People in Motion: The Atlantic World to 1590

Chapter 1

The First Americans Chapter 1-1

Migration, Settlement, and the Rise of Agriculture

• Most scholars support the theory that Paleo-Indian peoples first migrated into North America via a land bridge – Beringia – approximately 20,000YA. Although, recently, new theories have emerged.

• Paleo-Indian peoples possessed stone-age technologies and lived a nomadic lifestyle tracking and hunting large land mammals and gathering from nature for survival.

• Approximately 9,000 years ago a mass extinction of large land mammals and climatic changes led to the development of new methods of providing food and other necessities for native peoples.

• The Archaic Era brought with it increased gathering of plants, nuts, and berries as well as increased reliance on fishing. Some native peoples began to develop agricultural practices including seeding and irrigation practices.

• With agriculture came increasingly complex Native civilizations. Some of the most advanced were in the earliest known areas of agricultural production – Mesoamerica. Peoples such as the Olmec, Maya, and Toltec created written languages, advanced mathematics, advanced agricultural techniques, and complex agriculture.

Native Migration Patterns into North America, National Geographic,

Native American Cultural Regions, National Geographic,

The Aztec

• By the time of the arrival of Europeans, the Aztec (a Mesoamerican native people), had developed a complex civilization and a wealthy and powerful military empire in what is today Mexico.

• The architectural achievements of the Aztec rivaled that of the ancient European and Asian civilizations. The capital city Tenochtitlan was built in the center of Lake Texcoco in 1325 and contained massive pyramids, floating gardens, an elaborate system of dams to control the level of the lake, and aqueducts to supply fresh water.

• Aztec society was highly stratified by class and gender. Trade and commerce were important to the Aztec economy and trade flourished amongst the peoples of the Aztec Empire.

Aztec Empire in 1519, Mexican American Studies

Tenochtitlan, National Museum of Anthropology Mexico, 1930

Mound Builders and Pueblo Dwellers

• Other large and complex urban societies emerged further north and south of Mesoamerica.

• The mound-building societies (so called for their elaborate burial mounds) such as the Mississippian developed complex social structures and advanced architecture. Cahokia – near modern St. Louis in southern Illinois was one of the largest and most complex cities in North America.

• The Southwest natives also built complex civilizations and great cities. The Anasazi constructed complex irrigation for the arid climate and durable adobe stone structures such as those at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico and Mesa Verde, Colorado.

Mississippian Cultural Regions, Humboldt University.

Great Serpent Mound, Ohio Historical Society, 2008

Artist Rendering of Historical Cahokia

“Monks Mound,” Cahokia, Illinois, 2013

Puebloan Cultural Regions, Arizona State Historical Society

“Pueblo Bonito,” Chaco Canyon New Mexico, National Park Service, 2010

“Pueblo Bonito,” Chaco Canyon New Mexico, National Park Service, 2010

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde Colorado, National Park Service, 2012

Eastern Woodlands Indian Societies • In the area of the eastern U.S. and Canada less urbanized and less stratified

native societies developed known as eastern woodlands natives.

• Eastern woodlands natives practiced hunting and gathering as well as basic agricultural production.

• Eastern woodlands natives were more mobile – moving with the seasons to take advantage of different food sources during different times of the year. Small villages were constructed of wood and bark – making mobility possible.

• Woodlands natives developed a dynamic relationship with their environment, working to foster natural habitats for the game they hunted and the plants the gathered and grew.

Eastern Woodlands Indian Societies continued…

• Religious beliefs included worship of a supreme being (the Great Manitou) as well as animistic traditions. The political and social structures of woodlands natives was more egalitarian than those of the more complex civilizations of North America.

• Woodlands women enjoyed more political and social rights than most other women in other societies around the world at this time, although there was still division of labor.

• Woodlands natives were very communal in their outlook – individualism was not emphasized, as such accumulation of wealth and ownership of land were alien ideas.

• Warfare between eastern woodlands natives was common, but causalities were low because high casualties might spark “mourning wars” – where captives were taken and adopted into the enemy tribe.

• To decrease warfare following the early years of European contact the Iroquois League of Five Nations was created which included the Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Oneida nations.

Eastern Woodland Cultural Regions, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998

John White, Painting of “Secoton” Native Village in North Carolina, British Museum London, 1585.

Eastern Woodland Native Longhouse Replica, 2002.

Eastern Woodland Native Longhouse Replica, 2002.

American Societies on the Eve of European Contact

• Native American societies were socially and culturally diverse, ranging from the highly stratified and urbanized Aztec to the relatively egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies of the great plains.

• The peoples of the Americas spoke a host of different languages, developed distinctive religious traditions, and created different political models to govern themselves.

• However, Native societies shared many characteristics among themselves and with peoples in other areas of the world. Native peoples (like Asian and European societies of the time) were pre-modern with limited scientific knowledge and widespread belief in supernatural phenomenon. Most people worked the land and struggled to provide the basic necessities of life.

• Native peoples lacked the access to large domesticated animals that provided easily accessible food and a source of labor that Europe, Asia, and northern Africa enjoyed.

• While Europe, Asia, and Africa traded extensively with one another – the Americas remained isolated since the recession of the previous ice age nearly 10,000YA. Because of this isolation, indigenous Americans were highly susceptible to Old World diseases.

Questions:

• 1. What theories have been proposed to account for the migration of Paleo-Indians to North America?

• 2. How did regional differences among Native Americans shape their diverse cultures?

• 3. What were some of the distinctive characteristics shared by all of the societies of the Americas?