I find the history of agriculture in North America so interesting, here’s one of the reasons why. This is a chinampa, they were shallow lake bed gardens used by the Aztecs for farming. Their proportions allowed for optimal moisture retention for crops.

Native people in the Americas made farming methods that worked well in a wide range of places, from southern Canada to southern South America, from the high Andes to the lowlands along the Amazon River. At least three places, including eastern North America, Mesoamerica, and South America, developed agriculture on their own. Even though several native animal species were domesticated in the Americas, none of them were big enough or calm enough to be used as draught animals. This meant that the plough and other heavy technologies that needed traction were not around.

Swidden production, also called “slash-and-burn” farming, was done from the temperate eastern part of North America to the tropical lowlands of South America. In swidden systems, trees and bushes were burned to add nutrients to the soil and make fields fertile. These ecologically diverse systems gave people a wide range of resources and made fields and gardens last longer. As production dropped sharply and firewood became hard to find, settlements moved. Even though they had to use complex irrigation systems and ways to manage tropical ecosystems to feed their large populations, complex cultures like the Maya and Aztec also used swidden agriculture in some ways. On the steep slopes of the Andes, the Incas of Peru built terraced fields. Foot ploughs and hoes were used to get these fields ready for planting. People’s waste and the waste of llamas and alpacas were used to make fertiliser. But the Incas were not the only ones who built terraced farms. People in northern Mexico did, too.

Between 9000 and 8000 BC, people in Mexico and South America were the first to grow crops. Even though the oldest crops in eastern North America could be almost as old, there is a lot of evidence that people started growing crops between 5000 and 4000 years ago. Corn shows up in Mexico for the first time between 6300 and 6000 BC, but it was probably domesticated earlier. In the end, most farming systems in the New World would be based on corn. Because there were fewer gregarious, or herding, species in the Americas, native people were only able to domesticate a smaller number of animal species than their Old World counterparts. In the Old World, permanent villages and cities seemed to have grown up before or at the same time as agriculture. In the New World, on the other hand, large communities didn’t start to form until after most crops had grown.

How American fairs have changed over time

Like many other English words, “fair” comes from the Latin language. Most likely, the word “fair” comes from the Latin word “feria,” which means “holy day” and means a day set aside for fun and religious celebration. People think that the feriae started in the Roman Empire as a set of religious holidays that the government recognised and supported. On these official holidays, people often had tournaments, games, and other kinds of parties.

By the Middle Ages, the Roman feriae had become places where foreign merchants could not only meet, but also buy, sell, and trade their goods with the general public. These fairs were often tied to a Christian holiday, like a Saint’s Feast Day, and were held in nearby churches. They were a mix of historical celebrations and temporary markets. Medieval fairs were known for their unique mix of business, religion, and celebrations for a long time.