1. Chapter 1 Day 1 Quote: “These people are very unskilled in arms
Chapter 1 Day 1 Quote: “These people are very unskilled in arms... with 50 men they could all be subjected and made to do all that one wished.” - Christopher Columbus
Objective: Analyze Native American society in the pre-Columbian era and the reasons for the “discovery” of the Americas by Europeans.
State Standards: Strand 1 Concept 2 PO 1

2. Peopling the Americas Bering Sea Land Bridge (35,000 years ago)
Following animal herds people spread across the Americas; evolve into thousands of tribes and over 2,000 languages.
Examples of sophisticated tribes include the Incas (Peru), Mayans (Yucatan Peninsula) and Aztecs (Mexico).

3. The Earliest Americans
Importance of maize (corn)
Pueblo Indians: adobe homes, irrigation
Mound Builders (Mid-US): Cahokia (40,000+ people)
Eastern Indians (SE US): 3 Sisters Farming (corn, beans, squash)
Iroquois Confederation: loose political group of 5 tribes
Indian Beliefs: land was sacred and not owned, polytheistic, no money

4. Indirect Discoveries of the New World
Vikings first Europeans to land in America (Vineland)
Crusades lead Europe to explore new ways to Asia (“middleman”).

5. Europeans Enter Africa
Marco Polo
Caravel make sailing possible
Portugal led the way
Slave trade develops as well as plantation agriculture

6. Columbus Comes upon a New World
Columbus sailed west to head east
Discovery of “Indians”
New economic system
Europe would provide the market, capital, technology.
Africa would provide the labor.
The New World would provide the raw materials (gold, soil, lumber)