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While many histories of the founding of the United States begin with the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, this approach is misleading and inaccurate. The arrival of European colonists was just one small part of a longer, continuous history that began thousands of years prior.
Native peoples arrived in North America as early as 10,000 BCE. For thousands of years, civilizations in the Americas prospered and fell as they did in other parts of the world. Native groups built cities, developed intricate cultures and religions, and adapted to changes brought on by environmental events and population shifts. For example, the Aztec Empire flourished, making architectural, military, and technological advances in present-day central Mexico from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. In addition, at the same time that the ancient civilizations of Rome and Greece were thriving in Europe, native societies were developing the western regions of North America. In 1250 CE, the population of Cahokia, a city along the Mississippi River, was comparable in size to London at the time. Native groups saw themselves as very different from each other, and rivalries and alliances fueled cooperation and conflict. Europeans were the latest newcomers in a long history of migration and change across this region. Despite being limited by huge population losses, native societies adapted to the changes brought by Europeans as they had adapted to other changes in the past.
In Part I, you will explore how the changing relationships between native groups and colonists helped set the stage for colonial dissatisfaction with British rule. You will examine the economic relationships between the colonists and England and consider the role of enslaved and indentured labor. You will also examine the political issues and the radical ideas that shaped the colonists’ relationship with England.