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AhaBulb: Stuff Everyone Should Know · ahabulb.com/civics-before-europeans

Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?

American Indians, also called Native Americans.

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  1. The Pilgrims
  2. American Indians ✔
  3. The British

Why: American Indians, also called Native Americans, lived here for thousands of years before Europeans came. The Pilgrims and the British were Europeans who arrived later.

Huh, didn't know that: Many state names come from American Indian words, including Massachusetts, Connecticut and Tennessee.

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References

Answer: American Indians. American Indians, also called Native Americans, lived here for thousands of years before Europeans came. The Pilgrims and the British were Europeans who arrived later.

  1. National Park Service, Introduction to Indigenous Heritage home.nps.gov/articles/taas-indigenousheritage-intro.htm
    Long before Europeans, Africans, and Asians settled in North America, sovereign societies shared the continent
    Checked 2026-10-09.
  2. U.S. Indian Affairs, Origin of Names of US States: Connecticut www.bia.gov/as-ia/opa/online-press-release/origin-names-us-states
    CONNECTICUT: Appears to be a derivation of the Indian word "Quonoktacut"
    Checked 2026-10-09.
  3. U.S. Indian Affairs, Origin of Names of US States: Massachusetts www.bia.gov/as-ia/opa/online-press-release/origin-names-us-states
    MASSACHUSETTS: First of the States to have an Indian name.
    Checked 2026-10-09.
  4. U.S. Indian Affairs, Origin of Names of US States: Tennessee www.bia.gov/as-ia/opa/online-press-release/origin-names-us-states
    TENNESSEE: Name is of Cherokee origin from a tribe located at a village site called Tanasse
    Checked 2026-10-09.

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Citizenship & CivicsWhich is one reason colonists came to America, according to the USCIS civics test?Citizenship & CivicsWhat group of people was taken and sold as slaves in America?Citizenship & CivicsWhich of these is an American Indian tribe in the United States?

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