how come Native North Americans didn’t have vast empires of wealth and cities like Montezuma had down in Mexico?

Question

how come Native North Americans didn’t have vast empires of wealth and cities like Montezuma had down in Mexico?

In: 2227

Answer 1

The simple answer is: Access to resources.

Large settlements were established in areas that were resource plentiful. In North America this was in around the Mississippi River basin, the St.Lawrence river valley, and along the coast on either side. The Iroquois, for example, could very well be considered an empire.

The plains people were typically more nomadic because their food sources travelled and weather patterns also drove what foods were available to forage.

And further north it is simply too cold to support extremely large populations of human or animal and foraging is sparse at best.

In short: it always comes down to resource availability.

Further: not having to worry about resource availability then frees up time and energy for technological discoveries and advancement.

Edit to add: thanks for all the upvotes! This has stimulated some great conversation! If anyone would have told me that this would be the most excitement and engagement I would get from my 4 year Anthropology degree 12 years after completing it… I probably would have believed them.