Chapter One - The World Before the Opening of the Atlantic (Beginnings - 1500)

Section One - The Earliest Americans

The First Migration to the Americas

• People first arrived in North America during the Ice Age (38,000 - 10,000 B.C.)
• Beringia - land bridge between Asia and North America
• Early peoples were probably chasing the wooly mammoth for food
• Archaeology - study of the past through looking at artifacts
• Migration - movement of something from one area to another

Adapting to a New Climate

• Environments - climates and landscapes that surround living things
• As the Ice Age ended, new environments popped up, causing different cultures of people to develop
• Society - a group of people who share the same culture
• Domestication - rasing of animals and plants to meet human needs

Mesoamerica and South America

• Aztec - lived in present day Mexico and were the most aggressive of the Native Americans of Central and South America
• Inca - Lived in the Andes Mountains of South America were great engineers (bathrooms with running water)

Early North American Societies

• Less populated than Central and South America
• Farming communities in day areas used irrigation - man made means to move water to villages
• Anasazi - Lived in the dry American southwest and built adobe (clay and mud) homes, sometimes in cliff sides for protection

Section Two - Cultural Areas in North America

The Far North

• Arctic and Subarctic regions - few plants due to harsh conditions force Inuit and Aleut to be hunters
• Inuit and Aleut fish and hunt large animals
• Kayaks - one person canoes covered with animal skins
• Igloos - homes made from ice and snow

The Pacific Coast

• Has a mild climate with much rain
• Allows for hunting, fishing and farming
• Salmon, whales, and sea otters are important sources of food
• Potlaches - large gatherings where the host gave away gifts to show wealth and get respect
• In this area, over 100 langauages were spoken

The West and Southwest

• This region recieved less rain and therefore people living here had fewer resources available to them
• Hunted small game, fished in streams, and dug for edible roots
• Also ate crickets, lizards, and ants
• Most groups of this area spoke variations of the same language
• Irrigated for water

The Great Plains

• From the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains
• Largely grassland where millions of buffalo grazed
• Some, such as the Apache, hunted buffalo on foot (horses did not exist in North America until brought here by Europeans)
• Depended on buffalo for food, clothing and shelter

The East

• Rich in sources for food and shelter
• Mainly forests in the east
• Indians of the southeast, such as the Cherokee and Creek, grew crops in villages and hunted
• Northeastern tribes (eastern woodlands) included the Algonquin and the Iroquois
• Due to climate, they could not farm year round, so they hunted in winter
• Iroquois women oversaw most of the activities of their people, and growing and harvesting crops. Men hunted.
• Longhouses - Iroquois homes of several families usually 50 to 100 feet long.
• Iroquois League - Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida, Mohawk, and Onondaga worked together to keep peace and deal with other tribes.

Section Three - Europe during the Middle Ages

The Viking Explorations

• Vikings were from Scandanavia (Present Day Norway, Sweden, and Denmark)
• Vikings raided and traded throughout Europe
• Leif Eriksson - left Greenland and landed in North America in around 1000 A.D. but left after only a few years

The Middle Ages

• 500 - 1500 A.D. - trade, communication, and learning were limited
• Feudalism - system in which classes of vassals, knights, and lords were strictly adhered to
• Manors - large estates that relied on loyalty of the vassals
• Serfs lived on one manor for life, and rarely left.
• Little learning took place

The Catholic Church

• The Church was the center of religios and social life in the Middle Ages
• Most Europeans were Catholic

The Rise of Nations

• Kingdoms began to form under very powerful Kings
• Trade increases with the Middle East
• Italy trades across the Mediterranean Sea

Section Four - Trade across Continents

The Spread of Islam

• Muhammad devotes life to preaching messages of Allah, the Muslim God
• Islam - followers of Muhammed
• Dominated the eastern Mediterrean Sea and began to spread to Africa and Spain

The Crusades

• Christians called on by the Pope to attack the Muslim's who controlled the holy city of Jerusalem in 1095
• Crusades - relgious wars between the Muslims and Christian for control of Jerusalem, won by the Muslims
• As Christians travel to the Middle East, learning begins again, as does trade