Pre-Columbian Societies
Early Inhabitants of the Americas
-One to ten million Natives spread across North America, 50 to 75 million total in the New World, population more dense along the coasts, came from Asia via Land Bridge in small family units (many distinct cultures and tribes with various languages), small nomadic hunters chased game into N.A., became primarily hunters-gatherers
American Indian Empires
Meso America- Aztecs (conquered by Cortez), Mayans (Yucatan Peninsula), Incas (conquered by Pizarro), developed highly organized societies, carried on extensive trade. Created calendars through scientific observations
The Southwest-Pueblos (sedentary farmers, classless society with a theocracy, skilled in pottery and weaving, living in multistoried buildings, developed irrigation systems, Navahos and Apaches (skilled at war)
Mississippi Valley- early mound builders, metal work and sculpture, farmers skilled in agriculture and had rich food supply, elaborate social structure with class distinctions
American Indian Culture of North America at the time of European contact
-Tribes were independent, self-contained, and ruled by councils, loose confederations were exceptions as most tribes were hostile to each other as they competed for land use, Iroquois League (NY) and Creek Confederation (SE), always organized against Europeans too late (disorganization)
-Land use (land can’t be sold only used, developed problems understanding property rights), became disposable after Europeans settled
-Economic activities (hunters and gatherers, farming, hunted deer and turkey using skills of animals, wove fine cloth
-Columbia Exchange: Native introduced beans, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, and syphilis while Europeans introduced sugar cane, bluegrasses, pigs, horses, and diseases, introduced wheel, iron tools and implements, guns, and alcohol
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