1. The Earliest Americans
The Big Idea
The first settlers to the Americas probably came in small groups from Asia. Over thousands of years, they moved into nearly every region of North and South America. In the Americas, these people encountered, and adapted to, many different climates and types of land.

2. Early History 2,000,000 BC-4000 BC

3. Bering Land Bridge

4. First Migration
Bering Land Bridge was the method by which the first Paleo-Indians crossed into Alaska between 38,000-10,000 BC. The bridge was formed due to a warming pattern in the Earth’s climate as Asian peoples walked across the bottom of the Bering Strait, a body of water between Russia and Alaska.
First migration led the Paleo-Indians into Canada and then south into North/South America, as these hunter-gatherers followed the herds of animals.
8000 BC marks the end of the Ice Age creating new environments (climates and landscapes that surround living things).
These environments developed new cultures (a group’s set of common values and traditions).
Societies changed over time as more people entered into North America/South America.

5. Think-Pair-Share (Work with the person across from you)
Do you think a Native American culture located near the North Pole/South Pole would have the same characteristics as a Native American culture located near the Equator?

6. Maize, Beans and Squash The Development of Farming

7. Think-Pair-Share
What benefits does farming have on the development of cultures?

8. Early Societies (Mesoamerica and South American)
Some of the earliest American cultures arose in Mesoamerica, a region that includes the southern part of Mexico and the northern parts of Central America.

9. Mesoamerica

10. The Olmecs

11. The Olmecs

12. The Olmecs

13. Olmec and Mayan Relationships

14. Map of the Mayans

15. Mayan Civilization

16. Mayan Culture

17. Collapse of the Mayans

18. Aztec Empire

19. Aztec Empire An empire of fierce warriors who occupied central Mexico.
1325 AD-The Aztecs built their capital at Tenochtitilan (Modern day Mexico City).
Built a series of road from the capital city to connect the empire.
Military power-the Aztecs became rich by taking the raw materials (gold, silver, cotton) of the people they conquered.
Led by Montezuma, the Aztecs were a powerful empire at the time of Spanish conquest.

20. Montezuma

21. The Incas

22. The Incas
Began as a small tribe in the Andes Mountains of South America.
The capital city was Cuzco
At their most powerful, the empire stretched from Ecuador to Chile along the Andes Mountains and the Pacific coast of South America.
Had 12,000,000 people in their empire.
Had a strong central government.
Kept written records.
Built roads.

23. Think-Pair-Share
What early civilizations existed in Mesoamerica and South America?