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History of North America | HearLore
History of North America
The first human footprints on North American soil may have been pressed into the earth 90,000 years ago, shattering the long-held belief that migration occurred only 40,000 years ago. For decades, the standard narrative described Paleo-Indians crossing the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska during the Quaternary glaciation, when sea levels were significantly lowered. These early migrants followed herds of now-extinct Pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets. However, newer archaeological evidence suggests that some groups may have traveled down the Pacific coast on foot or using primitive boats, a route now submerged under hundreds of meters of water following the last ice age. The debate over the exact timing and routes of these migrations continues to rage among scientists, with some theories even proposing migration from Europe. Stone tools, particularly projectile points and scrapers, remain the primary evidence of this early activity, linking indigenous Americans to Asian peoples through linguistic dialects, blood type distribution, and genetic composition. By 8,000 to 7,000 BCE, the climate stabilized, leading to a rise in population and lithic technology advances that resulted in a more sedentary lifestyle.
Empires of the Sun
Before the arrival of Europeans, the indigenous peoples of North America were divided into many different polities, ranging from small bands of a few families to vast empires. In the south, the Maya civilization developed a writing system, built huge pyramids, and created a complex calendar that included the concept of zero 500 years before anyone in the Old World. While the Mayan culture was still present when the Spanish arrived in Central America, political dominance in the area had shifted to the Aztec Empire further north. In the Southwest, Hohokam and Ancestral Pueblo societies had been engaged in agricultural production with ditch irrigation and a sedentary village life for at least two millennia before the Spanish arrived in the 1540s. Agriculture was invented independently in two regions of North America: the Eastern Woodlands and Mesoamerica. The more southern cultural groups were responsible for the domestication of many common crops now used around the world, such as tomatoes and squash, and perhaps most importantly, maize. Population estimates for the year 1500 AD suggest that pre-Hispanic Mexico had a population of 7.5 million, while what became Canada had close to 250,000 people and what became the United States had 2 million. These diverse communities each developed their own unique cultures and ways of life, adapting their subsistence strategies to their homelands, whether as hunter-gatherers, horticulturists, or agriculturalists.
Common questions
When did the first human footprints appear on North American soil?
The first human footprints on North American soil may have been pressed into the earth 90,000 years ago. This finding shatters the long-held belief that migration occurred only 40,000 years ago. Archaeologists debate whether these early migrants crossed the Beringia land bridge or traveled down the Pacific coast.
Which indigenous civilization developed a writing system and calendar 500 years before the Old World?
The Maya civilization developed a writing system and created a complex calendar that included the concept of zero 500 years before anyone in the Old World. This culture was present in Central America when the Spanish arrived. The Mayan culture eventually gave way to the Aztec Empire further north.
Who founded the colony on Greenland in 985 CE and reached Vinland?
The Norse or Vikings founded a colony on Greenland in 985 CE. Erik the Red's son, Leif Eriksson, is believed to have reached the Island of Newfoundland and named the discovery Vinland. The only Norse site outside of Greenland yet discovered in North America is at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland and Labrador.
When did the Spanish establish the first successful settlement in continental North America?
The first successful Spanish settlement in continental North America was Veracruz founded by Hernán Cortés in 1519. This settlement marked the beginning of European colonization of the Americas. The Spanish later gained control of most of the largest islands in the Caribbean and conquered the Aztec empire.
What year did Mexico declare independence and when did Spain recognize it?
Independence was declared in 1810 by Miguel Hidalgo, starting the Mexican War of Independence. Spain finally recognized Mexico's independence in 1821. José María Morelos and the Congress of Anáhuac signed the Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America in 1813.
When did Canada federate and when did it expand to the Pacific?
Four of the Canadian colonies agreed to federate in 1867, creating the Dominion of Canada. With the addition of British Columbia, Canada would expand to the Pacific by 1871. The nation established a transcontinental railway, the Canadian Pacific, by 1885.
The earliest physical evidence of contact between North American people and the outside world comes from the Norse or Vikings, who founded a colony on Greenland in 985 CE. Erik the Red's son, Leif Eriksson, is believed to have reached the Island of Newfoundland, naming the discovery Vinland, though the only Norse site outside of Greenland yet discovered in North America is at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. All of the Norse colonies were eventually abandoned, and their voyages did not become common knowledge in the Old World. Even the permanent settlement in Greenland, which persisted until the early 1400s, received little attention, and Europeans remained largely ignorant of the existence of the Americas until 1492. In that year, Italian sailor Christopher Columbus reached land in the Bahamas, backed by Isabella I and Ferdinand II, Queen and King of newly united Spain. Almost 500 years after the Norse, John Cabot explored the east coast of what would become Canada in 1497, and Giovanni da Verrazzano explored the East Coast of North America from Florida to presumably Newfoundland in 1524. Jacques Cartier made a series of voyages on behalf of the French crown in 1534 and explored the St. Lawrence River, setting the stage for the massive European colonization that would follow.
The Three Crowns
The three principal colonial powers in North America were Spain, England, and France, although eventually other powers such as the Netherlands and Sweden also received holdings on the continent. Settlement by the Spanish started the European colonization of the Americas, gaining control of most of the largest islands in the Caribbean and conquering the Aztec empire to gain control of present-day Mexico and Central America. The first successful Spanish settlement in continental North America was Veracruz founded by Hernán Cortés in 1519, followed by many other settlements in colonial New Spain, including Spanish Florida, Central America, New Mexico, and later California. The first French settlements were Port Royal in 1604 and Quebec City in 1608, where the Fur Trade soon became the primary business on the continent and transformed indigenous North American ways of life. The first permanent English settlements were at Jamestown in 1607 and Plymouth in 1620, in what are today Virginia and Massachusetts respectively. By the year 1663, the French crown had taken over control of New France from the fur-trading companies, and the English charter colonies gave way to more metropolitan control, ushering in a new era of more formalized colonialism in North America. Rivalry between the European powers created a series of wars on the North American landmass that would have great impact on the development of the colonies, with territory often changing hands multiple times.
The Fire of Independence
The coming of the American Revolution had a great impact across the continent, directly leading to the creation of the United States of America. The associated American Revolutionary War was an important war that touched all corners of the region, and the flight of the United Empire Loyalists led to the creation of English Canada as a separate community. Meanwhile, Spain's hold on Mexico was weakening, and independence was declared in 1810 by Miguel Hidalgo, starting the Mexican War of Independence. In 1813, José María Morelos and the Congress of Anáhuac signed the Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America, the first legal document where the separation of the New Spain with respect to Spain is proclaimed. Spain finally recognized Mexico's independence in 1821. From the time of independence of the United States, that country expanded rapidly to the west, acquiring the massive Louisiana territory in 1803. Between 1810 and 1811, a Native confederacy under Tecumseh fought unsuccessfully to keep the Americans from pushing them out of the Great Lakes. Tecumseh's followers then went north into Canada, where they helped the British to block an American attempt to seize Canada during the War of 1812. Following the war, British and Irish settlement in Canada increased dramatically, while US expansion was complicated by the division between free and slave states, which led to the Missouri Compromise in 1820.
The Iron and The Blood
The secession of the Confederate States and the resulting civil war rocked American society, eventually leading to the end of slavery in the United States, the destruction and later reconstruction of most of the South, and tremendous loss of life. From the conflict, the United States emerged as a powerful industrialized nation. Partly as a response to the threat of American power, four of the Canadian colonies agreed to federate in 1867, creating the Dominion of Canada. The new nation was not fully sovereign, but enjoyed considerable independence from Britain. With the addition of British Columbia, Canada would expand to the Pacific by 1871 and establish a transcontinental railway, the Canadian Pacific, by 1885. In Mexico, conflicts such as the Reform War left the state weak and open to foreign influence, leading to the Second French Empire to invade Mexico. In both the United States and Canada, the second half of the 19th century witnessed massive inflows of immigration to settle the West. These lands were not uninhabited however, and in the United States the government fought numerous Indian Wars against the native inhabitants. In Canada, relations were more peaceful, as a result of the Numbered Treaties, but two rebellions broke out in 1870 and 1885 on the prairies. The British colony of Newfoundland became a dominion in 1907, and in Mexico, the entire era was dominated by the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz.
The Century of Conflict
As a part of the British Empire, Canada immediately was at war in 1914, bearing the brunt of several major battles during the early stages of the war including the use of poison gas attacks at Ypres. Losses became grave, and the government eventually brought in conscription, despite the fact this was against the wishes of the majority of French Canadians. In the ensuing Conscription Crisis of 1917, riots broke out on the streets of Montreal. In neighboring Newfoundland, the new dominion suffered a devastating loss on the 1st of July 1916, the First day on the Somme. The United States stayed apart from the conflict until 1917, joining the Entente powers, and was then able to play a crucial role at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 that shaped interwar Europe. Once again Canada found itself at war before her neighbors, 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 favor of the Allies. On the 19th of August 1942, a force of some 6000, largely Canadian, infantry was landed near the French channel port of Dieppe, where the German defenders under General von Rundstedt destroyed the invaders. Two Mexican tankers, transporting oil to the United States, were attacked and sunk by the Germans in the Gulf of Mexico waters in 1942, leading Mexico to declare war on the Axis nations and enter the conflict.
The Modern Mosaic
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. At home, the United States witnessed convulsive change especially in the area of race relations, while in Canada this was mirrored 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 Mexican miracle. In 1959, the non-contiguous US territories of Alaska and Hawaii became US states. During the 1980s, Mexican presidents Miguel de la Madrid and Carlos Salinas de Gortari started implementing liberal economic strategies, though Mexico experienced a strong economic recession in 1982 and the Mexican peso suffered a devaluation. On the 6th of July 1988, the day of the elections, a system shutdown of the IBM AS/400 that the government was using to count the votes occurred, presumably by accident, and the PRI candidate Carlos Salinas was declared the official winner. On the 1st of January 1994, Canada, Mexico, and the United States signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, creating the world's largest free trade area. The optimism of the 1990s was shattered by the 9/11 attacks of 2001, which prompted the 20-year period of military intervention war in Afghanistan, which Canada also participated in. From January 2007, the drug war in Mexico evolved into an actual military conflict with each year more deadly than the last, and starting in early 2008, the Great Recession in the three North American nations began, which eventually triggered a worldwide recession in the Fall of 2008.