Topic: Comparing Native Americans and Europeans at the Time of the

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Topic Comparing Native Americans and Europeans
at the Time of the Encounter
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Early Migrations to the Americas

• 35,000-10,000 the Ice Age
• Land Bridge Theory (Bering Strait)
• What conclusions can be drawn from the map?
• Populations increased (35-50 million by 1492)

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Early American Peoples

• Meso-Americans
• Incas, Mayans, Aztecs (Central and South America)
• Maize, arts, architecture
• Science and math
• Aztec human sacrifice, runners
• Pueblos in Southwest US
• Anasazis in New Mexico
• Iroquois in Northeast (5 Nations League)

Aztec Pyramid Cholula
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1492 Columbus and the Encounter

• State of Europe in 1400s
• European needs in 1400s
• Spices and Sugar
• Silks and Fabrics
• New trade routes to Asia (India and China)
• New technologies
• Portuguese posts in Africa
• The Spanish Reconquista (3 Gs)
• Columbus in Bahamas 1492
• West Indies
• Columbian Exchange (Triangle Trade)
• Natives Exploited, depopulated

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Conclusion Compare and Contrast European
Societies with Native American Societies (1492)
Native Americans
Europeans