Unit 1: Coming to America

Early Civilizations to 1750

Geography

• Getting to know your land. Label the following:– Oceans- Atlantic & Pacific– Gulf of Mexico– Great Lakes (Erie, Superior, Michigan, Ontario,

Huron)– Rivers- Mississippi, Rio Grande, Colorado– Mountains- Appalachian, Rocky, Sierra Nevada– Regions- Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, Southwest,

Mid-Atlantic, Northwest, Pacific

Early Humans in America• Last Ice Age, 35,000 years ago, humans migrated

from Asia to Americas.– Crossed frozen land bridge between Alaska and

Asia- Bering Strait.• Spread out across N & S Am.

– Nomadic- hunting large animals, on the move.• *Large animals die out, humans in central

Mexico began farming.–Helps create civilizations.

•Maize (corn), beans, & squash- staple crops of economic foundation

Early Civilizations• North American:– Anasazi (Pueblo People)- SW Region (AZ)– Mississippian- Cahokia tribe– Iroquois- (western NY)- 5 separate tribes, including

Mohawk• Hiawatha united tribes to become the Five Nations

• Central America: (MesoAmericans)– Olmec, Toltec, Aztec, Mayan (Yucatan)

• South American:– Chavin, Chimu, and Incas (Andes mountains)

• Advanced societies with very similar cultures.– Separated by language barrier.

League of Five Nations• 5 Iroquois tribes divided amongst internal

warfare.• Late 1500s, formed confederacy, united 5 tribes.– Council Government

• Each tribe in confederacy sent delegates/reps. to council meetings

– Became most powerful Indian nation.• Defeated rival Indian tribes• Economically prospered by trade with Dutch, French and

British.

• American Revolution- most sided with British.– After defeated, league was shattered.

• Most moved to British Canada.

Iroquois Society

• Homes- Longhouses• Property was owned communally• Division of labor between men/women:– Men: hunted/fished; warriors– Women: farmed and gathered

Women in Iroquois Society

• Descent was matrilineal: longhouses were headed by women

• Women could divorce their husbands• Women selected all delegates to the Iroquois

Council and influenced policy

Europeans Arrive

• Europe’s trade with Asia, blocked by Middle East and Muslims.– Avoid paying taxes on trade routes.– Dutch & Portuguese go around Africa and set up

colonies around west and southern coasts.– Spanish, look to the west for faster route

Christopher Columbus

• Italian hired by King & Queen of Spain to find route to Asia, via going west.

• Set sail in Aug. 1492.• Landed in the Bahamas

in Oct. 1492.• Thought he landed in

India.• Discovered a whole new

world

Spanish Invasion• Spanish explorers search all over new lands for gold &

silver and set up settlements in Central & South America, Florida & Southwest America (AZ, NM, CA.)– Conquistadors

• Plantations- large scale agriculture enterprise growing commercial crops and usually employing coerced or slave labor.– Encomienda- the Spanish labor system in which

persons were held to unpaid service under the permanent control of their masters, though not legally owned by them.

– Mestizo- a person of mixed Native America & European ancestry.

Pueblo Revolt(1680)

• Resistance to Spanish led by Popé• Spanish attacked Pueblo practices and forced

them to practice Christianity.• Indians in NM successfully drive out Spanish

from region.– One of the most successful Indian uprisings in U.S.

History.

Columbian Exchange

• Goods between Old World and New World exchange.

• New crops: tomatoes, corn, cacao, & tobacco go to Europe

• Livestock, bananas, sugar cane, & diseases go to New World.– Disease kills more Native Americans than fighting

Europeans, slave labor, or natural causes combined.

French Settlements

• Began in 16th century. Settlements were military forts in Canada stretching down to Gulf Coast.– Montreal, Quebec, Green Bay, Detroit, New

Orleans, St. Louis• Mainly traded for fur with natives• Caribbean colonies produced sugar– Haiti

The Arrival of the English

• Late 1500s, England looked to establish colonies on new land to bring new goods back to sell to Europeans.– Spanish making bank on new world goods.• Too much Spanish gold & silver made value drop in

Europe.

• First English colonies failed. Never lasted more than a year.– Roanoke (1587- The Lost Colony)

English Settlements

• 1607, Jamestown is established by the Virginia Company, in what is now the state of Virginia.– Funded by crown to establish settlements for trade

• Puritans establish Plymouth in 1620 in Massachusetts.– Left England due to religious persecution.– Mayflower Compact- first governing document of the new

world. (1620)• Dutch settle New York (Eng. Takes over in 1644).• William Penn establishes Pennsylvania for religious

reasons– Quakers

• Colonies in the North focus on fishing.– Cold climates (can’t grow year round)

• Colonies in the Middle focus on lumber and shipbuilding.– Penn. NY, NJ- AKA- “bread” colonies 4 growing wheat.

• Colonies in the South focus on farming and using slaves to work farm lands– First used Native Americans.• Disease began to kill off Native Americans

– Switched over to use Africans as slaves.

Economics of it All

• Mercantilism- increasing a nation’s wealth through trade with other countries.– A nation’s power was determined by it’s wealth– The colonies provided raw materials; lumber, rice,

tobacco, etc.– England sold finished products around the world• Even sold finished product to colonists.

Navigations Act(1651-1673)

• All trade goods sent to the colonies had to be transported on English ships.

• Enumerated goods, such as wool, sugar, tobacco, and indigo, had to be shipped to England.

• All foreign goods had to travel through England before reaching the colonies.

Population Boom

Politics• The crown and Parliament established

regulations for the colonies; however, each colony had its own gov.– Governor- appointed by King– Council- chosen by Governor and served as

advisers– Assemblies- Elected by voters; had power to pass

laws, levy taxes and control budget.

Early Governance Uprising

• Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)- first colonial revolt against British authority.– Nathanial Bacon accused William Berkeley of not

protecting colonists from Indian attacks.• Glorious Revolution (1688)- Parliament in England

ousted King James II. William III & Mary II become new King & Queen– No blood shed. First time a government system kicked out

a monarch.– Parliament had to be consulted by the crown before the

king could pass laws.

Impact

• Britain did not practice day-to-day administration of its colonies.

• Assemblies had leverage over governors through their control of the colonial budget.

• Assemblies began to regard themselves as Parliaments (each as sovereign in its colony as Parliament itself was in England).

Age of Reason

• The Enlightenment- era when philosophical thinkers began using reason by way of scientific method and breaking from tradition, emphasizing individualism.– Break from tradition of government, law, and religion.

• The Great Awakening- occurring between 1730s-40s, a revitalization of religion and a change in Americans understanding of the world around them

John Locke

• Enlightenment thinker.• Believed that all

humans had natural right to life, liberty, and property.– Foundation of the

Declaration of Independence