Introduction
American history begins with immigrants from Asia during the Ice Age, followed by the Europeans in the 15th century. The 15th century demarcates the Old-World Indians and modern America. The Paleo-Indians who migrated to North America were hunters and gatherers. Mesoamerica on the other hand is considered one of the six global sites where independent civilizations emerged. The Olmec civilization is considered the first of the Mesoamerican culture.
The Mesoamericans
Agriculture was one of the first occupations of Mesoamericans. This gave rise to trade and other complex social structures like villages and cities. Many civilizations which emerged out of the Mesoamerican culture were later formed into states with one ruler. The Olmecs, who are considered the pioneers of Mesoamerican civilization, formed the basic rules for the states. They introduced the concept of hereditary and ceremonial religion. The Aztecs had two main social groups, the nobles and the commons which later evolved into the two houses of the parliament which form the basis or the modern day democratic government system. The broad distinction between the two groups was that the nobles were the officials like the priest and the lords who ran the city while the commons were the rest of the population who were ruled by the nobles. The Mayans on the other hand had three classes – the royalty, the wealthy and the poor. These classes formed the basis of the socio-economic groups of modern day society. The Mesoamerican culture formed the basis of modern-day America.
The North Americans
The settlers in North America on the other hand evolved into tribes with chieftains as the rulers of the tribe. Most of the tribes were divided into different clans which form the basis of the family structure. The clans were predominantly matriarchal in structure, with the father being a guest in the wife’s home and helping with the children. Public opinion guided the hierarchy within the tribes. A man could be thrown out of the tribe and sent seeking death because of adverse public opinion.
Conclusion
The Mesoamerican culture was a social culture which an economy which centered around ruling classes. The social structure was more complex when compared to the North American culture which was a simple subsistence based culture. The North americans hunted and gathered food and other items and engaged in light trade. Some tribes had moved on to agriculture and trade that is more complex practices, but most tribes did not build permanent houses. The North American existence was mostly at a basic sustenance level as compared to the Mesoamericans who had a complex social and economic structure.
