The First AmericansBeringiaA million years ago, the earth’s climate was a lot cooler than it is today. This meant that a lot of the earth’s surface water had frozen into glaciers. Glaciers covered Canada, Wisconsin, Michigan, etc. The ocean levels were lowered because of the glaciers, and exposed a land bridge that connected Siberia with Alaska. Beringia is the name of the land bridge. The first Americans crossed into North America using this land bridge. They followed game birds into Alaska, and filtered into the lower 48 states.Hunters and Gatherers: Do not stay in one place, and are continuously on the move following game. They supplement the meat with berries and nuts. They use every part of the animal.Clovis HuntersName given to the early Americans because of their stone arrowheads. A collection of arrowheads were found in Clovis, New Mexico. They are all hunters and gatherers and their descendants are hunters and gatherers.Agricultural RevolutionMexico City Valley is where agriculture was found in America. It did not reach the United States until around 200 AD. Took almost 3,000 years for it to move north. This revolution allowed people to form villages, you no longer had to move around searching for food. Could stay in one place, and continually plant crops outside of your village. Substituted crops for game found outside of the village.Anasazi: The first people who used agriculture. The term Anasazi means “the old people,” and was given to a later Indian tribe. Lived in the four corners region of the United States (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico). Mostly lived in northern New Mexico (and southern Colorado) mountains for protection. They developed irrigation methods. They channeled snow from the mountains to their crops. The three main crops they lived on: beans, squash, and corn. They could afford to trade some of their food to other tribes for meat, pottery, etc. Last until 1250 AD. A drought hits New Mexico and the Anasazi are unable to water their crops and grow the amount of food that they need to sustain their population. They disperse to smaller villages with a smaller amount of people, so they have more of an ability to feed their population. Anasazi had road networks to connect cities.Mount SocietiesCahokia: Mound builders. A new superpower after the Anasazi fell off. They arise out of the village of Cahokia. The Indians that built Cahokia were sun worshipers, and to facilitate better worship of the sun they needed to be closer. So they built dirt pyramids to get closer. Cahokia buried their dead, so they could reach the afterlife. Buried in mounds surrounded by their possessions. Priests did not want them to go into the afterlife alone, so the friends of the dead person were killed and buried along with them. In 1380 AD the Cahokia had 40,000 people. Since they lived along the Mississippi river, the crops were so fertile they could feed many people. A drought came like the Anasazi, and so the Cahokia had to split up around 1400 AD.Indian Tribes in 1492The two main groups: Algonquian and the Iroquois.They both had a form of adoption. If a member of your tribe died, you would go to another village, kidnap someone and bring them back to their village. They would take their name and replace the lost person.Algonquian: Spoke the same language, which kept them together and formed an alliance. Lived in what is now upstate New York and up to Michigan. Their rivals were the Iroquois.Iroquois: They were a lot of different people that were bound by speaking the same language. They had a formal treaty as a mutual defense tactic. An oral pact that was decided upon the chief of the tribes that they would come to each other’s aid when needed. Always at war and contesting land. They believed that when you killed the enemy warrior he would have a spirit within him. When he died the spirit would go into their organs. They would mix up their opponents organs and eat them in hopes that they could their power.Meso-American Culture: 4 million Native Americans living in North America in 1492. 76 million Native Americans lived in central and south America and the Caribbean in 1492.Aztecs (Mexica): They were not native to central Mexico. They were kicked out of northern Mexico. Became fierce warriors, and took over central Mexico. When they conquered central Mexico, they made the tribes send the Aztecs trade as a form of tribute each year.Tenochtitlan: Built in the middle of a lake, where Mexico City is today. The only way to get to the city was by using a series of bridges. Had temples, and they lived easily since the tribes would send them tributes to the island.Aztec Empire: The Aztecs kept wondering how to keep the sun god happy, and they believed they could sacrifice people and send trade goods to make the god happy. Would rip heart out of chest first. Sacrificed thousands of people each year. People were looking for ways to overthrow the Aztecs.Incas: The only Native American tribe in North and South America that had knowledge about metal work. The empire stretched along the coast of Peru and Chile. Fairly advanced, and left elaborate drawings.Incan Empire: Had 2,000 miles of roads that connected the empire. Very wealthy, the empire was ruled by a royal family. Only a select group of people ruled, the royal family and their close friends. Common people got mad since thousands of miles of empires were ruled by only a handful of people. Bloody civil wars trying to overthrow the royal family gradually destroyed the empire.Disease and the Native Americans: The major event that caused the Native American’s downfall was the fact that they did not have farm animals. Which meant they did not have fleas. Disease isn’t transmitted when there aren’t fleas. There was no disease in North America, which means the Indians did not have an immune system since they had never fought a disease before. When Europeans arrived, and a simple common cold or chicken pocks were deadly to them. They tried to get back at the Europeans, and the Europeans contracted syphilis from the Native Americans.Black Death: (Mid 1300s) Europe had a cold snap, or mini ice age. It killed crops all across Europe. If it wasn’t cold then the amounts of rain would flood the crops. People died of starvation, and the lack of nutrition damaged their immune systems. The black death arrived in Europe by horses from their opponents from Mongolia and China. Disease from the horses could spread to the farm
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