9 Peopling of the Americas

North, Central and South America had thriving populations made up of men, women and children with different ways of living, varied belief systems, who had built complex societies before any colonizing “founders” arrived. These peoples were not “primitive” nor did they “disappear;” however, it is rare to hear about their amazing and varied contributions. After all, Native American history is part of the shared complex stories in American history.

Once these areas of the “New World” were contacted by “Old World” primarily European cultures, indigenous peoples had to grapple with foreigners colonizing their land. The Native Americans functioned in two different modes over the course of American history:  by resistance to power and attempts to work within the framework of the U.S. government.

This is their story.

Arriving in the Americas

Modern humankind – the species Homo sapiens – has been around for at least 200,000 years.  and slowly spread across the earth.

First Peoples arrived in the Americas at least as early as 20,000 years ago. Archaeological, genetic, linguistic, and osteological evidence suggests a wide diversity of people came into the Americas. It is highly likely that there were many waves of migration over time, probably by both land and sea. Over many decades, small groups of nomadic peoples traveled long distances and spread throughout the Americas, some migrating all the way to South America.

View this Human Prehistory 101 (Part 2 of 3) video by 23 and Me to learn more about the possible ways peoples migrated into the Americas.

As the decades passed, the nomadic peoples settled all throughout the Americas and many began farming approximately 8,000 – 9,000 years ago. Up until the arrival of Europeans, Native American groups living in North America each developed a unique society based on their surrounding terrain and climate as well as familial alliances. Conflict between tribes was typically based on social beliefs, territory, or resource disputes. In North America we have not found evidence of large-scale political warfare, but we do find both evidence of people living in periods of relative peace along with signs of occasional conflict and violence.

In addition, some native groups in North America took part in creating massive civilizations. One such civilization is known as the Mississippian Culture. Its largest city – Cahokia – was located along the Mississippi river. At the height of their power (800-1400 CE ), this city had a population of almost 30,000 people. Mississippians had elite classes, a distinct belief system and participated in extensive trade networks that reached as far as Canada to the north and into modern day Mexico in the south.

Another complex society with extensive belief systems and trade networks also rose up among the Ancestral Puebloans in the southwest portion of North America. Centered on Chaco Canyon (850-1250 CE), they too had elite classes, participated in a distinct belief system, built towns and cities with large structures and imported goods from all over North America, including parrots, turquoise and chocolate from Mexico. Evidence of these complex native societies demonstrates that stories about “primitive savages” can be easily debunked.

Contact And Conflict with the “Old World”

For centuries, thousands of Native American groups lived, cultivated, and developed the landscape in the Americas. Most readers would attribute the first European to come in contact with indigenous peoples to be renowned explorer Christopher Columbus in the late 15th century. This is generally true, though a group of Norse explorers led by Leif Eriksson landed and briefly settled in Newfoundland at L’Anse aux Meadows in the 12th century.

Columbus was one of many skilled explorers of the 15th century dared to venture out into open ocean, first making their way down the African coast, then planning to sail out further into the Atlantic. Columbus, although an Italian in origin, gained a commission from the Spanish monarchy to explore and colonize new lands. The Spanish were highly motivated by the Reconquista, the campaign to “reconquer” Spain from the Muslims that had occupied their native lands for decades. In 1492, they accomplished their Reconquista and were eager for more victories. Due to Ottoman expansion, historic routes to the east were no longer viable, and Europeans were looking for another access point to eastern spices and other exotic goods.  Columbus was hired by the Spanish monarchs to find a new trade route to Asia in order to access highly coveted commodities.

When the Spanish made landfall in the Americas, not Asia as they planned, they sought to explore the Americas, searching for gold and other lucrative natural resources. Upon discovery, the indigenous peoples were dubbed “Indians,” for Columbus and his shipmates believed that they landed in the East Indies. The Spanish utilized the papal principle of the Doctrine of Discovery which sanctioned the colonization of the Americas and declared indigenous peoples’ non-Christian enemies that deserved the brutal conquest of their lands.

In Columbus’s journal, he recorded his observations of the indigenous people. He stated:

“It appeared to me to be a race of people very poor in everything…
They should be good servants and intelligent, for I observed that they quickly took in what was said to them, and I believe that they would easily be made Christians, as it appeared to me that they had no religion….” (Columbus, 1492)

Columbus shows an obvious superiority to the people he encountered by calling them poor, assuming they were without religion since they were not Christian, and declaring them to be of service to others like him. He shows intent to abuse and enslave, and this is the sentiment that many other Europeans would take as they began to colonize the Americas. From here on forward, Europeans set a precedence of Eurocentrism, the interpretation of non-European world civilizations in comparison to European culture. In these cases, European men like Columbus viewed the indigenous peoples as different and inferior, thus justifying abusive and malicious behavior.

The Americas were not “empty” lands in the 15th-17th centuries; at least 4-6 million people lived in North America alone. The impacts of newcomers on Native American peoples was devastating and widespread:

• DISEASE
• ENSLAVEMENT & SERVITUDE
• LOSS of LANDS
• LOSS OF RIGHTS
• ECONOMIC CHANGE
• FORCED EDUCATION
• LOSS OF RELIGIONS

The Spanish crown sent Conquistadors & Priests to explore the Caribbean, Central, and South America.  trading, warring, and colonizing regions. It was the Spanish who set the precedent to establish colonies in the New World for the sole purpose of monetary benefit to its mother country. The Spanish eventually arrived in California, the Southwest and Southeast of what would become the United States of America. As they went, they claimed everything and everybody for the Crown and Church. Eventually they established very lucrative settlements with systems that forced indigenous peoples and imported African slaves to work against their will.

Soon other Europeans also ventured into the New World with the hopes of establishing their own profitable settlements. The French primarily arrived in the Northeast to engage in the fur trade. They encouraged intermarriage with Native American groups as it linked them socially and economically to local peoples. The English imported many of their concepts with them: their class system, the idea of private land ownership and the idea that some people were “other” and not equals.

Watch these Crash Course History videos to learn more about Spanish and English tactics.

The Black Legend, Native Americans, and Spaniards video (11 minutes)

The Natives and the English video (11 minutes)

As you can see, these newcomers had various reasons they entered this “new” land. The ways in which they dealt with the original American peoples also differed.