Age of Discovery/Colonial America

First Settlers

• Between 30,000 and 15,000 years ago the first groups migrated to the North American continent. As they spread out, they adapted different cultures and ways of life.

• Even though Native culture varied from region to region, it did have some common customs and beliefs.

–Religion was based on nature and spirits

–History was passed down orally and not written

–Land was to be temporarily used and not owned

–No money, trade or BARTER was everything

European background information

• Rich history under the Greeks and Romans ended when the Roman Empire fell apart.

• Europe will enter a period of war, disease and invasion from about 400 to 1300 A.D.

• Known as the Middle Ages

• Trade died out and the majority of the population became serfs (peasants) who worked for a noble and could not leave the land

• The Roman Catholic Church became very powerful, partly because they were almost the only educated people

• Because Muslims controlled Jerusalem, the church called for a series of Holy Wars known as the Crusades.

• The Crusades eventually failed, but they awakened Europe’s interest in the outside world.

• The crusaders had brought back spices, perfumes, new fabrics, and other Asian goods.

• These new goods increased interest in trade with the outside world, primarily Asia.

• This eventually leads to a revival in learning called the Renaissance.

• The rebirth of learning and trade led to a desire for goods which could be purchased from Asia cheaply. Nations began to look for a new “water” route to Asia.

• Portugal led the way by exploring south towards Africa. They will chart their successes so others could go farther. They rounded Africa in 1488.

• Spain wanted into the trade that Portugal was dominating.

• King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella invested in an idea of Italian born Christopher Columbus

• Columbus wanted to sail west to Asia

Reasons for Columbus’ voyage

1. He hoped to enrich his family and gain honor and fame.

2. He wanted to convert non-Christians to Catholicism

3. King and Queen wanted a non-Muslim route to Asia and religious converts

4. Wanted a quicker route than Portugal’s

The Discovery

• 1492 Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas and claimed the land for Spain.

• He named the area the West Indies because he thought he was in India.

• Columbus died never knowing how much he changed history

Impact

1. Columbian Exchange—Exchange of goods, technologies and new ideas from Europe, the Americas and Africa.

• Not all of the exchange was good

• (see chart on page 26)

2. Europeans gained wealth.3. Africans were enslaved to work

on Spanish sugar plantations in the Caribbean.

4. A new culture developed from the combination of the different groups.

5. Other countries wanted part of the wealth and began their own ventures.

Early interactions among thegroups

• The explorations and settlements of the English in North America and the Spanish in the Caribbean, Central America and South America often led to violent conflicts with the First Americans.

• The Indians lost their traditional territories and fell victim to disease carried from Europe

• France had better relations because they did not come in large numbers

Arrival of the English

• Jamestown, established in 1607, was the first permanent English settlement in the New World

• Jamestown was supposed to be an economic venture.

• The House of Burgesses was the first elected assembly in the New World--It has operated continuously and today is known as the Virginia General Assembly. It was established in 1619

• Many of the other southern colonies followed VA’s direction with large wealthy plantations dominating politics and small farmers and businessmen developing from people who had come over as indentured servants

• The original settlers were friends of the King and were given large land grants in eastern Virginia

• These people were called CAVALIERS

• Later settlers were generally small farmers and poor artisans, many who had been indentured servants, who settled farther west. They usually lacked political power.

New England Colonies• Settlers generally came to the

New England colonies to seek religious freedom

• The Massachusetts Bay Colony was formed on the basis of the Puritan (1630) religious beliefs and the principles of the Pilgrims (1620) Mayflower Compact

• The Puritans were often intolerant of those who did not share their beliefs and eventually dominated the smaller number of Pilgrims who came first

• The Puritans also sought economic opportunity and practiced a form of direct democracy through town meetings

Middle Atlantic Colonies• The Middle Atlantic region was

settled chiefly by English, Dutch, and German speaking immigrants. These groups had established colonies for other countries, only to be taken over by the English.

• They came seeking religious freedom and economic opportunity

Economic Characteristics

• The New England colonies (MA, RI, CN, VT) developed an economy based on shipbuilding, fishing, lumbering small-scale subsistence farming and eventually manufacturing

• they were very prosperous and reflected the Puritans belief in hard work and thrift

• The Middle colonies (NY, NJ, PA, MD, DE) based their economies on shipbuilding, small-scale farming and trading

• Several cities began to grow as seaports, and commercial centers (New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore)

• VA and the other Southern colonies (NC, SC, GA) developed economies in eastern lowlands based on large plantations that grew “cash crops”, such as rice, tobacco, and indigo for export to Europe

• The interior of Virginia survived by hunting, trading, and small-scale subsistence farming

• All of the colonies were characterized by a strong belief in private ownership of property and free enterprise

Social Characteristics

• New England’s colonial society was based on religious standing

• Tension grew between Puritans and those dissenters who challenged the Puritan belief in a connection between religion and government.

• Rhode Island was founded by dissenters fleeing persecution from the Puritans (Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson)

• The Middle colonies were home to multiple religious groups

• The Quakers in PA and Catholics in MD--both generally believed in religious toleration

• because of their tolerance, the social structure in the middle colonies tended to be more flexible

• They also developed a middle class made up of skilled artisans, entrepreneurs, and small farmers

• Virginia and the Southern colonies had a social structure based on land ownership and family status

• Large landowners in the east dominated colonial government and society.

• They also maintained an allegiance to the Church of England and closer social ties to England than the other colonies.

• The society of the colonists farther inland was characterized by small farmers, hunters, and traders of Scotch-Irish and English descent. Their lives were considerably simpler than those who lived closer to the coast.

The development of indentured servitude and slavery

• The growth of a plantation based agricultural economy in the lowlands of the South required a large supply of cheap labor.

• Indentured servants were the first method chosen to meet these needs, especially in VA

• Indentured servants agree to work on a plantation for 4-7 years in exchange for their passage from Europe

• many of the indentured servants were often the poor from England, Scotland, and Ireland

• Eventually most plantations relied on slaves forcibly imported from Africa for their labor needs

• Not all of the first Africans became slaves, some acted as indentured servants and lived as free citizens after their indenture.

• *The development of a slavery based agricultural economy in the Southern colonies would lead to eventual conflict between North and South and the American Civil War*

Africans• The growth of an agricultural

economy based on large landholdings (plantations), especially in the Southern and Caribbean colonies, led to the introduction of slavery in the New World

• The first Africans were brought to work in Jamestown in 1619. They were brought against their will.

Middle Passage

• voyage from Africa to the New World

• harsh conditions, many slaves will die on the voyage over

The Great Awakening

• religious movement that swept through Europe and the colonies during the mid-1770s

• led to the rapid growth of evangelical religions such as Methodist and Baptist

• challenged the established religious and governmental order

• *laid one of the foundations for the American Revolution*