1. How Do We Know About History?
10th Grade U.S. History

2. Scientific Work
Archeologist- scientists who study artifacts (objects left by people)
Anthropologist – scientists who study the way people live and behave
Historians – scientists who use the work of archeologists & anthropologists to research people & places & create written works for us to study (textbooks!)

3. Let’s Go WAYYYY Back!
20,000 years ago – 1st people came to North America from Asia across a frozen land bridge – the Bering Strait.
These people were nomadic (no permanent homes) & came following herds of animals.
These people were not very advanced & survived by hunting large animals (wooly mammoth, etc.) For this reason, they were called Nomadic Hunters.

4. The Caveman Gets Smarter!
1,000’s of years pass & the Nomadic Hunter learns to adapt to his surroundings & gets smarter. He learns to hunt & gather food for survival. He is now a Hunter/Gatherer.
With a better diet, these people are healthier & smarter. They build small, semi-permanent, individual communities.
Each community begins to develop its own customs- this will lead to the creation of different “tribes” later on.

5. Domesticated Man!
1,000’s of years pass, but soon the Hunter/Gatherer becomes domesticated – learns to raise plants & animals for his own uses.
Now that he doesn’t have to chase food, he builds a permanent home. Large communities develop & we finally see the different Indian civilizations that existed in North America before Europeans came.

6. Empires in America
1,000’s of Indian tribes existed in the Western Hemisphere. All had unique, civilized societies very different from one another.
Civilization – an area that has an organized political, economic, religious, and social system. It also has a written language.

7. Important Indian Civilizations
Inca- civilization on the coast of South America (modern-day Peru)
Aztec – civilization in central Mexico (Mexico City today)
Maya – civilization on the Yucatan peninsula
Olmec – civilization located on the gulf coast of Mexico (Veracruz today)