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Who Were the First Americans

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WHO WERE THE FIRST AMERICANS

BY: Charlie Rutherford
Professor: Joseph Chryst
English 115
Date: 11/18/11

North America was once a place of great mystery. It may have even been labeled as a rumor by some adventures in the eastern world. This led to curiosity and years of research. All along, the great nations of Europe and Asia were in a race to further expand their territory by exploring the “New World.” Both of these civilizations built boats as fast as they could to try to reach that magical place where no one had ever been before. This land that had been dreamt up and needed to be further explored. However, did any of these civilizations stop to think about the natives of this land? Had these explores even considered what other types of people may live there? All of the evidence clearly points to Native Americans as the “Real Americans.” This was their land and they were invaded by more powerful and advanced nations. The Native Americans were spread out covering much of North and South America. Before contact with the Europeans, the Native Americans were divided into many different tribes, from small bands of a few families to large empires. Although all of these tribes did not get along always and feuded over territory and cultural differences, they still had a system in place where all of them agreed on how to govern and take care of the land. In comparison, countries declare war on each other all the time. These nations were no different. However, the more advanced civilizations did not see it that way and this would bring turmoil. Upon the Arrival of the Europeans, the Native American population declined substantially, primarily due to the introduction of European diseases to which the Native Americans lacked immunity. The Native American nations and tribes found their culture changed drastically. As such, their affiliation with political and

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