The First Americans
The First Americans
The First Americans
1. Describe three major theories that attempt to explain how the first people came to the Americas.
Major theories on the peopling of the Americas include: 1) Southeast Asians sailed across the Pacific
Ocean to North America. 2) Europeans came to the Americas thousands of years before Columbus. 3)
Nomadic hunters crossed Beringia into North America more than 12,000 years ago. Over time, nomadic
people migrated across North America, moving east and south, eventually spreading across the
continents of North and South America.
3. Name at least three Paleo-Indian culture groups that existed in Mesoamerica or South America.
• Olmec
• Maya
• Aztec
• Inca
4. Name two Paleo-Indian culture groups that existed in what is now the United States and give one or two facts
describing the location, economy, and way of life of each group.
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History | Unit : American Beginnings | Lesson : Peopling the Americas
5. Give one reason why historians and archaeologists know little about many of the Native American cultures
that existed at the time Europeans arrived in the Americas.
Europeans brought diseases to which Native Americans had no immunities. A devastating pandemic
resulted, killing off entire villages, tribes, and cultures who left no written records.
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