Pre Columbian America and Early European Settlement

Pre Columbian America and Early European Settlement

1. Pre Columbian America

   • Early Migrations
     • Paleo-Indians from Eurasia
       • Bering Strait Theory
       • Beringia
   • Regions and their Cultures
     • Meso America and South America
       • Olmecs
         • Oldest complex societies in SA
         • Had a writing system
       • Mayans
         • Math, astronomy, concept of 0
         • Made calendars and predicted the end of the world
       • Aztecs
         • Capital at Tenochtitlan on Lake Texcoco
         • Were in power when the Spaniards arrived
         • Sacrifices
       • Incans
         • Cusco (capital), Peru, Machu Picchu
         • Largest empire in the Americas
     • North West Coast
       • Kwakiutls and Chincoks
       • Fishing and hunting
       • Long houses and totem poles
     • South West
       • Hohokam, Anasazi, Pueblos
       • Built settlements into the sides of cliffs and canyons
         • Choco Canyon
     • Great Plains
       • Sparsely populated
       • Chased buffalos for clothes and food
     • Midwest
       • Adena, Hopewell, Cahokia, Mississippian people
     • Caribbean Islanders
       • Tainos, Guanahatabeys, Caribs, Arawaks
     • Northeast
       • Farming techniques exhausted the soil
         • But had abundant food sources
       • Matrilineal society
       • Iroquois Confederation
         • Mohawk Valley of NY
         • Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk
   • By 1492
     • Population of ~70m
     • Agricultural based society
       • More food = less concentration on agriculture required = more specialization

2. Early European Settlement

   • Factors that lead to European Exploration
     • Mercantilism
     • Exposure to Asia
     • Large Nation States
     • Crusades
     • End of Mongols
       • They had a lot land controlled by one empire
         • Once they fell apart it was harder to travel from Europe to Asia by crossing through different people's territories