Chapter Summary
The first chapter of Howard Zinn’s text deals with the established societies present in the America’s prior to contact from other nations around the world. Is has been suggested by historian and archaeologists that the first people to arrive on these continents were not indigenous to the region and transplanted themselves here after following game over the land bridge that used to exist in the Bering Strait. They traveled throughout the continents, stopping in various locations while some continued to remain nomads and others built permanent settlements. Some of these early civilizations were quite advanced.
A prime example of this the Aztecs as their society dominated most of mid-Latin America from coast to coast. In fact, the Spaniards were quite shocked at how culturally developed the Aztecs were and had never seen corn until landing in the New World. Most other early American Indian tribes, however, did not have the same lifestyle as the Aztecs. Some were hunter gathers, some farmers and some hunters. It truly depended on what environment their ancestors had selected to settle in.
What I found the most interesting in this chapter is just how many early civilizations there were present in America and how varied their lifestyles were. From the mound builders, to the Aztecs, to the Mayans, to the Aleuts and Iroquois, it was astonishing how these people made use of their environment for natural protection from their enemies, to raise crops or to glean from nature’s bounties in other ways. While European societies were considered far more advanced and probably so in some ways, the early American Indian civilizations certainly were not dullards. In fact, the initial contact between the two, while definitely fateful for the Indians, also introduced Europeans to many things they had never fathomed. Especially agriculture products.
