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The first settlers in America were paleo-indian peoples. Their origin is not known. Some claim Historians generally agree that they migrated from Asiavia a temporary land bridge, but although they disagree as to the precise time of the major influx, which is believed to have occurred primarily between 10,000 and 40,000 B.C. Some individuals have noted that makes little sense because American Paleo-Indians are very different in many ways from Chinese and bear little resemblance to Asian Indians. Even , but it should be recognized that an interval of thousands of years probably changed their blood types are typically differentappearance radically. <ref>http://www.desertusa.com/ind1/du_peo_paleo.html</ref>

Some old mounds reflecting Indian settlements in America have been discovered, such as the Adena burial mounds and Mississippian platform towns.<ref>Melissa L. Meyer, Dean R. Snow, Charles L. Cohen, Russell Thornton, Donald A. Grinde Jr., Leah Dilworth "Indian History and Culture" The Oxford Companion to United States History. Paul S. Boyer, ed. Oxford University Press 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of Tampa. 4 August 2008 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t119.e0758-s0002></ref> For example, the The [[Cahokia Mounds]] in Southern Illinois (just east of [[St. Louis]] also reflect an Indian community dating back as early as 1000 or 1100 A.D. 1000 or 1100.<ref>http://www.cahokiamounds.com/mystery_01.html</ref> That community practiced human sacrifice, as did the [[Aztecs]] and [[Mayans]] in [[Mesoamerica]] (Mexico and Central America) and the [[Incas]] in [[South America]] prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquerors.

The American Indians, also called Native Americans, were [[nomads]] who traveled across wide areas. They did not read and write, and they lacked a monetary system. They Some communities, such as the Cohokia in Illinois, the [[Aztecs]] and [[Mayans]] in [[Mesoamerica]] (Mexico and Central America), and the [[Incas]] in [[South America]], practiced human sacrifice prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. The Indians were generally organized by tribes and some had simple forms of government. There was the The [[Iroquois Confederacy]] that was an example of a large united some, group - that even had a constitution for their government!- but typically there was a lack of unity that led contributed to their easy defeat by Europeans(along with disease, steel, and gunpowder, of course). The Indians did introduce introduced [[tobacco]] and [[corn]] to Europeans, and they became widely popular back in Europe.

''Exam note'': there are is no more than one or two questions about the Pre-Columbian period on any American history exam.