American Pageant Essay
American Pageant Chapter 1 Summary The first chapter of the American pageant focuses on the discovery of the Americas and how they came to be. The North American continent broke off from a Supercontinent called Pangaea some 200 million years ago. It was anchored in its current position by the Canadian Shield, an ancient rock plate below the continent. Many natural wonders of the Americas were created in this period of time, like the Appalachian Mountains, and the Grand Canyon. After an ice age, the great lakes, and many other freshwater systems were left behind. During the ice age, evidence of a “bridge of ice” was found in northern Canada that stretched across to Eurasia. Scientists believe that this was how people crossed over to the Americas. At the end of the ice age, the ice bridge melted, and the travelers were more or less stranded on the continent. These first inhabitants spread throughout North America, into Central America, and the northern section of South America. These new “natives” created hundreds of different languages and customs. The traveling hunter- foragers soon stopped when a crop called maize, similar to corn, began being planted. It quickly spread through the tribes and allowed them to settle down and create villages and towns. In 1000 A.D., Scandinavian sailors happened upon the shores of present day Newfoundland. They created small settlements, but soon after abandoned them and the place was forgotten. This was not the end of European conquest in the Americas. From the 11th to the 14th century, countless European crusaders sailed the waters of the Atlantic searching for easier routes to attain various goods. Most of these were located in Asia. The sailors continued to search for a water route to India. In 1488, a ship rounded the edge of Africa, a huge milestone at the point in time. Voyagers began making trips to and from India, but it still took a long time. Spain began looking for a route to India by going west. In 1492, an