One of the best articles I have read on the state of NA civilization pre colonization. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/native-intelligence-109314481/ http

One of the best articles I have read on the state of NA civilization pre colonization. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/native-intelligence-109314481/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/native-intelligence-10... The short version is that Europeans really did not have any idea about the civilization they were replacing, and by the time they really arrived European diseases had killed most of the population, leading to the myth that the continent was empty. Can't really do justice with a summary.