Give Me Liberty:Chapter 1 A New World
The First Americans:
The Settling of the Americas - "Indians" settled the New World between 15,000 and
60,000 years ago.
The First Americans:
Indian Societies of the Americas - 1.North and South American societies built roads,
trade networks, and irrigation systems.
2.Societies from Mexico and areas south were grander in scale and organization than
those north of Mexico.
2.1.Indians north of Mexico lacked literacy, metal tools, and scientific knowledge
necessary for long distance navigation.
The First Americans:
Mound Builders of the Mississippi River Valley - 1.Built approximately 3,500 years ago
along the Mississippi River in modern-day Louisiana, a community known today as
Poverty Point was a trading center for the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys.
2.Located near present-day St. Louis, the city known as Cahokia flourished with a
population of 10,000-30,000 around the year 1200.
The First Americans:
Western Indians - Hopi and Zuni ancestors settled around present-day Arizona and
New Mexico and built large planned towns with multiple-family dwellings, and traded
with peoples as far away as Mississippi and central Mexico.
The First Americans:
Indians of Eastern North America - 1.Indian tribes living in the eastern part of North
America sustained themselves with a diet of corn, squash, and beans and
supplemented it by fishing and hunting.
2.Tribes frequently warred with one another; however, there were also many loose
alliances.
3.Indians saw themselves as one group among many; the sheer diversity seen by the
Europeans upon their arrival was remarkable.
The First Americans:
Native American Religion - 1.Religious ceremonies were often directly related to farming
and hunting.
, 2.Those who were believed to hold special spiritual powers held positions of respect
and authority.
Land and Property - 1.The idea of owning private property was foreign to Indians.
2.Indians believed land was a common resource, not an economic commodity.
3.Wealth mattered little in Indian societies, and generosity was far more important.
The First Americans:
Gender Relations - 1.Women could engage in premarital sex and choose to divorce
their husbands, and most Indian societies were matrilineal.
2.Since men were often away on hunts, women attended to the agricultural duties as
well as the household duties.
The First Americans:
European Views of the Indians - 1.Europeans felt that Indians lacked genuine religion.
2.Europeans claimed that Indians did not "use" the land and thus had no claim to it.
3.Europeans viewed Indian men as weak and Indian women as mistreated.
Indian Freedom, European Freedom:
Indian Freedom - 1.Europeans concluded that the notion of freedom was alien to Indian
societies.
2.European understanding of freedom was based on ideas of personal independence
and the ownership of private property, ideas foreign to Indians.
Indian Freedom, European Freedom:
Christian Liberty - 1.Europeans believed that to embrace Christ was to provide freedom
from sin.
2."Christian liberty" had no connection to later ideas of religious tolerance.
Indian Freedom, European Freedom:
Freedom and Authority - 1.Europeans claimed that obedience to law was another
definition of freedom.
2.Under English law, women held very few rights and were submissive to their
husbands.
Indian Freedom, European Freedom:
Liberty and Liberties - 1.Liberty came from knowing one's place in a hierarchical society
and fulfilling duties appropriate to one's rank.
The First Americans:
The Settling of the Americas - "Indians" settled the New World between 15,000 and
60,000 years ago.
The First Americans:
Indian Societies of the Americas - 1.North and South American societies built roads,
trade networks, and irrigation systems.
2.Societies from Mexico and areas south were grander in scale and organization than
those north of Mexico.
2.1.Indians north of Mexico lacked literacy, metal tools, and scientific knowledge
necessary for long distance navigation.
The First Americans:
Mound Builders of the Mississippi River Valley - 1.Built approximately 3,500 years ago
along the Mississippi River in modern-day Louisiana, a community known today as
Poverty Point was a trading center for the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys.
2.Located near present-day St. Louis, the city known as Cahokia flourished with a
population of 10,000-30,000 around the year 1200.
The First Americans:
Western Indians - Hopi and Zuni ancestors settled around present-day Arizona and
New Mexico and built large planned towns with multiple-family dwellings, and traded
with peoples as far away as Mississippi and central Mexico.
The First Americans:
Indians of Eastern North America - 1.Indian tribes living in the eastern part of North
America sustained themselves with a diet of corn, squash, and beans and
supplemented it by fishing and hunting.
2.Tribes frequently warred with one another; however, there were also many loose
alliances.
3.Indians saw themselves as one group among many; the sheer diversity seen by the
Europeans upon their arrival was remarkable.
The First Americans:
Native American Religion - 1.Religious ceremonies were often directly related to farming
and hunting.
, 2.Those who were believed to hold special spiritual powers held positions of respect
and authority.
Land and Property - 1.The idea of owning private property was foreign to Indians.
2.Indians believed land was a common resource, not an economic commodity.
3.Wealth mattered little in Indian societies, and generosity was far more important.
The First Americans:
Gender Relations - 1.Women could engage in premarital sex and choose to divorce
their husbands, and most Indian societies were matrilineal.
2.Since men were often away on hunts, women attended to the agricultural duties as
well as the household duties.
The First Americans:
European Views of the Indians - 1.Europeans felt that Indians lacked genuine religion.
2.Europeans claimed that Indians did not "use" the land and thus had no claim to it.
3.Europeans viewed Indian men as weak and Indian women as mistreated.
Indian Freedom, European Freedom:
Indian Freedom - 1.Europeans concluded that the notion of freedom was alien to Indian
societies.
2.European understanding of freedom was based on ideas of personal independence
and the ownership of private property, ideas foreign to Indians.
Indian Freedom, European Freedom:
Christian Liberty - 1.Europeans believed that to embrace Christ was to provide freedom
from sin.
2."Christian liberty" had no connection to later ideas of religious tolerance.
Indian Freedom, European Freedom:
Freedom and Authority - 1.Europeans claimed that obedience to law was another
definition of freedom.
2.Under English law, women held very few rights and were submissive to their
husbands.
Indian Freedom, European Freedom:
Liberty and Liberties - 1.Liberty came from knowing one's place in a hierarchical society
and fulfilling duties appropriate to one's rank.
