American Civilization

The first Americans

 The discovery of America
August 3rd 1492 Christopher Columbus set
sail from Spain to find a shorter trade route
between Europe and Asia.
October 12th 1492 Columbus disembarked
on the beach of an island and thought he had
reached the Indies he called the people
Indians (now accurately described as
Amerindians/Native Americans); the island
was called San Salvador
 The first inhabitants
America = The New World to Europeans
Amerindians had been living there for 50,000
years when Columbus arrived
Scientists: the Amerindians migrated to America
from Asia; Asia and America were joined by a
bridge of ice across the Bering Strait: hunters
from Siberia crossed the bridge into Alaska and
then moved across America to follow herds of
caribou and buffalo.
12,000 years ago their descendants crossed the
isthmus of Panama into South America
 The Amerindians
Early Amerindians: hunters, gatherers of food
Later: more settled way of life farming
The Pueblo
The Apache
The Iroquois
The Sioux
 The Pueblo
Arizona, New Mexico
the best organization
they lived in groups of villages or towns, built
with safety measures; the buildings were made of
adobe (mud and straw) bricks dried in the sun
and contained up to 800 rooms, crowded on top
of one another;
Clothing made from cotton
They cultivated maize and beans
They used irrigation in farming
 The Apache
remained wanderers
hunted deers and gathered wild plants in
small groups
raided the Pueblo and stole their food
fierce and warlike
 The Iroquois
northeastern North America
Skilled farmers
Grew beans, squash and maize
Hunters and fishermen
lived in permanent villages, in long wooden
huts with barrel-shaped roofs (each was ho
me to as many as twenty families)
Fierce warriors
 The Sioux
Mississippi River Rocky Mountains
Warrior nation
The Sioux depended upon the buffalo for
food, shelter and clothing
Their homes were tents made of bufallo skin