The Handy American History Answer Book. David L. Hudson

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      The Escalante pueblo in Colorado is an example of ruins left behind by the Anasazi people, who occupied it in the twelfth century.

      What was the environment of the first Americans?

      The original people of North America lived in many different types of environments. On the eastern side of North America, Native Americans lived in woodlands, hunting elk and deer. On the grass plains of the Midwest, Native Americans hunted camel and other mammals—some of whom are extinct on this continent. In the desert regions of the Southwest, Native Americans relied on the gathering of seeds and smaller animals. In the Arctic north, there was much more hunting and fishing.

      What were the first crops developed by the early Indian cultures?

      The earliest crops were squash and chili in the southwestern United States. The Native Americans also developed corn, or maize, as an early crop. They then started cultivating various types of beans.

THE FIRST EUROPEANS TO REACH AMERICA

      Who was the first European to reach North America?

      Many believe the first European to reach North America was a Norse explorer named Leif Ericsson (970–1020), who arguably reached North America around 1,000 B.C.E.—more than 400 years before Christopher Columbus. He established a small Norse settlement known as Vinland in what is now modern-day Newfoundland in Canada. Ericksson was born in Iceland and was the son of the famous explorer Erik the Red (950–1003).

      About 1001, Ericsson set out from Greenland with a crew of thirty-five men and probably landed on the southern end of Baffin Island, due north of the province of Quebec. The expedition likely made it to Labrador, Newfoundland (on the northeastern North American mainland), and later landed on the coast of what is today Nova Scotia or Newfoundland, Canada; this landfall may have been at L’Anse aux Meadows (on Newfoundland Island). Ericson and his crew spent the winter of 1001–1002 at a place he called Vinland, which was described as well wooded and produced fruit, especially grapes. He returned to Greenland in the spring of 1002.

      Who was Christopher Columbus?

      Christopher Columbus, or Christoforo Columbo (1451–1506), was an Italian-born explorer best known for his multiple voyages to the Americas, or the so-called “New World.” Columbus studied maps and had a fascination for seafaring exploration. He initially approached King John II of Portugal about funding his explorations to the New World that Columbus knew existed. King John rejected his proposals after asking several of his expert advisors, who cautioned that the distance to this new land had been underestimated by Columbus. The explorer again asked King John, but the king became more interested in explorations to Africa, as Portugese explorer Bartolomeu Dias (1451–1500) had just sailed by the southernmost point of the African continent. King John wanted to focus exploratory activities in that region.

       How did America get its name?

      America is derived from the name of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), who took part in several early voyages to the New World. Vespucci had been a merchant in service of the Medici family in Florence. He later moved to Spain, where he worked for the company that outfitted the ships for Christopher Columbus’s (1451–1506) second and third voyages. He sailed with the Spaniards on several expeditions (in 1497, 1499, 1501, and 1503).

      Though scholars today question his role as an explorer, in a work by German mapmaker Martin Waldseemüller (c. 1470–c. 1520) published in 1507, the author credited Vespucci with realizing that he had actually arrived in a New World—not in the Far East, as other explorers (including Columbus) had believed. Thus, Waldseemüller suggested the new lands be named America after Amerigo Vespucci. For his part, Waldseemüller was led to believe this by Vespucci himself, who had written to Lorenzo de Medici in 1502 or 1503, relaying his discovery of a new continent and vividly describing it.

      The designation “America” was used again in 1538 by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator (Gerhard Kremer; 1512–1594). Today the term in the singular refers to either continent in the Western Hemisphere and sometimes specifically to the United States. In the plural, it refers to all the lands of the Western Hemisphere, including North and South America and the West Indies.

      Columbus then presented his plans to the monarchs of Spain—King Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452-1516) and Queen Isabella of Castile (1451-1504). They eventually approved Columbus’s exploits. They designated Columbus with the title “Admiral of the Seas,” although it is speculated that they expected him to not be successful and return to Spain.

      Where did Christopher Columbus first land in the New World?

      Columbus set sail from Palos, in southwest Spain, on August 3, 1492, and he sighted land on October 12 that year. Going ashore, he named it San Salvador, alternately called Watlings Island (a present-day island in the Bahamas). With his fleet of three vessels, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, Columbus then continued west and south, sailing along the north coast of Cuba and Haiti (which he named Hispaniola). When the Santa Maria ran aground, Columbus left a colony of about forty men on the Haitian coast where they built a fort, which, being Christmastime, they named La Navidad (“Christmas” in Spanish).

      In January 1493, Columbus set sail for home, arriving back in Palos on March 15 with a few “Indians” (Native Americans), as well as some belts, aprons, bracelets, and gold. News of his successful voyage spread rapidly, and Columbus journeyed to Barcelona, Spain, where he was triumphantly received by Ferdinand and Isabella.

      On his second voyage, which he undertook on September 25, 1493, he sailed with a fleet of seventeen ships and some fifteen hundred men. In November he reached Dominica, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Upon returning to Haiti (Hispaniola), Columbus found the colony at La Navidad had been destroyed by natives. In December 1493, he made a new settlement at Isabella (present-day Dominican СКАЧАТЬ