3 Discoveries of America #1 1.The First Americans How did they get here? Archaeologists – scientists who study ancient people – many believe they crossed a strip of land called Beringia that once joined Asia and the Americas

3 Discoveries of America #1 When? Many scientists believe it was during the Ice Age – period of time about 100,000 years ago to about 12,000 years ago when things were much colder – lower sea level exposed land (Beringia) so people could walk across

3 Discoveries of America #1 Who? the first people were Nomads – people who moved from place to place following food Over thousands of years people migrated – a movement of large numbers of people into a new homeland – forming the various Native American cultures – ways of life – that we know today

3 Discoveries of America #2 The Vikings - a seafaring Scandinavian people who raided the coasts of northern and western Europe from the eighth through the tenth century.

3 Discoveries of America #2 WHO – it is said that through sagas – traditional Viking stories – that Leif Ericsson explored a land west of Greenland called Vinland

3 Discoveries of America #2 When – most archeologists believe about the year A.D. 1,000 - not much is known though about their brief stay But it did lead to the naming of the worst football team in the NFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 Discoveries of America #3 Christopher Columbus His discovery was all an accident He wanted to find a quicker route to Asia by sailing West He was in search of gold, silk, and spices The Problem – no one would fund Columbus Finally Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella would fund him They gave him three ships (Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria) and enough supplies for six months

3 Discoveries of America #3 The Trip On August 3, 1492 Columbus set sail On Oct 12, 1492 “Tierra” – land was sighted Although he did not know it, Columbus had landed in the Bahamas and claimed the land for Spain naming it San Salvador Even after four trips to the NEW WORLD, Columbus believed up to his death that he had reached Asia It was not until Columbus’s death that Europeans discovered a place unknown to them – 1502 Amerigo Vespucci is given much of this credit The race to conquer a NEW WORLD will begin in Europe!