Americas had developed societies before colonization
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Indigenous peoples across the Americas had built cities, political institutions, and trade networks for centuries before the arrival of Europeans.
Archaeological and demographic research reveals that millions of people populated the continent, developing advanced agricultural techniques and systems of writing, like those found in Mesoamerican codices, long before 1492. These societies were not simple or easily misled, as earlier narratives suggested, but rather complex and capable of self-governance.
The arrival of Christopher Columbus did not connect Europeans with an empty continent. Instead, it brought them into contact with a land already transformed by its inhabitants. The Inca Empire, for example, was weakened by internal conflicts and epidemics before the Spanish conquest, and its sophisticated network of roads spanned over 4,000 kilometers. Similarly, the Mexica capital of Tenochtitlán had running water and sanitation when many European cities lacked these services.
Researchers have uncovered evidence of extensive human intervention in the Amazon rainforest, including fertile soil known as terra preta and interconnected settlements. LiDAR technology has also revealed over 60,000 Mayan structures in Guatemala. Before European contact, the Americas held an estimated 40 to 80 million people speaking around 1,200 languages. However, European diseases and the violence of colonization caused a demographic catastrophe and made it difficult to accurately assess the pre-Columbian population.
