Chapter 1: The World Before the Opening of the Atlantic

The Earliest Americans

Objectives

• Explain how people first migrated to the Americas.

• Analyze the link between the development of agriculture and the rise of civilizations.

• Identify the early peoples of Mesoamerica and the American Southwest.

• Locate the Moundbuilders.

How did the first people get to America?• Humans have not always lived in the Americas.

– The first humans to migrate to North America did so between 10,000 and 38,000 years ago.

• Where did they come from?– The first people to come to North America came from Asia. They are called

Paleo-Indians.

• How did they get from Asia to North America?– This occurred during the last Ice Age. The intensely cold temperatures caused

large amounts of water to freeze into glaciers which, over the course of thousands of years, caused ocean levels to drop to around 300 feet lower than pre-Ice Age levels. This exposed a piece of land connecting Siberia and North America called the Bering Land Bridge.

• What caused them to slowly migrate over the Bering Land Bridge?– It is believed that their hunting of large mammals eventually brought them into

North America.

Native American cultures develop

• Over many centuries, Paleo-Indians migrated south and populated the continents of North America and South America, settling in different regions causing many different cultures to develop.– Culture – a groups set of common values and traditions,

including language, government, and family relationships.– The climate of a region plays an important role in the

culture of the people that live there.• For example – Heavy clothing, ice hockey, and snowmobiling might

be part of someone’s culture living somewhere like Canada but not to someone living in Florida.

Agriculture Leads to Civilization

• The first people in the Americas were Hunters and Gatherers.– People who hunted animals and gathered wild

plants for food.• However, over time, they began to settle and

plant seeds and domesticate animals.– Once Native American cultures began to rely on

farming, rather than hunting and gathering, civilizations began to develop.

Agriculture Leads to Civilization

• Domestication- practice of breeding plants and animals to meet human needs.

• Knowledge of agricultural techniques began to spread throughout the Americas.

• People began to build permanent villages. As time passed farmers were able to harvest more food.

• Because of farming not everyone had to be involved in the process of hunting or gathering. This allowed people to practice other crafts like weaving or becoming religious leaders.

Five Elements of Civilization

1. Cities are the center of trade.2. Specialized jobs for different people.3. Organized forms of government and religion.4. System of record keeping.5. Advanced tools.