AMERICA BEFORE EUROPEAN COLONIZATION

The Divide & Conquer Principle Why did the Indians lose to the European settlers? The importance of **coordinated effort cannot be over-emphasized

Migration Patterns of the “First Americans” The most likely route: **Siberia to Bering Straits to North America

How travel was possible? Earth’s climate considerably colder than today Huge glaciers covered region

The Date? Speculation is 30,000 years ago Immigration Patterns Took place over thousands of years Involved small, independent, nomadic bands **The motivation Pursuit of food Pursuit of warmer climate

Cultural Patterns in America Before Colonization Hunter-gatherer culture Hunters developed the tools to kill their prey Staple grains for food: rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, millet, & barley

Development of agricultural, sedentary lifestyles Farming as early as 2000 B. C. **Principal crops :Maize (corn), beans, squash Intensive farming in southwest & east coast by 1 st century A.D. General impact of farming: Establishment of permanent villages Epansion of population due to increased, more regular food supply

Where Europeans met Indians The upshot was a radical alteration of the lifestyle of the Native Americans

Indian population north of 15 th century Mexico **About 4 million **In A. D. 1200, there was a large ceremonial center near St. Louis with a population larger than medieval London

Eastern Woodland Cultures Algonquin Indians Tribes did not practice intensive agriculture **Tribes numbered less than 1 million at time Europeans arrived Algonquin-speaking people encountered 1 st by European immigrants Initial response was curiosity rather than hostility Interest in trade **General resistance to adoption of European culture

Overturning the balance of nature Eager European settlers reduced the animal population as they hunted for food for themselves and their families.

Disease brought by Europeans The devastation wrought by disease took the lives of more American Indians than did the fire arms or European military technology. William McNeill’s Plagues and Peoples (right) tells this sad and sorry story.

The Bane of Tribalism **Indian tribes of North America often allied themselves with the European settlers against other Indian tribes

Into the Cultural Maelstrom: Africans, Indians, and Europeans Slaves Indians Explorers and Conquerors... there can only be one

**Incas of Peru—Silver Mining The Inca Empire ran down the South American Continent west of the Andes

**Mayans and Toltec people of Valley of Mexico The Mayans lived on the Yucatan Peninsula Their pyramids were architectural wonders

**Aztecs of Mexico Montezuma Warlike character Tenochtitlan—main ceremonial center Human sacrifice

**Initial European Contact with America Came in 10 th century A. D. by Norsemen (Vikings)—Leif Erikson Eric the Red (right) discovered Greenland, c. 985 Leif Erikson lands on North American coast, A.D This was the “Vinland” of old Norse sagas

For another 500 years, the Americas remained much as they had been for previous millennia... but it was only a matter of time