America Before Columbus

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Early Americans

American history does not begin with Columbus's 1492 arrival in America. The beginning of American history actually occurred 30,000 to 50,000 years ago. At one point in time, the Americas were connected to Asia via the Bering Strait. Hunter gatherers followed animals that migrated across the strait and gradually spread south. When they arrived they discovered a beautiful uninhabited land with more animals than their homeland. Eventually, people inhabited all of the Americas. This wave of migration ceased when the land bridge broke apart.

As time went on, many of these tribes settled down and began to farm and domesticate animals. Despite this apparent pacification, some tribes actively engaged in war and slavery, two practices that were not unique to Europeans. Through conflict and slavery, empires rose across the Americas that rivaled the greatest ones in Europe. For their time, some of these empires were highly advanced.

When referring to these empires, historians have difficulty, as the native people did not have a unified name for themselves. The term Indian came from the belief by Christopher Columbus that he had discovered India. Despite Amerigo Vespucci ascertaining that the Americas were not actually India, Indian continued to be used as the de facto name for native inhabitants until around 1960.

Early Empires of the Mississippi

Early North American Cultures