The first Americans
The first Americans are believed to have originated from north- Eastern Asia. they crossed the Bering Land Bridge crossing from Asia and Siberia into Alaska. They slowly migrated southward and eastward. Over the years, ‘Indians’ as Columbus named them, the Siberians had scattered through most parts of America. However as the years passed the ecosystem slowly changed. As the glacial age receded and global temperatures began to rise, most of the animals did not survive the change in climate, his lead to the later generations to develop new cultures that involved farming and need for settling in one place. As the years passed most of the early people did not survive either. For those that adapted to hunting they had to hunt small animals and they were required to develop tools for hunting.
Adaptation due to the changes that took place in the regions climate the migrants were forced to form distinctive regional cultures between 10000 years and 2500 years. The climax for the need for adaptation took place in the Mesoamerican era. Communities started to domesticate plants and from there began the revolution of agriculture. This forced them to settle down and form urban cultures. Market places developed so did palaces and schools; other cultures among those that were formed were the hunting communities that almost entirely depended on buffalo hunting. Men hunted while women gathered seed, nut and roots so as to supplement their diet.
The groups that migrated south and formed the New Mexico were similar to those that settled in the Great Plains and Great Basins, as they developed the culture of settling close to stream and lakes and they used the water to irrigate their crops, but they also differed in that some of the communities in the south developed the culture of pottery while the Northern communities (Great Plains) cultures stuck to hunting as so were the Eastern Woodland cultures. The subarctic and arctic communities adapted to hunting and fishing since the temperature in the arctic did not support agriculture. However the earliest settlers in New Mexico depended on hunting for food before they later on developed the culture of agriculture.
People of the southwest 10000years ago developed the domestication of plants and they embraced agriculture. They became farmers and they started growing beans, tomatoes and corn. People started building permanent structures which included schools, and markets. Population continued growing and people started specializing on different tasks; merchants, architects, warriors and priests came up. Some of the major crops that were developed by the Native Americans were; corn, tomatoes, pumpkin, beans, sunflowers and squash.
The native inhabitants transformed their environments from pioneering crops for export to transforming mountains and jungles to farms. The Anasazis moved forests by cutting and transporting hundreds of thousands of trees for building. They changed river courses so as to create canals and dams for irrigation. They developed the art of using fire to remove the undergrowth and transform the environment they lived in.
Unlike the Eurasian mass which stretches across the northern hemisphere along the East West axis; the Americas, fall along the north- south axis. The geography and the climatic aspect greatly disadvantage the North and South America making transport and communication difficult. The Eurasian plate received uniform seasons enabling them to easily adopt the right crops and animals were able to adapt to the environment. On the other hand the north south axis of the Americas formed barriers to plants and animals. This was a great disadvantage since crops were not able to cross to either side. Dramatic variations in climate led to delayed transfer of crops.
The health of the American population greatly deteriorated as the Europeans shipped into the continent. Unlike the European people who since childhood had developed immunity to a variety of diseases, a result of staying close to the animals they domesticated, the Native Americans were weak and had not been exposed to these diseases. When the Europeans arrived, and interaction levels were high the Americans suffered greatly with the adults succumbing to the adverse effects.
According to the map given below the native people of California did fishing. The region received abundant rainfall hence agriculture was not so necessary for them since nature provided for them. But on the eastern side of the region the place was arid and families had to scour the ground for food (Wilson, 335).
The native in America faced adverse challenges after the Europeans set foot in their continent. The challenges ranged from deadly diseases, wars, dislocation, and Mal- nutrition. Americans laboured under crucial disadvantages.
During the ‘Eve of contact’ the most of the Americans lived north of the Rio Grande. The writer describes that the people adopted different cultures, some became hunters others depended entirely on cultivation. As the Europeans arrived in America the continent north of Mexico had rich history of towns and cities.
The writer has put great emphasis on the seafarers since they were the group that made it through the sea and they were able to describe the sea. They were experienced sea travellers and they helped Europe learn about the rest of the world.
The Chinese were of great importance to the Europeans as they provided Eurasia where Europe is included with products from outside; which include spices, ceramics and silk. Both the Chinese and the Ottomans were most powerful people in Eurasia, and like the Chinese the aided trade between Europe and Asia.
The ottomans’ military was very brutal and caused Europe so much pain and suffering. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, 90 percent of the Europeans were dispersed living in small villages. War fare poor transportation and low grain yields that created food shortages were some of the challenges the Europeans went through. Aristocrats enjoyed most of the peasants’ money living them with nothing.
The political development of Europe laid the ground work for colonization as the monarchs from France, England and Spain began forging modern nation states by expanding their territory, people and resources. Hence the need for resources and human resource led to the colonization of other countries so as to get what they wanted.
For long Europe witnessed spices, ivory, gold enter the Eurasian market through the Sahara desert or the Indian Ocean. African kingdoms controlled routes through which these precious goods moved. The European merchants yearned to go to these places and acquire these commodities. Portugal was the first to penetrate the West African Market (Rawley, 56). Through Henry ‘the navigator’, funded the voyage explorations established a maritime school and challenged the engineers to conquer the current issue. The Portuguese were able to build a manoeuvrable ship that enabled them sail the ocean to Africa.
When people discovered that slaves were a symbol of status than workers raids began where girls and women were mostly taken. So as to acquire labour for plantations Portuguese had to look for slaves.
Columbus believed he could get the shortest route to china since through his studies, and calculations and study of geography. He declared that the fastest route to china was through the west. The Portuguese found Columbus theorem to be a bit faulty and to them the earth was bigger than his calculations. The Spaniards were more interested in defeating the Portuguese in trade so they ignored their geographers and paid attention to Columbus.
The Spanish invasion in Taino led to the slaughtering of their leaders, and the survivors were forced to work in the mines. This meant colonization and slavery for the people of Taino. Cortes was able to conquer Aztec through majoring on their weakness for the lack of machinery and equipment for war. Cortes matched an army into the city and overthrew and seized Aztecs leader. As the Europeans invaded America they brought large dogs and horses as well as oranges, bananas, lemons and figs form Africa.
The monarchy was able to govern the colonies of Spain through the crown who bribed the conquistadors to retirement and assassination of the noble by their own. The crown had loyal servants who reported to none other than him. By 1600 5 percent of the colonial population was of Spanish descent meaning that the settlers intermarried or with the locals. The Spaniards gained interest in New Mexico because of the gold and silver present there. This was a good opportunity for investment. The result of this was that most people stopped livestock keeping and sugar cane planting and all put their resources in mining. According to the map we are able to view that spain had greatly gained many colonies in America. England tried to establish and settle in America by lending support to colonizing ventures although they failed.
The content in both chapters was quite comprehensive and gave the chance to learn more than what I already learnt. I learnt that the first people that came to America came from Eurasia. The first chapter describes where Americans came from preparing us to go to the next chapter that discusses civilization and colonization. The developments of various cultures lead to the birth of agriculture and other economic activities that still exist today. If a film was to be made about these chapters, colonization and the birth of economic and trade world would be the main themes. Some of the characters would represent the low social class and the peasants, while others would represent the high social class and leaders. The time and setting of the events in the chapter was thousands of years ago, the starting and ending describe the rise and fall of various kingdoms. The author chose this time span which makes the history more interesting since it revolves around many people and many activities that explain present world today and how it was born.
The chapter is a little bit hard to understand since the events took part long time ago and since then a lot has changed and some of the data that would clear things up is not present. Some people may feel uncomfortable and have resentment towards certain parties for what happened to their ancestors. The first chapter has described the various cultures that have developed in America and the economic activity they carried out. From farming to mining and livestock keeping; in south America livestock keeping is still practiced today while the people in Alaska still do fishing. Mexicans are still good at pottery and weaving. I see myself as a farmer in that era, livestock keeping would be the nest activity despite some of the challenges such as colonization and war that would be disastrous.
Both the first and second chapters of the journal are written by Davidson. The first chapter describes the origin and birth of America. The document gives more information more than most resources about the origin and development of America. While the second document describe colonization and slave trade in America and Africa by the European countries. Both documents give data that is easier to understand and makes understanding the topic easily. It is definitely more reliable and explains more than what other documents might explain.
Willson, Marcius. American history: comprising historical sketches of the Indian tribes; a description of American antiquities, with an inquiry into their origin and the origin of the Indian tribes; history of the United States, with appendices showing its connection with European history; history of the present British provinces; history of Mexico; and history of Texas, brought down to the time of its admission into the American Union.. Cincinnati: W.H. Moore & Co.;, 1847. Print.
Rawley, James A.. The transatlantic slave trade: a history. New York: Norton, 1981. Print.
