When does
American History
Start?
When do you think American
History Began??
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You will need to construct an opinion of
when you think American History began
Post it note
Include
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Who you think is responsible for the discovery,
Why you think they are, How did you come to
this conclusion, What happened that provides
them the credit? etc. When did this occur?
When does American History
Start? Agree or Disagree
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When people came across the land bridge
during the Ice Age 10,000 years ago?
When Christopher Columbus came in 1492?
When Jamestown was settled in 1607?
When the Declaration of Independence was
written 1776?
When the American Revolutionary War was
over 1782?
Based on Perspective:
For our Purposes
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Pre-Columbus
Perspective: Europeans did not bring
civilization to the Americas it was
already here
Therefore, American History begins
prior to European Arrival
How did the first nations get
here????
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First Theory
 Migrated from Asia across the land bridge during
the Ice Age 10,000 years ago
 Land bridge was 1000’s of miles wide connecting
Siberia to Alaska
Second Theory
 Water may have dropped so much between
Alaska/British Columbia and Siberia prior to the Ice
Age that people could have walked across
It’s all about perspective
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Turn to page 20-21
Terms:
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What is the difference between Migrate and
Immigrate?
Migrate=Movement of a large number of
people into a certain area/homeland
Immigrate= the act of moving or settling
into a different country or region temporarily
or for good
Brief history of the
development of civilizations
From Nomads to Empires
1.Nomadic People
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Many waves
Followed food source
Originate in Southeast
Asia and Siberia
1st wave
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Nomads followed mammoths, horses,
giant sloths, and woolly rhinoceroses.
The Clovis culture would be a
manifestation of that migration, and
the Folsom culture, based on the
hunting of bison, would have
developed from it.
spread over the entire hemisphere,
reached the New World no later than
11,000 years ago.
2nd wave
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ancestors of the Na-Dene
Alaska and western Canada
migrated as far south as the
Pacific Northwestern U.S.
and the American Southwest
ancestral to the Dene,
Apaches and Navajos.
believed to have come
6,000 to 8,000 years ago.
3rd wave
ancestors of the Eskimos and the
Aleuts.
 may have come by sea over the
Bering Strait, after the land bridge
had disappeared.
 believed to have reached Alaska
as early as 3,000 years ago.
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How did they evolve into more
sophistic civilizations?
Climate/landscape/adaption to land
Ice Age ends 10,000 years ago
 After generations of nomadic tribes
are located all over North, Central
and South America
 Focus less on animals as only food
source and begin to gather plants
2.Change from NOMADIC to HUNTER
and GATHERERS
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2.HUNTERS and GATHERERS
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Gender division of Labor
Begin to understand the plants and
begin to garden
HUNTERS and GATHERERS
advance into HORTICULTURAL –
means gardeners
3.HORTICULTURAL
SOCIETIES
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Gender Division of Labor
Hunt
Garden
Permanent Villages
HORTICULTURAL then advance
into AGRICULTURAL societies
4.Agricultural societies lends
to culture centers
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Farming allowed people to spend more
time on other activities
5. Which then led to new cultural centers
based on common beliefs, customs,
values, activities, etc
So, based off what we know..
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What civilizations were in North America prior
to European arrival?
Why are they important part of US history?
How did they disappear? How did they
influence the future of America?
In-class task: (30 mins.)
Read through Chapter 1: Section 3.
For each civilization record the following
Hohokam, Anasazi, Mound Builders, Cahokia, Peoples of
the North, Peoples of the West, Peoples of the
Southwest, Peoples of the Plains, Peoples of the East
and Southeast.
Where did they live?
What did they accomplish?
Why do you think they disappeared?
How were they considered to be a civilization?
Draw a picture representing this civilization
Resources
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R. David Edmunds, University of Texas-Dallas
Wikipedia
www.solarviews.com/ raw/earth/america.jpg
radio.boisestate.edu/.../ mammoth/journey.html
www.animationfactory.com
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/maps/map_images/
turkey_mesopotamia.gif
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/Induscivilizationmap.jpg
library.thinkquest.org/ 11922/extinct/mammoth.htm
www.csulb.edu/.../nae/ chapter_1/001_002_1.05.jpg
www.az.com/~katrinat/ island/aleut3a.j
ace.acadiau.ca/.../ website%20images/Dene.1.jpg
www.omaha.lib.ne.us/.../
http://www.indianer-feder.de/navaho.jpg
http://www.freemaninstitute.com/Gallery/ancientEgyptMap_copy.gif
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sultan/images/expl_map_l.jpg