Article Summary: How and When Did People First Come to North America by E. James Dixon
Denise Gilbert
History 108
Mr. Marcum
November 1, 2012
How and When Did People First Come to North America? The article of “How and When Did People First Come to North America?” Written by, E. James Dixon, (University of Colorado at Boulder) Athena Review: Vol.3, no.2, (2002): Peopling of the Americas. This article is about how North America and South America was first populated. It is by far the first and most important part of Early American History. When the first “settlers” arrived in North America, such as the French and English, they were met by “Native American’s.” Pocahontas didn’t come over to the “New World” with Captain John Smith or Sir Walter Raleigh. She was already here when they arrived. So, how did she and her family get here? The three main ideas the author evokes in the article is How, When, Where, did humans first come to North and South America. How did they travel? When did they arrive? Where did they go? What did they use? “Geography during the last Ice Age limited possible migration routes available to the first humans to colonize the Americas. The preponderance of linguistic and biological evidence indicates that Native Americans most likely originated somewhere in northeastern Asia. Two possible routes have been identified for the first humans to enter the Americas from Northeast Asia: by watercraft along the Northwest Coast, or by a pedestrian terrestrial route across the Bering Land Bridge and then south through central-western Canada. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the most plausible route for the initial colonization of the Americas may have been along the Northwest Coast, beginning possibly as early as 14,000 radiocarbon years ago (16,300 calendar years BP).”
I will start from the beginning. Where did they come from? We see that in the before quote that the first humans came from Northeast Asia, perhaps what is known as Siberia. They came across the Bering Land Bridge as well as across the
History 108
Mr. Marcum
November 1, 2012
How and When Did People First Come to North America? The article of “How and When Did People First Come to North America?” Written by, E. James Dixon, (University of Colorado at Boulder) Athena Review: Vol.3, no.2, (2002): Peopling of the Americas. This article is about how North America and South America was first populated. It is by far the first and most important part of Early American History. When the first “settlers” arrived in North America, such as the French and English, they were met by “Native American’s.” Pocahontas didn’t come over to the “New World” with Captain John Smith or Sir Walter Raleigh. She was already here when they arrived. So, how did she and her family get here? The three main ideas the author evokes in the article is How, When, Where, did humans first come to North and South America. How did they travel? When did they arrive? Where did they go? What did they use? “Geography during the last Ice Age limited possible migration routes available to the first humans to colonize the Americas. The preponderance of linguistic and biological evidence indicates that Native Americans most likely originated somewhere in northeastern Asia. Two possible routes have been identified for the first humans to enter the Americas from Northeast Asia: by watercraft along the Northwest Coast, or by a pedestrian terrestrial route across the Bering Land Bridge and then south through central-western Canada. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the most plausible route for the initial colonization of the Americas may have been along the Northwest Coast, beginning possibly as early as 14,000 radiocarbon years ago (16,300 calendar years BP).”
I will start from the beginning. Where did they come from? We see that in the before quote that the first humans came from Northeast Asia, perhaps what is known as Siberia. They came across the Bering Land Bridge as well as across the