The American continents were inhabited long before the founders of the United States reached them. The Americas were home to great and powerful civilizations well before any European explorers landed on American shores.

In this lesson, you will learn about the first Americans. There is no simple way to tell the tale of a continent that had been peopled by diverse communities for thousands of years. Their tales are as complex as any others, their cultures as rich, their knowledge as deep. British contact did not mark the replacement of established cultures by a better way of life, but rather the beginning of a new civilization based on a blend of diverse folkways.