Indigenous and European contact

Further information: Pre-Columbian era and Colonial history of the United States

The first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering
land bridge and arrived at least 15,000 years ago, though increasing evidence
suggests an even earlier arrival.[27] Some, such as the pre-Columbian Mississippian
culture, developed advanced agriculture, grand architecture, and state-level
societies. After the Spanish conquistadors made the first contacts, the native
population declined for various reasons, primarily diseases such as smallpox and
measles. Violence was not a significant factor in the overall decline, though it
impacted specific tribes and colonial settlements.[53][54][55][56][57][58] In the
Hawaiian Islands the earliest indigenous inhabitants arrived around 1 AD from
Polynesia. Captain James Cook arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in 1778[59] with
American contact made in 1790 with the first ship to dock arriving in Oahu.[60]

In the early days of colonization many European settlers were subject to food
shortages, disease, and attacks from Native Americans. Native Americans were also
often at war with neighboring tribes and allied with Europeans in their colonial wars.
[61] At the same time, however, many natives and settlers came to depend on each
other. Settlers traded for food and animal pelts, natives for guns, ammunition and
other European wares.[62] Natives taught many settlers where, when and how to
cultivate corn, beans and squash. European missionaries and others felt it was
important to "civilize" the Indians and urged them to adopt European agricultural
techniques and lifestyles