1.1 The Earliest Americans

The First Americans

• The Land-Bridge Theory• 10,000 to 100,000 years ago much of the earth

was covered in ice

• This allowed more of the land to be dry

• During these times a land bridge was accessible between Asia and N.A.

• 20,000-30,000 years ago hunters followed game across this land-bridge

The First Americans• Other Theories• Coastal –route theory

• People traveled by boat across the arctic

• Then down the Pacific coast

• Native American traditions

• Many Nat. Am. Cultures have their own traditions as to how they settled the land

• These are their creation stories

The First Americans

• Learning to Farm• Hunting met most of the needs for centuries

• When the big game was gone or nearly gone Nat. Am. They became hunter-gatherers

• About 8,000 years ago farming began in Mexico

• In dry areas farmers learned to irrigate

• The surplus created in farming communities lead to surplus

• Which leads to cities

The First Americans

• Three Civilizations• Mayas

• Built cities in Mexico & Central America

•Plazas

•Pyramids

•Temples

•Ball courts

•Palaces

The First Americans

• Three Civilizations• Mayas

• Other developments

•Arts

•System of gov.

•Written language

•Studied the stars

•Calendar

The First Americans

• Three Civilizations• Mayas

• Abandoned cities

• Why?

•Disease

•Overpopulation

• Their language is the root of 20 languages in Cen. Am.

The First Americans

• Aztecs• Nearby, in central Mexico, the Aztecs were

coming into power

• Tenochtitlan

• Their capital city

• Where present day Mexico City is

• Built on islands in the middle of a lake

The First Americans

• Aztecs• Nearby, in central Mexico, the Aztecs were coming into

power

• Tenochtitlan

• Connected to the mainland by a series of causeways

• Farmed on the lake in floating boxes called chinampas

• 200,000 people lived there

• May have been the largest city in the world at the time

The First Americans

• Aztecs• Religion was central to the Aztec way of life

• Temples were located in the center of the city

• Depended on the goodwill of their gods

• Practiced human sacrifice

• Their armies conquered the surrounding area (modern day Mexico)

• The people they conquered had to pay high taxes

The First Americans

• Incas• While the Aztecs were conquering their

neighbors the Inca had built the largest empire in the world

• Along the west coast of South America

• The capital, Cuzco, was connected to the rest of the empire by a vast series of roads

The First Americans

• Incas• Known for their stone buildings

• Built canals, and terraces for farming

• Gold and silver jewelry

• Fine cloth

• Metal working

• Used quipu (knotted ropes) for communication