APUSH 1.2 Native American Societies Before European Contact

Native Societies

• Complex social structures
• Diverse and unique
• Innovations in agriculture
• Groups were distinguished by geographic and environmental factors including competition over resources
• It is believed that the first people arrived in the Americas by crossing a now-flooded land bridge over the Bering Sea
  • It is assumed an Asian group migrated from Siberia
  • Groups slowly migrated further south and eventually populated the entire Americas
• Between 5000 and 8000 BCE, hunting and gathering begins in the Great Plains region
• Agriculture is based on maize/corn during this time, alongside squash and beans

South and Central America

• Most elaborate early civilizations were in South and Central America
  • In Peru, the Incas had the largest empire in the Americas
  • The Mayan civilization was very strong and had written language, astrology, numerical systems, and an accurate calendar
  • They also had an advanced agricultural system
  • As well as established trade routes

North America

• Complex societies with hunting, gathering, and fishing
• The Southwest
  • Elaborate and large irrigation systems to make the best of the dry climate
  • Cultivation of maize spreads here from the Mexican Heartland
  • Corn allows nomadic groups into settled villages
  • Towns had centers of trade, religion, culture, etc.
• The Great Plains
  • Both settled groups farming maize as well as nomadic buffalo hunters
• Woodlands
  • Densely packed tribes in the Eastern third of the future U.S.
  • These groups had advanced fishing, farming, gathering, and hunting
  • The South had large trade based on maize and other grains grown around the Mississippi
  • Known for their mounds
  • Common linguistic roots
  • Spread from present day Canada to Virginia
  • The Iroquois are in present up-state New York
  • It was rare for these tribes to unite against European threats