Chapter 1

Early Life, East and West

Migration to the Americas

Lesson 1

Moving to the Americas•Ice Age– long period of extreme cold•Temperatures caused large areas of Earth’s waters to freeze, forming thick sheets of ice called glaciers.•The levels of the oceans dropped.

Bering Strait• The Bering Strait is a

narrow stretch of water that separates Asia from North America.

• During the Ice Age the Bering Strait became shallower causing land that was under water to be uncovered forming a large land bridge that that linked Asia and North America.

Bering Strait

People• Migrate—move• Theory—possible explanation• The land bridge gave historians a theory that the first

Americans came across the land bridge following large animals like the mammoth and caribou.

• Some theorists believe the first Americans may have migrated to the Americas by boat.

• Perhaps they are both right.

• They adapted or changed their ways of living to meet the challenges of each environment as they traveled deeper into the Americas.

Food

• Life was a struggle, and getting enough food for all to eat was often a challenge.

• They lived in small bands, or groups of people.

• Life centered on hunting, and they depended on wandering herds of animals for food.

• When a mammoth is killed, they would stay nearby until its meat ran out.

• The first Americans stripped the hides from the animals and made clothes from them.

• They also stretched the hides over wood frames to make a temporary shelter.

• They made tools like needles and scrapers from the animals bones and tusks.

Tools

• They also made tools from stone.

• Pressing one stone against another, they chipped spear points, knives and hand axes.

Artifacts

• The earliest people left no written record of how they lived.

• Artifacts—an objects someone made in the past.

• Archaeologists study the artifacts of people who lived long ago and draw conclusions from them.

• Studying bone needles reveal that people stitched long ago.

Changing Ways of Life

• Earth’s climate began to get warmer and glaciers melted.

• Perhaps the animals could not adapt to their new climate, or perhaps hunters had killed them off.

• Whatever the cause, the first Americans had to find new sources of food.

New Food Sources

• They continued to hunt small animals and fish.

• They also gathered plants that grew wild, like grains, root vegetables, berries, and nuts.

•Hunters became hunter-gatherers, but they were still on the move.•They moved with the seasons to find whichever foods the season provided.

• Soon people began to grow food themselves.• Instead of gathering wild grain, they began growing the

seeds themselves.• Agriculture made it possible for them to settle down in

one place. Now wandering bands of hunter-gatherers could become members of settled communities.

Early American Cultures

Lesson 2

The Mound Builders

The Mound Builders• The Great Serpent Mound is near Hillsboro,

Ohio.• It was built by the Mound Builders.

• They were one of several early American Indian groups that once flourished in North America.

• They disappeared. Today we find signs of towns that no longer exist in many parts of our continent.

Location• Most Mound Builders lived east of the

Mississippi River where the land is rich in forests, fertile soil, lakes, and rivers.

• The Mound Builders were farmers who lived is settle communities.

• Their main crop was corn.

3 Groups• They were not a single group of people– Adenas– Hopewell– Mississippians

Mounds• They built thousands of mounds in many

different shapes.

• At Cahokia (present day Illinois), a mound rises 100 feet, as tall as a 10-story building.

• Some mounds were burial places for important chiefs. Some, like the Great Serpent Mound, may have been built to honor animals spirits that were part of the Mound Builders’ religion.

• Many had platforms where ceremonies were held.• Ceremony—an activity done for a special purpose or

event, such as a birth, wedding, or death.

Task of Mound Building• The Mound Builders left many

clues for archaeologists to study.

• Being able to build such enormous structures shows that they were well-organized.

• Hundreds or even thousands had to be directed to dig up tons of earth with the hand tools available. Then the earth had to be moved—often over long distances—to a mound location.

• Finally, the workers had to create the shape the builder had planned.

Trade

• Artifacts tell us that trade was important to the Mound Builders

• Knives found in mounds were carved from a rock called obsidian that came from the Rocky Mountains , from the west.

• Seashells used in jewelry came from the Gulf of Mexico, hundreds of miles from the south.

• Copper came hundreds of miles from near the Great Lakes, to the north.

• Mica, a glittering mineral from the people of Cahokia prized, came from the Appalachian Mountains far to the east.

The Anasazi

The Anasazi

• The Anasazi were another farming group living in the Southwest of the United States.

• Their name is a Navajo Indian word for “the old ones.”

• Their communities were located in an area today called the Four Corners.

• Four Corners—parts of 4 states (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado)

Farming

• The Anasazi grew corn, squash, beans, and pumpkins.

• They lived in permanent communities.

• Although the climate is dry, the Anasazi’s farming was not limited.

•They dug ditches to carry water from streams the crops in their fields.•They were the first people to use irrigation systems in what would become the United States.

Homes

• The Anasazi were also known as the “cliff dwellers” because they sometimes carved houses into the sides of cliffs.

• They also built apartment style houses several stories high on the tops of mesas.

• Mesa—high, flat landform that rises steeply from the land around it. Mesa means “table” in Spanish.

Mesa Verde • Mesa Verde—Anasazi community in present day Colorado.

• Has large village built into steep cliffs.

• Has large overhanging rocks above it to protect from bad weather and attacks from their enemies.

• The largest building is the Cliff Palace which has about 150 rooms.

• It also has about 23 kivas. Kiva—where religious ceremonies are held. Only men are allowed to enter a kiva.

Daily Life• People used

beautifully woven baskets.

• They are so tightly and expertly woven they can hold water and be used for cooking.

• Hot coals are put into the baskets with corn that has been ground into flour, beans, and other foods to make stew.

What Happened to the Anasazi?• The Anasazi suddenly abandoned their

villages in the Four Corners.• No one knows for sure what happened to

them.

• One theory is that a drought, or a long period without rain, forced them to leave.– Streams dried up and

irrigation became impossible

– The Anasazi had to move to places where there was enough water for farming.

• Historians believe Pueblo (including the Hopi) are the descendants of the Anasazi.

Nampeyo

• Lived from about 1860 to 1942• Studied the shards (pieces of broken pottery) of a Hopi village.• Found a way to recreate the ancient way of making pottery.• “I used to go to the ancient village and pick up pieces of pottery and copy the

designs. That is how I learned to paint. But now I just close my eyes and I see designs and I paint them.”

• Se began to lose her eyesight and eventually went blind.• She continued making pottery along with her children and grandchildren.

The Inuit

The Inuit

• The Inuit live in what is today Canada.• Inuit means “the people.”• Like the first Americans, the Inuit traveled from Asia to North

America.• They came much later, though.• Today they make their homes across the frozen lands of near the

Arctic Ocean, from Alaska through Canada and on to Greenland.

Cold Climate

• They adapted to life in the cold climate:

• They hunted whales, walruses, and seals in the Arctic waters.

• They developed a kayak, a light, one-person boat that is used for hunting and transportation.

– In the winter, some Inuit still build traditional houses called igloos from blocks of packed snow.

– Some built igloos as temporary shelters while on hunting trips.

– An experienced Inuit can build an igloo in about 1 to 2 hours.

The Rise of Empires

Lesson 3

The Maya• Civilization—culture with organized system of

government, religion, and learning• They settled in present day Mexico.

• They did not have a single capital or ruler. Each city governed itself and had its own ruler.

Farming

• They were successful farmers.• They were farmers who cut down thick forests to create open

fields, where they grew corn and other crops• Had enough food to create a surplus (more food than they

needed to feed their own families).• People with extra food could trade it for things they needed.• As a result, not everyone needed to farm.

Specialize

• Some Maya began to specialize (do only one kind of job).

• People began to develop skills such as basket weaving, jewelry making, and stone carving.

• Some studied the world around them and developing new ideas.– Some studied the sun,

moon, stars, and planets which helped them develop and extremely accurate calendar.

– Others became skilled at mathematics and were among the first to use the number zero.

• Some Mayans specialized in building pyramids.– Pyramid—building with three or more sides

shaped like triangles that slant toward a point at the top.

– The top of the pyramids were temples where religious ceremonies were held.

• Mayan kings were buried in pyramids.

• They also developed a system of writing.– They recorded their

history– They recorded what

they learned about mathematics and science

• Though we cannot read all of their writing, what we can read adds to our knowledge of their civilization.

Mayan Writing

The End of the Mayas• Their civilization began to decline and they

began to desert most of their cities.• Eventually the forests grew back completely

covering their cities.• Descendants live today in Mexico and Central

America.

The Aztecs

The Aztecs• Aztecs migrated south to northern Mexico• According to legend, they were following the instructions of one of their gods,

who told them to travel until they saw an eagle with a snake in its beak sitting on a cactus.

• This is where they should settle.• When they reached an island in Lake Texcoco, they saw what they had been

searching for.• Here in the Valley of Mexico, they built Tenochtitlan (meaning “near the

cactus.”)• Today, the eagle, cactus, and snake appear as the central symbols on the flag of

the country of Mexico.

Tenochtitlan• Tenochtitlan grew into a great city.• Causeways (low bridges)connected Tenochtitlan to the land around the lake.• As many as 300,000 people lived there, making it one of the largest cities in

the world.

Farming• In order to

have more land for farming, farmers created ”floating gardens” around their island city.

• Farmers on other Aztec lands developed irrigation systems and created more land by carving terraces (wide flattened steps) into hillsides.

Creating an Empire• From Tenochtitlan, Aztecs sent out armies to

conquer other peoples in the Valley of Mexico.• Soon they had created an empire that stretched

from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.• Empire—group of lands and peoples ruled by one

leader

What About the People Captured?• The Aztecs forced the people they captured to pay them

tribute (payment demanded by rulers from the people they rule).

• Each year people in the Aztec empire had to send gold, silver, and precious stones, as well as food, clothing and weapons as tribute to Tenochtitlan.

• The Aztecs also demanded to be given people as tribute.• They enslaved people given to them as tribute as well as

prisoners captured in war.• Slavery—the practice of holding people against their will

and taking away their freedom.

Religion• Like the Maya, the Aztec worshipped many gods.• Chief among them was Huitzilopochtli, the god of war.

– They believed they had to worship him by offering human blood.

– Slaves and prisoners were sacrificed to the god.– Sacrifice—kill a person or animal for religious purposes

The Inca

The Inca

• They rose in South Americas in the Andes Mountains when the Inca conquered the city of Cuzco and made it their capital.

• They also created their empire through conquests.

Accomplishments • They built thousands of miles of roads to link all parts of

the empire to their capital at Cuzco in present-day Peru.• Government messengers could travel to the empire’s

four corners at a rate of 140 miles a day.• That was probably the fastest communication system

anywhere in the world at that time.