APUSH AMSCO Chapter 1 Summary &
Notes
How Native Americans got to the Americas - ANSWER - *migrants from Asia crossed a land
bridge that once connect Siberia and Alaska in Bering Sea,
migrated south from Arctic Circle to South America
3 highly developed civilizations - ANSWER - Mayans, Aztecs, Incas
Mayan Civilization (300-800 AD) - ANSWER - *remarkable cities in rain forests of Yucatan
Peninsula (present-day Guatemala, Belize, southern Mexico)
*cultivated corn/maize
Aztec Empire - ANSWER - *powerful empire in central Mexico
*Capital in Tenochtitlan
*population ~200k
*planted corn/maize
(200 yrs after decline of Mayan Empire)
Inca Empire - ANSWER - *Peru/Andes Mnt (South America)
*cultivated da potato
similarities between Mayas, Incas, Aztecs - ANSWER - *highly organized (and large) societies
*extensive trade
*created accurate & scientific calendars
*planted crops
Great Plains (nomadic hunters) - ANSWER - *principally survived on hunting (mainly buffalo)
*lived in tepees (frames of poles covered in animal skins that worked well with their nomadic
lifestyles)
, Great Plains (sedentary farming tribes) - ANSWER - *permanent earthen lodges often along
rivers
*farmed corn, beans, squash
*traded with other tribes
*plains tribes merge/split with time as conditions change (especially after arrival of Europeans)
the significant difference between Central/South American and North American Native America
Tribes - ANSWER - North American Native Americans were smaller/separate tribes (as opposed
to a big empire),
*less sophisticated
Similarities between Central/South American and North American Tribes - ANSWER -
established farming systems, language
similarities between North American native cultures - ANSWER - *semi-permanent settlements
in small groups
*men: made tools, hunted game
*women: gathered plants/nuts or grew crops like corn/maize, beans, tobacco
*animism
language of Native Americans - ANSWER - very diverse, more than 20 language families & 400
distinct languages
*larges are Algoquian of Northeast, Siouan in Great Plains, Athabaskan in Southwest
Relationship between resource availability and cultural lifestyle (in general) - ANSWER - *great
concentration of resources also created rigidly stratified class structures throughout the West
*In areas with sparse natural resources, groups were more nomadic and less connected to
others.
Southwest Settlements (present day New Mexico & Arizona) - ANSWER - *groups like
Hokokam, Anasazi, Pueblos
*farming with irrigation systems (corn; irrigation allowed Pueblos to plant beans and squash in
addition to corn)
*lived in caves, under cliffs, multistoried buildings
Notes
How Native Americans got to the Americas - ANSWER - *migrants from Asia crossed a land
bridge that once connect Siberia and Alaska in Bering Sea,
migrated south from Arctic Circle to South America
3 highly developed civilizations - ANSWER - Mayans, Aztecs, Incas
Mayan Civilization (300-800 AD) - ANSWER - *remarkable cities in rain forests of Yucatan
Peninsula (present-day Guatemala, Belize, southern Mexico)
*cultivated corn/maize
Aztec Empire - ANSWER - *powerful empire in central Mexico
*Capital in Tenochtitlan
*population ~200k
*planted corn/maize
(200 yrs after decline of Mayan Empire)
Inca Empire - ANSWER - *Peru/Andes Mnt (South America)
*cultivated da potato
similarities between Mayas, Incas, Aztecs - ANSWER - *highly organized (and large) societies
*extensive trade
*created accurate & scientific calendars
*planted crops
Great Plains (nomadic hunters) - ANSWER - *principally survived on hunting (mainly buffalo)
*lived in tepees (frames of poles covered in animal skins that worked well with their nomadic
lifestyles)
, Great Plains (sedentary farming tribes) - ANSWER - *permanent earthen lodges often along
rivers
*farmed corn, beans, squash
*traded with other tribes
*plains tribes merge/split with time as conditions change (especially after arrival of Europeans)
the significant difference between Central/South American and North American Native America
Tribes - ANSWER - North American Native Americans were smaller/separate tribes (as opposed
to a big empire),
*less sophisticated
Similarities between Central/South American and North American Tribes - ANSWER -
established farming systems, language
similarities between North American native cultures - ANSWER - *semi-permanent settlements
in small groups
*men: made tools, hunted game
*women: gathered plants/nuts or grew crops like corn/maize, beans, tobacco
*animism
language of Native Americans - ANSWER - very diverse, more than 20 language families & 400
distinct languages
*larges are Algoquian of Northeast, Siouan in Great Plains, Athabaskan in Southwest
Relationship between resource availability and cultural lifestyle (in general) - ANSWER - *great
concentration of resources also created rigidly stratified class structures throughout the West
*In areas with sparse natural resources, groups were more nomadic and less connected to
others.
Southwest Settlements (present day New Mexico & Arizona) - ANSWER - *groups like
Hokokam, Anasazi, Pueblos
*farming with irrigation systems (corn; irrigation allowed Pueblos to plant beans and squash in
addition to corn)
*lived in caves, under cliffs, multistoried buildings
