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