Name _____________________________ Class________________________ Date_____________

People and Empires in the Americas

Lesson 1

The Earliest Americans

Key Terms and People
Ice Age time when sheets of ice covered large portions of North America
Beringia land bridge between Asia and the Americas
maize corn; the most important crop of the Americas

Before You Read

In the last lesson, you read about city-states in eastern Africa and
empires in southern Africa.
In this lesson, you will read about the Americas’ first inhabitants.

As You Read
Use a chart to take notes to answer questions about the earliest
Americans’ way of life.

A LAND BRIDGE the first time. Some of the Asian people

How did the earliest people come to who hunted these animals followed
the Americas? them. The people became the first
North and South America form a Americans.
single stretch of land. It stretches from No one knows for sure when these
the Arctic Circle in the north to the first people arrived. Some scholars say
waters around Antarctica in the south. the people came to the Americas as long
The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans ago as 30,000 BC; others say as late as
separate the Americas from Africa, 10,000 BC. A discovery in Chile suggests
Asia, and Europe. that people were well-settled in that part
But that was not always the case. of the Americas by 10,500 BC. Since
From around 1.9 million to about Chile lies far south of the land bridge,
10,000 BC, the earth went through an some experts say that people needed
Ice Age. During this time, huge sheets of many thousands of years to travel that
ice called glaciers spread south from the far. For this reason, they think that the
Arctic Circle. The level of the world’s first people must have crossed the land
oceans went down. The lowered oceans bridge in about 20,000 BC.
exposed land that is today again covered 1. Where did the frst Americans come
by water. from?
One strip of land, called Beringia,
connected Asia and North America.
Wild animals crossed this rocky land
bridge and entered North America for

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175 Guided Reading Workbook

Name _____________________________ Class________________________ Date_____________

Lesson 1, continued

HUNTERS AND GATHERERS happened in several spots in Asia and

How did early Americans live? Africa. By 3400 BC, they had begun to
These first Americans lived as grow several foods, including squashes,
hunters. One of their favorite hunting beans, chilies, and, most importantly,
targets was the huge mammoth. Over maize, or corn. Corn grew so well that a
time, however, all the mammoths died. family of three could, in four months,
People were forced to look for other grow enough corn to feed itself for
food. They began to hunt smaller two years.
animals, such as deer and rabbits, and to Over many centuries, farming spread
fish. They also began to gather plants throughout the Americas. In what is
and fruits to eat. They no longer had to now the eastern United States and in the
roam over large areas to search for the region of the Andes, people may have
mammoth, so they settled for part of discovered the idea of farming on their
the year in one spot. own. In central Mexico, farmers became
Roughly between 12,000 and so skilled at growing corn that they
10,000 BC, the climate changed. The could enjoy three harvests each year.
Ice Age ended, and the world warmed Farming had the same results in the
up again. The huge sheets of ice melted, Americas that it did in Asia and Africa.
and the oceans rose again to cover the Growing food gave people a larger and
land bridge that connected Asia to the more reliable food supply. As more
Americas. By this time, though, people people could be fed, they were healthier
lived from north to south in the and lived longer. As a result, the
Americas. They lived in many different population grew.
environments and found ways of life Because farmers produced so much
suited to the place where they lived. food, some people could concentrate on
2. What kinds of prey did the frst other ways of making a living. They
Americans hunt? began to work in different arts and
crafts and learned new skills. Some
people became rich. They owned more
than others and enjoyed a higher
position in society. Some people became
rulers. Others became their subjects.
AGRICULTURE CREATES A NEW 3. Why was maize so important?
WAY OF LIFE
How did agriculture change
ways of life?
About 7000 BC, the people living in
central Mexico started a quiet
revolution—farming. It was the same
kind of radical change that had

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

176 Guided Reading Workbook

Name _____________________________ Class________________________ Date_____________

Lesson 1, continued

As you read about the earliest Americans, take notes to answer

questions about their way of life.

The earliest Americans lived as hunters and gatherers.

1. According to most experts, when and 2. As large animals became extinct, how
how did the first Americans arrive in did hunters adapt to this change in
North America? their environment?

The earliest Americans began to experiment with simple methods of farming.

3. How did farming develop in what is 4. What crops grew well in the tropical
now central Mexico? climate of Mexico?

Agriculture dramatically changed peoples’ way of life.

5. How did farming affect where 6. How did farming affect the structure
people lived? of society?

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177 Guided Reading Workbook