayas(250A.D. – 900A.D.) • They carved the stories of their Gods and their histories into the stones of their buildings • Around 900 A.D., they began to abandon their cities • Why this happened remains a mystery. Most agree that it was either disease or over-population • The Mayan language is the root of over 20 civilizations in Central America today.

18. Mayan Accomplishments

19. Mayan Accomplishments

20. Mayan Accomplishments

21. Aztecs • As the Mayan civilization declined, another was on the rise • The Aztecs built a great capital city, Tenochtitlan, on the site of present-day Mexico City • It was built on a series of small islands in the middle of a large lake • The city was connected to the mainland by stone roadways • Many farmers raised crops on floating platforms • More than 200,000 people resided here during the height of the Aztecs, making it the largest city in the world at that time

22. Tenochtitlan

23. Aztecs • The center of the city was a sacred place with dozens of temples that honored Aztec gods • Religion dominated Aztec life • To the Aztec’s, prosperity depended on the good will of the Gods • They, like a number of other civilizations, practiced human sacrifice as an offering to their Gods.

24. Aztecs • During the 1400’s, Aztec armies brought half of modern-day Mexico under their control • They had effective, but harsh rulers • Conquered tribes were forced to send treasure, food, and prisoners to the Aztec capital. • They also forced these conquered people to pay extremely high taxes • Resentful subjects would eventually turn on the Aztecs when they needed allies

25. Incas • In the 1400’s, the largest empire was in South America • The Incan Empire stretched down the coast of South America along the Andes mountains, across the Atacama desert, and reached the fringes of the Amazon rain forest

26. Incan Civilization

27. Incas • At the center of the Incan empire was Cuzco, their capital • It was linked to other cities by a great series and system of roads • They constructed buildings of huge stones, carefully shaped to fit together. • They built walls solid enough to contain soil, canals to carry water, and bridges over deep canyons. • They produced fine weavings and metalwork • They wore jewelry made from gold and silver

28. Checkpoint Question Where were the Aztec and Inca civilizations located? _______________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________

29. Checkpoint Question Where were the Aztec and Inca civilizations located? The Aztec civilization was in Central America and the Inca civilization was in South America.

30. Review • 1) Name one skill that people had to learn in order to grow crops • 2) What benefits could farmers get from learning to raise animals? • 3) What is a civilization? • 4) How did the Mayas and Aztecs fit the definition of a civilization?

31. Review Answers 1. ________________________________________ ________________________________________ 2. ________________________________________ ________________________________________ 3. ________________________________________ ________________________________________ 4. ________________________________________ ________________________________________