Early Americans

Chapter 2

Word Association• Tell me what words come to mind when

you hear “Native American”

History: Before 1492• Common myth is that they all crossed the

land bridge from Asia around 12,000 year ago.

• True time period is between 12,000 and 40,000 years ago.

• Many came by boat

History: Before 1492• Soon Native Americans created some of

the most amazing, awe inspiring, and advanced cultures in the entire world.

• Population estimates before European contact estimated by the majority of experts range from 50-100 million

• It is estimated that in Central America alone there were 25 million people living before European contact!

History: Before 1492• These population estimates mean that

there were more people living in the Americas than in all of Europe at the same time!

• It also tells us that Central America was the most populated region in the world!

Before 1492• Native Americans lived in small towns and

villages spread out over an area. This area would compose of the tribes people. In some tribes this area would be 1000’s of miles and encompass 100’s of thousands of people

Paleo-Indians• Archaeologists call the

time just after people first came to North America the Paleo-Indian period.

• They hunted Mammoth

• They dealt with Saber- toothed cats and

other nasty predators that are now extinct.

Paleo-Indians

Paleo Indians• Paleo Indians did

not have bow and arrows. They hunted with a Spear that had a stone point. This Spear Point is called a Clovis Point.

Clovis Points• Clovis: 13,500 year

old archeological site found in Clovis, New Mexico where first Clovis Point found

• Clovis points found everywhere including PA and NY

Clovis Point vs Head

History: Before 1492• Large societies and huge cities were not just

in the Native cultures of the Aztec, Maya, and Inca. In North America there were huge cities and complex societies.

• The ancient Mississippian city of Cahokia was located near modern day St. Louis, Missouri.

• It stretched for 5 miles and had Pyramids bigger than the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

• It had a population of 15,000 which made it the largest city North of the Rio Grande.

History: Before 1492• The Cultures of North America had complex

trade relations and monetary systems. • Shell Beads from Florida, Obsidian from the

Rocky Mountains, and mica from Tennessee, all found there way to the North East.

• Mother -of-Pearl from the Gulf of Mexico found its way to Manitoba, and Lake Superior copper found its way to Louisiana.

History: Before 1492• Native Americans had the most complex

system of agriculture in the entire world. • They were able to cultivate the land

heavily without having a deep impact on it.

• Many of the first explorers of the Americas wrote of the miles and miles of maze fields.

History: Before 1492• Native Americans had a huge impact on

animal populations• Native Americans kept animal populations

in check.• Ex: There were more Bison on the

continent immediately after European settlement than before they came due to the effects of disease and war on Native American population.

History: Before 1492• Almost 400 years before European contact

the Iroquois nation had developed one of the first representative governments.

• The government was devised of 5 separate nations and was highlighted by its written constitution, equal rights, and checks and balances on powers.

• Sound familiar?

1492:The Truth about Columbus• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wm0EvTk8o4

• Facts: • 1. Columbus did not

discover America 2. Columbus was a slave

trader for the East Indian trade Company

3. Columbus enslaved the Taino or Arawak natives

4. Columbus’s actions directly resulted in the death of thousands and perhaps millions of Arawak Indians.

5. Columbus was not the first explorer in America

European Exploring Explosion• Over the next 100 years Europe sent

hundreds of explorers to not only explore the American continent, but more importantly CLAIM the land already settled by the natives for their European homeland.

• http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/lac-bac/passages-ef/passages/h8-248-e.html

• http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/exploration_before_1675.jpg

• http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/exploration_1675.jpg

Consequences of Exploration• Each expedition spelled catastrophe for the

Native Americans• Each expedition was accompanied by a large

population of pigs in order to feed the explorers.

• These pigs traveled freely and spread disease to the natives and their sources of foods such as deer and other game.

• It is estimated that the native population in some areas were reduced by 98% before any permanent European settlement was even established.

Consequences of Exploration• Many later settlers would remark on Indian

ghost towns or how the shores were full of bleached Indian bones.

• With a total loss of Native population in some areas fields were unmanaged and grown over, animal populations grew out of control(Bison, Carrier Pigeon), children were left orphaned.

• European settlers saw this as a gift from god and took over empty Indian villages. (Plymouth)

Broken Promises• After helping the English survive at

Jamestown and Plymouth the Native American tribes along the New England coast signed several peace treaties with the English and looked to live peacefully with their new allies.

• Meanwhile disease continued to ravage the Natives

• These treaties would soon be ignored as the English colonist continued to push more into the interior.

Attitudes Change• As anger and racism grew among the

English colonist near the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a war broke out with the peaceful tribe called the Pequots.

• This would be the first major war which would mark the beginning of the Indian Wars, the longest running conflict in American History.

The Pequot War• Beginning in 1636 this short war would

culminate in the almost comlete eradication of the Pequot tribe.

• The war was characterized by the Mystic River Massacre. The massacre ended the war and ended the Pequots as a tribe

• The Mystic River Massacre happened when a small strike force of colonial militia surrounded a Pequot village and set it on fire.

• As the men woman and children fled the burning village they were shot down. In all close to 700 Pequots died in the massacre.

War• http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-india

nwartimeline.html

The French and Indian War• Over 100 years after the Pequot War the

native Americans were still signing false treaties and attempting to deal with the influx of colonizers unto their homeland.

• Unlike the British and Spanish, the French did not attempt to colonize America. They simply set up Fur trading areas with the natives.

• The French and Indian war was costly for the natives because it split many of the tribes.

• The French lost and the British felt the native territory was now open for settlement

The Proclamation of 1763• To try and ease Native American and

colonist’ relations King George enacted the Proclamation of 1763. It stated the colonist could not settle the land west of the Appalachian mountains. This land was considered Indian land.

• This angered the colonist greatly and was one of the leading causes of the American Revolution.

The American Revolution• The American Revolution further split the

Native American nation and was devastating to the Iroquois( Haudenosaunee) Nation .

The Expedition you are appointed to command is to be directed against the hostile tribes of the Six Nations of Indians, with their associates and adherents. The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements, and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent their planting more.

I would recommend, that some post in the center of the Indian Country, should be occupied with all expedition, with a sufficient quantity of provisions whence parties should be detached to lay waste all the settlements around, with instructions to do it in the most effectual manner, that the country may not be merely overrun, but destroyed.

Orders of George Washingtonto General John SullivanAt Head-Quarters May 31, 1779

The American Revolution• When your army entered the country of the

Six Nations, we called you Town Destroyer: and to this day when that name is heard our women look behind them and turn pale, and our children cling close to the necks of their mothers. Our counsellors and warriors are men, and cannot be afraid; but their hearts are grieved with the fears of our women and children, and desire that it may be buried so deep as to be heard no more.

• Seneca Chief Cornplanter To George Washington1790

Probably more like this

HTTP://SULLIVANCLINTON.COM/MAPS/MAP.HTML

The Consequences• The American revolution was devastating

to Native Americans. • It united colonists and eliminated any

voice to oppose colonial encroachment on Native American lands.

• What was to follow was a new organized program designed to deal with the “Indian Question”

The “Indian Question”

Assimilation• Native American children were taken from

their families and sent to boarding schools where they were forced to let go and change who they were.

• They were often abused severely and ridiculed for being different.

• The natives were expected to stop practicing their religion and convert to Christianity.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDshQTBh5d4&feature=related

Removal• Indians were forced to move from their

ancestral homes and go westward onto reservations.

• These reservations were often placed in poor areas unsuitable for growing traditional crops.

• If the natives were like the Apache and did not practice traditional farming they now had no other choice since they were unable to travel and hunt game.

• Removal was first proposed by Jefferson and attempted by Madison.

• It was not until Andrew Jackson ignored the Supreme Court that removal actually happened

Removal• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

PiVXJSXlptY• Commissioner of Indian Affairs Luke Lea set

forth the doctrine in 1851 by calling for the Indians' "concentration, their domestication, and their incorporation."

• The Indian Office promoted these objectives by breaking up the "habits of savage life" by instilling "civilized" values through forced education, by insisting on agricultural labor, and by pushing the notion of private property and the development of monetary funds. To this end, the reservation was conceived as a controlled society where the habits of civilization could be molded under the direction of the Indian agent and agency personnel. From 1880 to 1934, ethnocide became an officially sanctioned policy.

Annihilation • Sand Creek Massacre• Wounded Knee Massacre• Hundreds of other examples• "I did not know how much was ended. When I

look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream...” Black Elk, Oglala Holy Man ...on the aftermath of the Massacre at Wounded Knee

Fighting for Their Right to Survive• Native Americans today as in the past are

continually fighting for their rights. And gain awareness of the latent racism and genocide they have has to endure for the last 500 years.

• A.I.Mhttp://www.aimovement.org/

Native Americans Today• Most of the Native Americans today live on

reservations.• These reservations are often the poorest

places in the United States• 3 million Native Americans in 2004.• 1 million living on Reservations• The majority live in Urban areas

throughout United States• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=dq0Joi1ELps&feature=fvw

Seneca

Arapahoe

Cherokee

Apache

Sioux

Cultural Contributions

So How Do I Teach About This• http://www.besthistorysites.net/

USHistory_NativeAmerican.shtml• http://edsitement.neh.gov/

view_lesson_plan.asp?id=347• http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/

lesson_plans/history/native/

Questions & Answers• Thank you for your time

Portrayal in the Media• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hJFi7SRH7Q&feature=related

• "Take the Tribe and Scalp 'Em."