1. Describe the New World that Columbus discovered, including the Native American cultures that existed on the continent before European colonization began.

The New World

The New World that Columbus discovered was populated with well over 10 million Indians , which populated North America from the North to present-day Mexico . The amount of Indian tribes themselves were numerous , and it is still unknown exactly how many Indians and their various tribes populated the areas in which the Europeans arrived

Some groups of Native Americans were considered to be hunter-gatherers while most were evidenced to practice aquaculture , and most often agriculture . However , most often , the Native Americans used a mix of hunting , gathering , and farming

. In addition , the Indian 's culture and the way they organize their lives was very different than that of the Europeans . For example , almost all of the Indian tribes had some form of a chief . Some even had states , impressive architecture , and extremely organized cities

As stated above , the most obvious way that the Native American communities were organized was by the crops that they produced . Maize and squash were perhaps the easiest to grow . They were also grown throughout America , not just in one small region . Potatoes , cotton , and tobacco were also grown . In the plains area , a large group of native peoples would hunt their primary source of food-buffalo

In addition to the Indians that Columbus encountered , the land was completely unspoiled . The Indians only hunted and used from nature what they absolutely needed , unlike the Europeans . The biggest difference between the Europeans and the Native Americans was that the Europeans simply used up the nature in whatever way they saw fit , while the Native Americans only used , and respected , what they needed...