North American Settlers Essay

Based upon the research that I have conducted, it is noted that there are still many theories on the first settlers of North America. Their original origins and how they got to the North American continent is debated to this day. From crossing an icy glacier, to crossing an exposed sea floor, and even the suggestion of small boats originating from Asia crossing the Pacific Ocean, we may truly never know exactly how the first settlers came here, but we have some basis of knowledge as to how their societies functioned after they arrived. There are three eras of settlers into the North American Continent. These three eras are the Paleo-Indian Era, the Archaic Era, and the Pre-Columbian Era (Shultz, 2013). The Paleo-Indians are believed to be the first settlers into North America. The Paleo-Indians are believed to have migrated over 12,000 years ago (Shultz, 2013). There are several theories as to how exactly they settled. One theory suggests that the Paleo-Indian settlers migrated from a region of Asia, in what is now modern day Russia, through an area called Beringia (NPS, 2013). The Paleo-Indians are
to 2000 B.C.. Archaic settlers had somewhat of a hunter gatherer ideology, but began taking an interest in agriculture. One of the reasons for this new interest in agriculture was the fact that large game had now become extinct. (Stearns, 1992) With this new interest in agriculture, settlers in the Archaic Era became semi-sedentary, compared to the Paleo-Indians that were nomadic. This focus on agriculture resulted in the development of many tribes that began with small numbers, but grew in size quickly. With harvested crops, the need for a hunter gatherers was not as great as it was during the Paleo-Indian era, but smaller game such as deer were hunted. Trade began between the tribes, along with long distance travel, during this time period (O’Stein, Ledbetter & Elliott,