Pre-Columbian America

  • Period: 90,000 BCE to 8000 BCE

    Paleodians

    Siberians migrants crossed the Bering Straits = inland route theory
    Or Coastal route theory (earlier)
    From 90 000 to 8 000 BC, straits formed a land bridge thanks to exposed sealfloor linking Siberia and Alaska allowing Amerindian from the east central Asian to go to Alska after occupying Beringia (land bridge).
  • Period: 13,500 BCE to 13,000 BCE

    Prehistoric Paleo-Indian

    Clovis culture:
    -lithic (=stone) industry
    -big game-hunting + bone and ivory tools
  • Period: 600 to 1400

    Mississippian culture

    Mississippian culture :
    - Complex hierarchical society, human sacrifice
    - Fortified village, large communal plazas, flat-topped temple mounds
  • Period: 1400 to 1500

    First Nation Cultures 15th Century

    From 2,8M to 18M Indians Native Americans and 300-350 languages, their division helped European conquest
    They survived thanks to hunting, agriculture, and fishing.
    They have no iron, wheel, or writing
  • Period: 1492 to

    America exploration

    1492: Christopher Columbus, an Italian sponsored by Spain
    1524: Giovanni da Verrazano, Florentine sailor sponsored by France
    Their arrival impacted Ameridians a lot: diseases and Conquistadors killed them or they were treated as slaves to work in mines.
    Europeans came for resources, trade points, and colonies.
    America served as a spot where England sent the undesirable (poor and landless and religious dissenters = Puritans)
    America was also seen as a utopia where the poor can become rich.