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The First Migration: Ice Age Travelers |
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The Bering Land Bridge
Did the American Indians’ ancestors migrate on foot from Siberia to North America? Many archaeologists believe that is exactly what happened anywhere from twenty to over forty thousand years ago. Put on your parka, and head over to the National Park Service to find out how icy temperatures may have uncovered a walkway to the Americas.
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The Europeans Arrive: The Explorers |
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The Iberian Pioneers: Portugal and Spain
They weren’t the first to discover America, but explorers like Christopher Columbus and Francisco Vásquez de Coronado marked the beginning of Spanish and Portuguese world conquest. Visit the University of Calgary to learn more about the religious, political, and economic forces that drove the European Voyages of Exploration.
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Inventing America
What was life like in the Americas before European explorers, conquerors, and settlers arrived? Step through 1492: An Ongoing Voyage, an exhibit of the Library of Congress, for a summary of five geographic regions and the diverse cultures that once thrived in the Western Hemisphere. Then, find out how Europe claimed the continent and “invented” America.
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The Puritan Legacy |
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Puritan Power Plays
Telling the righteous from the merely self-righteous was an uncertain business in Puritan New England. When it came to devising a system of rule in the absence of a monarch, matters were no clearer. Let Gonzaga University help you sort out the covenants and contracts that underlie the Puritans’ power struggles.
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A Closer Look: The Salem Witchcraft Trials |
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Accused
If you are taking a closer look at the actual Salem witchcraft trials, begin your research in Salem, Massachusetts. Travel through the events of 1692 with the help of an online chronology. Then, hike over to the Salem Witch Trials Memorial and amble among the commemorative stones dedicated to the trials’ victims.
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Self-Made Americans |
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Betterment Collector
If you sought an ideal specimen of the self-made American, Benjamin Franklin could take the place of twenty such perfect specimens. A scientist, statesman, inventor, musician, philosopher, and economist, Franklin set an example that many people try to emulate even today. Visit the Franklin Institute to find out why.
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