History of the Americas
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An Image of the Americas from a single remote-sensing device-NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS. Flying over 700 km above the Earth on board the Terra satellite
The ancestors of today's American Indigenous peoples were the Paleo-Indians; they were hunter-gatherers who migrated into North America. The most popular theory asserts that migrants came to the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge, Beringia, the land mass now covered by the cold ocean waters in the Bering Strait. Small lithic stage peoples followed megafauna like bison, mammoth (now extinct), and caribou, thus gaining the modern nickname "big-game hunters." Groups of people may also have traveled into North America on shelf or sheet ice along the northern Pacific coast.
Cultural traits brought by the first immigrants later evolved and spawned such cultures as Iroquois on North America and Pirahã of South America. These cultures later developed into civilizations. In many cases, these cultures expanded at a later date than their Old World counterparts. Cultures that may be considered advanced or civilized include: Norte Chico, Cahokia, Zapotec, Toltec, Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Purepecha, Chimor, Mixtec, Moche, Mississippian, Puebloan, Totonac, Teotihuacan, Huastec people, Tarascan, Izapa, Mazatec, Muiscas, and the Inca.
With the European Discovery of the American continent in 1492, Spanish, Portuguese and later English, French and Dutch colonial expeditions arrived in the New World, conquering and settling the discovered lands, which led to a transformation of the cultural and physical landscape in the Americas. Spain colonized most of the American continent from present-day Southwestern United States, Florida and the Caribbean to the southern tip of South America. Portugal settled in what is mostly present-day Brazil while England established colonies in the Eastern coast of the United States, as well as the North Pacific coast and most of Canada. France setteled in Quebec and other parts of Eastern Canada and claimed an area in what is today Central United States. The Netherlands settled some Caribbean islands and parts of Northern South America.
European colonization of the Americas led to the rise of new cultures, civilizations and eventually states, which resulted from the fusion of native American and European traditions, peoples and institutions. The transformation of American cultures through European domination is evident in architecture, religion, gastronomy, the arts and particularly languages, the most widespread being Spanish (376 million speakers), English (348 million) and Portuguese (201 million). The colonial period lasted approximately three centuries, from the early 16th to the early 19th centuries, when Brazil and the larger Hispanic American nations declared independence. The United States obtained independence from England much earlier, in 1776, while Canada formed a federal dominon in 1867. Others remained attached to their European parent state until the end of the 19th century, such as Cuba and Puerto Rico which were linked to Spain until 1898. Smaller territories such as Guyana obtained independence in the mid-20th century, while certain Caribbean islands remain part of a European power to this day.
Contents
- 1 Pre-colonization
- 1.1 Migration into the continents
- 1.2 Lithic stage (before 8000 BCE)
- 1.3 Archaic stage (8000 BCE — 1000 BCE)
- 1.4 Mesoamerica, the Woodland Period, and Mississippian Culture (2000 BCE — 500 CE)
- 1.5 Classic stage (800 CE — 1300 CE)
- 1.5.1 Oasisamerica
- 1.5.2 Aridoamerica
- 1.5.3 Mesoamerica
- 1.5.4 South America
- 2 European colonization
- 2.1 Colonial period
- 2.2 Decolonization
- 2.3 Effects of slavery
- 3 20th century
- 3.1 North America
- 3.2 Central America
- 3.3 South America
- 4 Notes on Historiography
- 5 See also
- 6 Notes
- 7 References
Pre-colonization
Main article: Pre-Columbian era
Further information: History of Canada, History of the United States, History of Mexico, History of Central America and History of South America
Migration into the continents
For more details on this topic, see Settlement of the Americas.
For more details on Native American genetic heritage, see Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Archaeologists contend that the Paleo-Indian migration out of Beringia (eastern Alaska), ranges from 40,000 to around 16,500 years ago.[6][7][8] This time range is a hot source of debate. The few agreements achieved to date are the origin from Central Asia, with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the last glacial period, or more specifically what is known as the late glacial maximum, around 16,000 – 13,000 years before present.[8][9]
The American Journal of Human Genetics released an article in 2007 stating "Here we show, by using 86 complete mitochondrial genomes, that all Indigenous American haplogroups, including Haplogroup X (mtDNA), were part of a single founding population."[10] Amerindian groups in the Bering Strait region exhibit perhaps the strongest DNA or mitochondrial DNA relations to Siberian peoples. The genetic diversity of Amerindian indigenous groups increase with distance from the assumed entry point into the Americas.[11][12] Certain genetic diversity patterns from West to East suggest, particularly in South America, that migration proceeded first down the west coast, and then proceeded eastward.[13] Geneticists have variously estimated that peoples of Asia and the Americas were part of the same population from 42,000 to 21,000 years ago.[14]
New studies shed light on the founding population of indigenous Americans, suggesting that their ancestry traced to both east Asian and western Eurasians who migrated to North America directly from Siberia. A 2013 study in the journal Nature reported that DNA found in the 24,000 year old remains of a young Boy in Mal’ta Siberia suggest that up to one-third of the indigenous Americans may have ancestry that can be traced back to western Eurasians, who may have "had a more north-easterly distribution 24,000 years ago than commonly thought"[15] Professor Kelly Graf said that "Our findings are significant at two levels. First, it shows that Upper Paleolithic Siberians came from a cosmopolitan population of early modern humans that spread out of Africa to Europe and Central and South Asia. Second, Paleoindian skeletons with phenotypic traits atypical of modern-day Native Americans can be explained as having a direct historical connection to Upper Paleolithic Siberia." A route through Beringia is seen as more likely than the Solutrean hypothesis.[16]
On October 3, 2014, the Oregon cave, where the oldest DNA evidence of human habitation in North America was found, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The DNA, radiocarbon dated to 14,300 years ago, was found in fossilized human coprolites uncovered in the Paisley Five Mile Point Caves in south-central Oregon.[17]
Lithic stage (before 8000 BCE)
Archaic stage (8000 BCE — 1000 BCE)
See also: Pre-Columbian era and History of Mesoamerica (Paleo-Indian)
Several thousand years after the first migrations, the first complex
civilizations arose as hunter-gatherers settled into semi-agricultural
communities. Identifiable sedentary settlements began to emerge in the
so-called Middle Archaic period around 6000 BCE. Particular archaeological cultures can be identified and easily classified throughout the Archaic period.In the late Archaic, on the north-central coastal region of Peru, a complex civilization arose which has been termed the Norte Chico civilization, also known as Caral-Supe. It is the oldest known civilization in the Americas and one of the six sites where civilization originated independently and indigenously in the ancient world, flourishing between the 30th and 18th centuries BC. It pre-dated the Mesoamerican Olmec civilization by nearly two millennia. It was contemporaneous with the Egypt following the unification of its kingdom under Menes and the emergence of the first Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Monumental architecture, including earthwork platform mounds and sunken plazas have been identified as part of the civilization. Archaeological evidence points to the use of textile technology and the worship of common god symbols. Government, possibly in the form of theocracy, is assumed to have been required to manage the region. However, numerous questions remain about its organization. In archaeological nomenclature, the culture was pre-ceramic culture of the pre-Columbian Late Archaic period. It appears to have lacked ceramics and art.
Ongoing scholarly debate persists over the extent to which the flourishing of Norte Chico resulted from its abundant maritime food resources, and the relationship that these resources would suggest between coastal and inland sites.
The role of seafood in the Norte Chico diet has been a subject of scholarly debate. In 1973, examining the Aspero region of Norte Chico, Michael E. Moseley contended that a maritime subsistence (seafood) economy had been the basis of society and its early flourishing. This theory, later termed “maritime foundation of Andean Civilization” was at odds with the general scholarly consensus that civilization arose as a result of intensive grain-based agriculture, as had been the case in the emergence of civilizations in northeast Africa (Egypt) and southwest Asia (Mesopotamia).
While earlier research pointed to edible domestic plants such as squash, beans, lucuma, guava, pacay, and camote at Caral, publications by Haas and colleagues have added avocado, achira, and corn (Zea Mays) to the list of foods consumed in the region. In 2013, Haas and colleagues reported that maize was a primary component of the diet throughout the period of 3000 to 1800 BC.[18]
Cotton was another widespread crop in Norte Chico, essential to the production of fishing nets and textiles. Jonathan Haas noted a mutual dependency, whereby "The prehistoric residents of the Norte Chico needed the fish resources for their protein and the fishermen needed the cotton to make the nets to catch the fish."
In the 2005 book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, journalist Jonathan Mann surveyed the literature at the time, reporting a date “sometime before 3200 BC, and possibly before 3500 BC” as the beginning date for the formation of Norte Chico. He notes that the earliest date securely associated with a city is 3500 BC, at Huaricanga in the (inland) Fortaleza area.
The Norte Chico civilization began to decline around 1800 BC as more powerful centers appeared to the south and north along its coast, and to the east within the Andes Mountains.
Mesoamerica, the Woodland Period, and Mississippian Culture (2000 BCE — 500 CE)
Simple map of subsistence methods in the Americas at 1000 BCE.
The Olmec civilization was the first Mesoamerican civilization, beginning around 1600-1400 BC and ending around 400 BC. Mesoamerica is considered one of the six sites around the globe in which civilization developed independently and indigenously. This civilization is considered the mother culture of the Mesoamerican civilizations. The Mesoamerican calendar, numeral system, writing, and much of the Mesoamerican pantheon seem to have begun with the Olmec.
Some elements of agriculture seem to have been practiced in Mesoamerica quite early. The domestication of maize is thought to have begun around 7,500 to 12,000 years ago. The earliest record of lowland maize cultivation dates to around 5100 BC.[19] Agriculture continued to be mixed with a hunting-gathering-fishing lifestyle until quite late compared to other regions, but by 2700 BC, Mesoamericans were relying on maize, and living mostly in villages. Temple mounds and classes started to appear. By 1300/ 1200 BC, small centres coalesced into the Olmec civilization, which seems to have been a set of city-states, united in religious and commercial concerns. The Olmec cities had ceremonial complexes with earth/clay pyramids, palaces, stone monuments, acqueducts and walled plazas. The first of these centers was at San Lorenzo (until 900 bc). La Venta was the last great Olmec centre. Olmec artisans sculpted jade and clay figurines of Jaguars and humans. Their iconic giant heads - believed to be of Olmec rulers - stood in every major city.
The Olmec civilization ended in 400 BC, with the defacing and destruction of San Lorenzo and La Venta, two of the major cities. It nevertheless spawned many other states, most notably the Mayan civilization, whose first cities began appearing around 700/ 600 BC. Olmec influences continued to appear in many later Mesoamerican civilizations.
Cities of the Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas were as large and organized as the largest in the Old World, with an estimated population of 200,000 to 350,000 in Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire. The market established in the city was said to have been the largest ever seen by the conquistadors when they arrived. The capital of the Cahokians, Cahokia - located near modern East St. Louis, Illinois may have reached a population of over 20,000. At its peak, between the 12th and 13th centuries, Cahokia may have been the most populous city in North America. Monk's Mound, the major ceremonial center of Cahokia, remains the largest earthen construction of the prehistoric New World.
These civilizations developed agriculture as well, breeding maize (corn) from having ears 2–5 cm in length to perhaps 10–15 cm in length. Potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins, beans, avocados, and chocolate are now the most popular of the pre-Columbian agricultural products. The civilizations did not develop extensive livestock as there were few suitable species, although alpacas and llamas were domesticated for use as beasts of burden and sources of wool and meat in the Andes. By the 15th century, maize was being farmed in the Mississippi River Valley after introduction from Mexico. The course of further agricultural development was greatly altered by the arrival of Europeans.
Classic stage (800 CE — 1300 CE)
Main articles: History of North America, History of Mexico, History of Central America and History of the Caribbean
- Cahokia
Main article: Cahokia
Oasisamerica
- Pueblo people
Aridoamerica
- Chichimeca
Main article: Chichimeca
Chichimeca was the name that the Mexica (Aztecs) generically applied to a wide range of semi-nomadic peoples who inhabited the north of modern-day Mexico, and carried the same sense as the European term "barbarian". The name was adopted with a pejorative tone by the Spaniards when referring especially to the semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples of northern Mexico.- Haudenosaune
Main article: Iroquois
Mesoamerica
Main article: Mesoamerica
- Zapotec
- Olmec
- Purepecha
- Maya
- Toltec
- Teotihuacan
- Aztec
South America
Main article: Pre-Columbian South America
- Norte Chico
- Chavín
- Inca
European colonization
Non-Native American nations' claims over North America, 1750–2008.
Political evolution of Central America and the Caribbean since 1700.
European nations’ control over South America, 1700 to present
For more details on this topic, see European colonization of the Americas.
Around 1000, the Vikings established a short-lived settlement in Newfoundland, now known as L'Anse aux Meadows.
Speculations exist about other Old World discoveries of the New World,
but none of these are generally or completely accepted by most scholars.
See also Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact.Spain sponsored a major exploration led by Christopher Columbus in 1492; it quickly led to extensive European colonization of the Americas. The Europeans brought Old World diseases which are thought to have caused catastrophic epidemics and a huge decrease of the native population. Columbus came at a time in which many technical developments in sailing techniques and communication made it possible to report his voyages easily and to spread word of them throughout western Europe. It was also a time of growing religious, imperial and economic rivalries that led to a competition for the establishment of colonies.
Colonial period
15th to 19th century colonies in the New World:- Spanish colonization of the Americas (1492)
- Viceroyalty of New Spain (1535 to 1821)
- Viceroyalty of Peru (1542–1824)
- Spanish Main
- Spanish West Indies
- Captaincy General of Guatemala
- British North America / Thirteen Colonies (1497/1584/1607 to 1776/20th century)
- Danish West Indies
- New Netherland
- New France
- Captaincy General of Venezuela
- Portuguese colonization of the Americas (1499 to 1822)
- Colonial Brazil (1500 to 1815)
Decolonization
For more details on this topic, see Decolonization of the Americas.
The formation of sovereign states in the New World begins with the United States Declaration of Independence of 1776. The American Revolutionary War lasted until 1783.The Spanish colonies won their independence in the first quarter of the 19th century, in the Spanish American wars of independence. Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín, among others, led their independence struggle. Although Bolivar attempted to keep the Spanish-speaking parts of the continent politically allied, they rapidly became independent of one another as well, and several further wars were fought, such as the Paraguayan War and the War of the Pacific. (See Latin American integration.) In the Portuguese colony Dom Pedro I (also Pedro IV of Portugal), son of the Portuguese king Dom João VI, proclaimed the country's independence in 1822 and became Brazil's first Emperor. This was peacefully accepted by the crown in Portugal, upon compensation.
Effects of slavery
Further information: Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies, Slavery in the British and French Caribbean, History of slavery in Brazil, Slavery in Canada and History of slavery in the United States
Slavery has had a significant role in the economic development the New World after the colonization of the Americas by the Europeans. The cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane harvested by slaves became important exports for the United States and the Caribbean countries.20th century
North America
Main article: History of North America
Further information: Canada in the World Wars and Interwar Years, Mexican Revolution and History of the United States (1918–1945)
A Canadian World War I recruiting poster - (1914–1918)
The United States stayed apart from the conflict until 1917, joining the Entente powers. The United States was then able to play a crucial role at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 that shaped interwar Europe. Mexico was not part of the war as the country was embroiled in the Mexican Revolution at the time.
The 1920s brought an age of great prosperity in the United States, and to a lesser degree Canada. But the Wall Street Crash of 1929 combined with drought ushered in a period of economic hardship in the United States and Canada. From 1936 to 1949, this was a popular uprising against the anti-Catholic Mexican government of the time, set off specifically by the anti-clerical provisions of the Mexican Constitution of 1917.
Further information: Military history of Canada during the Second World War, Military history of the United States during World War II, United States home front during World War II, Potrero del Llano, Faja de Oro and Escuadrón 201
Once again, Canada found herself at war before her neighbours,
however even Canadian contributions were slight before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The entry of the United States into the war helped to tip the balance in favour of the allies. Two Mexican tankers, transporting oil to the United States, were attacked and sunk by the Germans in the Gulf of Mexico
waters, in 1942. The incident happened in spite of Mexico's neutrality
at that time. This led Mexico to declare war to the Axis nations and
entered the conflict. The destruction of Europe wrought by the war
vaulted all North American countries to more important roles in world
affairs. The United States especially emerged as a "superpower".
Further information: History of the United States (1945–1964), History of Canada (1945–1960) and African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)
The early Cold War era saw the United States as the most powerful
nation in a Western coalition of which Mexico and Canada were also a
part. In Canada Quebec was transformed by the Quiet Revolution and the emergence of Quebec nationalism.
Mexico experienced an era of huge economic growth after World War II, a
heavy industrialization process and a growth of its middle class, a
period known in Mexican history as the "El Milagro Mexicano" (Mexican miracle). The Caribbean saw the beginnings of decolonization, while on the largest island the Cuban Revolution introduced Cold War rivalries into Latin America.
Further information: History of the United States (1964–1980) and History of Canada (1960–1981)
The Civil Rights Movement ended Jim Crow and empowered black voters in the 1960s, which allowed blacks to move into high government offices. However, the dominant New Deal coalition collapsed in the mid 1960s in disputes over race and the Vietnam War, and the conservative movement began its rise to power, as the once dominant liberalism weakened and collapsed.. Canada during this era was dominated by the leadership of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Eventually in 1982 at the end of his tenure, Canada received a new constitution.
Further information: History of the United States (1980–1991) and History of Canada (1982–1992)
Canada's Brian Mulroney not only ran on a similar platform but also favored closer trade ties with the United States. This led to the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement in January 1989. Mexican presidents Miguel de la Madrid, in the early 1980s and Carlos Salinas de Gortari
in the late 1980s, started implementing liberal economic strategies
that were seen as a good move. However, Mexico experienced a strong
economic recession in 1982 and the Mexican peso suffered a devaluation.
In the United States president Ronald Reagan
attempted to move the United States back towards a hard anti-communist
line in foreign affairs, in what his supporters saw as an attempt to
assert moral leadership (compared to the Soviet Union) in the world
community. Domestically, Reagan attempted to bring in a package of privatization and regulation to stimulate the economy.
Further information: History of the United States (1991–present) and History of Canada (1992-Present)
The end of the Cold War and the beginning of the era of sustained
economic expansion coincided during the 1990s. On January 1, 1994,
Canada, Mexico and the United States signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, creating the world's largest free trade area. In 2000, Vicente Fox became the first non-PRI candidate to win the Mexican presidency in over 70 years. The optimism of the 1990s was shattered by the 9/11 attacks of 2001 on the United States, which prompted military intervention in Afghanistan, which also involved Canada. Canada did not support the United States' later move to invade Iraq, however.In the U.S. the Reagan Era of conservative national policies, deregulation and tax cuts took control with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. By 2010, political scientists were debating whether the election of Barack Obama in 2008 represented an end of the Reagan Era, or was only a reaction against the bubble economy of the 2000s (decade), which burst in 2008 and became the Late-2000s recession with prolonged unemployment.
Central America
| Area | 560,988 km² |
|---|---|
| Population | 50,807,778 |
| Countries |  Belize Costa Rica Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama El Salvador Dominican Republic |
Main article: History of Central America
See also: History of Belize, History of Costa Rica, History of El Salvador, History of Guatemala, History of Honduras, History of Nicaragua and History of Panama
Despite the failure of a lasting political union, the concept of
Central American reunification, though lacking enthusiasm from the
leaders of the individual countries, rises from time to time. In
1856–1857 the region successfully established a military coalition to
repel an invasion by United States adventurer William Walker. Today, all five nations fly flags
that retain the old federal motif of two outer blue bands bounding an
inner white stripe. (Costa Rica, traditionally the least committed of
the five to regional integration, modified its flag significantly in
1848 by darkening the blue and adding a double-wide inner red band, in
honor of the French tricolor).In 1907, a Central American Court of Justice was created. On December 13, 1960, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua established the Central American Common Market ("CACM"). Costa Rica, because of its relative economic prosperity and political stability, chose not to participate in the CACM. The goals for the CACM were to create greater political unification and success of import substitution industrialization policies. The project was an immediate economic success, but was abandoned after the 1969 "Football War" between El Salvador and Honduras. A Central American Parliament has operated, as a purely advisory body, since 1991. Costa Rica has repeatedly declined invitations to join the regional parliament, which seats deputies from the four other former members of the Union, as well as from Panama and the Dominican Republic.
South America
See also: History of South America
In the 1960s and 1970s, the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile,
and Uruguay were overthrown or displaced by U.S.-aligned military
dictatorships. These dictatorships detained tens of thousands of political prisoners, many of whom were tortured and/or killed (on inter-state collaboration, see Operation Condor). Economically, they began a transition to neoliberal economic policies. They placed their own actions within the United States Cold War doctrine of "National Security" against internal subversion. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Peru suffered from an internal conflict (see Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement and Shining Path).
Revolutionary movements and right-wing military dictatorships have been
common, but starting in the 1980s a wave of democratization came
through the continent, and democratic rule is widespread now.
Allegations of corruption remain common, and several nations have seen
crises which have forced the resignation of their presidents, although
normal civilian succession has continued.International indebtedness became a notable problem, as most recently illustrated by Argentina's default in the early 21st century. In recent years, South American governments have drifted to the left, with socialist leaders being elected in Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, and a leftist president in Argentina and Uruguay. Despite the move to the left, South America is still largely capitalist. With the founding of the Union of South American Nations, South America has started down the road of economic integration, with plans for political integration in the European Union style.
source:wikipedia.com
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